Teams....BC and Reach the Beach

Most of the posts associated with this blog will have to do with school and my experience at Boston College.  That being said, as a perspective student, I remember thinking- "is it all school, all the time?"  Well, the short answer to that is "Yes."  I mean, its only midterm week!  What do you expect?

But the longer answer is, although the vast majority of time right now is consumed by classes, team meetings, readings, writings (and bloggings...)  there are chances to have fun outside of BC's campus too.  I don't know what it is about this particular time of year, but much of the class was out of the Boston area this past weekend celebrating weddings, engagements and family events.

I however, was with my Reach the Beach Team, running really...really...far.

Reach the Beach is a 200 mile relay race that begins on Cannon Mountain (NH) and ends on Hampton Beach (NH).  Each team can carry no more than 12 runners and each runner completes three separate legs, usually totaling somewhere between 15 and 23 miles.  Our team started at 8am and finished at 1:40pm the following day, running straight through the night.  I am the Captain of our Reach the Beach team and our goal is simply to finish.  We try to ensure that everyone on the course is smiling- even up some nasty hills. Oh, we also only wear neon.

 

Our team is made up of 12 friends. Ironically something I'd never noticed prior to thinking about this post is that six team members have MBAs and two runners are BC Eagles (Shout out to the School of Nursing!)  Must be something about the air of competition that drives people like us to run so far.  This year we even had a twitter page, tweeting our way through 200 miles so friends and family could come along for the ride. 

Being part of a team like this is not so unlike being part of a team in the BC MBA Program.

It takes lots of planning- we travel in mini vans for more than 36 hours  We have to reserve our vans in January due to the high demand!  We have to bring all of our own food, directions and handbooks.

You have to be accountable-  I ask for commitments from team members around February.  They know they are accountable for training on their own up until race day.  We know that we will never be successful unless each runner gets to their finish line for the hand off. 

You have to have trust- I know when its 3am and I am running on the side of a rural road- headlamp on and blinkers blinking- that when I come around the bend my van will be there for me- asking what I need and how they can help.  No one goes to sleep while a member of their van is out running.  We're a team and if one is out, its like we're all out.

You have to care-  There are most certainly times during this race when you just don't think you can make it up that hill.  And then, out of nowhere a silver van scoots up next to you, blasting Lady Gaga, glowing in their neon and cheering your name like you're about to win the Olympics.  Their cheers get you up that hill.

Being part of a team at school is actually quite similar.  We have to care, we have to trust one another, we have to be accountable and we most certainly have to plan.  I've run Reach the Beach as a Captain before.  Perhaps its because I am in school now and teams are such an integral part of our experience, but this year for the first time I was really able to appreciate what makes a team environment so fantastic- the people crossing the finish line together.