We did it! We’re a little sore, but the #runner-clouds successfully completed the 2018 Brookings Marathon!

What started out as a crazy idea by Jenny quickly turned into a unique team bonding opportunity. While we weren’t the fastest relay team, we definitely had the most fun.

Get a recap of our marathon of a day, and learn how your business could benefit from unique team bonding activities.

Race Day Timeline

On Saturday, May 12, we were about to find out if our marathon training paid off.

Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions (and the fact that we were running), we can genuinely say we had fun all 26.2 miles.

Pre-Race

5:30 a.m.

Think running was the worst part of the marathon? For some of us, waking up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday was the real challenge.

Nevertheless, we made the one-hour trip from Sioux Falls to Brookings, South Dakota, to begin our busy day.

6:50 a.m.

With 10 minutes until race time, we put on our race bibs, did some last-minute stretching, and took a pre-race team photo in our matching Donut Mile T-shirts.  

Race Time

7:00 a.m.

On your marks, get set, go!

Jaden started off the marathon relay with our CTO, Allen, who was running the half marathon (13.1 miles).   

As soon as they were out of sight, the rest of the relay team hopped into Jenny’s car and made our way to the first exchange point. While waiting for Jaden to finish her leg of the race, we enjoyed cheering on all the other marathoners, half marathoners, and relay teams.

When Jaden turned the corner, making her way to the exchange point, our cheers and whistles grew louder as she arrived and gave John a high-five. The first four miles of 26.2 were done!

The exchange process remained the same throughout the entire race. As one runner finished and the next runner took over, we all migrated to the next exchange point (taking bathroom breaks and stopping to purchase dry socks as necessary).

I think Jaden, John, Rachel, Jenny, Catherine, and I (Jacquelyn) can all agree that we were freaking out a bit in the moments leading up to our individual run. However, the anxiety we experienced soon “ran away” as we got into a rhythm and were motivated by teammates and strangers cheering us on along the course.

10:40 a.m.

Everyone had done their part, and now it was my turn to finish things off with the longest and final leg (6.2 miles). Around mile 24, I began to feel a little pain in my lungs and legs, but my teammates gave me the extra encouragement I needed to power through.

I consider myself to be a fairly competitive person, but as I crossed the finish line, I didn’t even look up to see our finish time. I was just excited to be done.

After taking a few moments to recover, I was greeted with high fives, hugs, and celebration donuts from our biggest cheerleader and CEO, Sarah.

12:00 p.m.

At this point we were stinky and wet, but we decided to keep the celebration going with pizza and beer!

We recapped the race, ate back all the calories we burned off running, and decided we definitely want to run another race together.

Improve Company Culture with Unique Team Bonding Activities

The term company culture is mentioned often at 9 Clouds. That’s because we do everything we can to make our office an enjoyable place to work.

Part of having a great company culture is giving employees the opportunity to bond by hanging out with each other outside of the office. While your annual Christmas party may be a blast, it’s likely not enough.

Need some team bonding ideas? Here’s what we’ve done as a team at 9 Clouds:

• Annual team retreats
• Sioux Falls Stampede (hockey), Canaries (baseball), and Skyforce (basketball) games
• Friday morning work sessions at Queen City Bakery
• The Cloudie Awards
• Curling lessons
• Snow tubing
• A William Shatner show
• Visits to baby koalas at the zoo
• Many happy hours and potlucks

Want to learn more about improving culture at your workplace? Keep exploring the 9 Clouds blog to find all kinds of company culture resources!