This past weekend, five people from our office competed in the Men’s Health Urbanathlon in Chicago. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this event, it is basically a 15K race with a crazy obstacle course mixed in, ending with a stair climb at Soldier Field. 

Jennacy Cruz, Manager of Event Services for Stadium Operations participated in the event, as did Jason Hartlund, VP-Brewers Enterprises. From the Consumer Marketing Department (my department), Chris Barlow, Director of Group Sales; Billy Friess, Director of Season Ticket Sales; and our VP, Todd Taylor, all completed the Urbanathlon.

L-R: Chris, Jason, Todd and Billy, geared up for the Urbanathlon.

Because Chris, Billy and Todd are in my department, I had heard a lot from them about the race and the training leading up to it. I was curious: How do you train for obstacles involving concrete barriers, monster truck tires, police barricades, marine hurdles, cargo nets and stadium steps? (Okay, for these guys the last one was pretty easy.)

Hearing about the race this weekend really got me thinking. Over the years, as guys like Ryan Braun, Casey McGehee and Corey Hart have had 100-RBI seasons or guys like Prince Fielder have hit 50 home runs, my other colleagues — the athletes off the field — have accomplished some pretty amazing things as well.

Basically, what it comes down to is that in working in sports, you often find that the athletes aren’t just on the field. Because people who work in sports tend to like sports, consequently they also tend to participate in sports as well.

At the risk of accidentally leaving someone out, here’s a small sample of some of our achievements:

Did you know that we have an Olympian on staff? Dave Tamburrino, Director of Corporate Marketing, was a member of the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team in 1994 (Lillehammer, Norway) and 1998 (Nagano, Japan). Dave also finished 5th overall at the 1995 World All Around Speedskating Championships in Baselga Di Pine, Italy and was a member of the US National Speedskating Team (1988-1998) and the World All Around Speedskating Championships Team (1994-1998). Wow! I wonder if the rest of the Corporate Marketing department finds it hard to keep up with him. Currently, Dave plays hockey for the Cans Lumberjacks adult league team at the Pettit Center.

How cool is Olympian Dave Tamburrino? Ice cold!

Diny Hurwitz, our Data Analyst, is a cyclist. His first long distance bicycle trip was an 800-mile ride from Rochester, New York, to Bar Harbor, Maine, two months before he turned 16. He’s biked across the United States from Yorktown, Virginia to Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. He’s also traveled from south to north through Oregon along the Pacific Coast and rode a 500-miles loop over three mountain passes through the Colorado Rocky Mountains, reaching an altitude of 12,095 feet at Independence Pass. He’s even accidentally biked on the Autobahn in the Czech Republic during his trip to Central Europe (don’t ask!).

Diny Hurwitz, on a bike trip to Oregon (seen here sporting his Brewers Kickball t-shirt!).

It’s been said that the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint and it seems like a lot of our staff has taken that quite literally. We’ve got lots of runners in our ranks and it would be really interesting to know how many miles in races we’ve logged collectively. Here are some highlights: Sarah Holbrook, Director of Corporate Marketing, has completed three marathons in Noank, CT, Minneapolis, MN, and Amsterdam, Holland. Teddy Werner, Director of Business Operations, has also run three marathons: Boston, New York City and Chicago. Maggie Aliota, Group Event Coordinator, has completed one full marathon, four half-marathons and one sprint triathlon. Prior to the Urbanathlon, Jennacy, Chris, Jason and Billy had all run numerous races, too.

This summer, I completed my first half-marathon as well (although, my main passion is yoga; I’m proud to say I’ve finally mastered the 8-Angle pose!) and last summer, my boss, Kathy Schwab, Senior Director of Marketing, and I participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, a 60-mile walk over the course of three days in Chicago. We were proud of ourselves for not only completing the event, but for also raising over $5000 for the charity.

Here I am with my boss, Kathy (right) and our mascot, a pink Brewers monkey (appropriately dubbed “Pink Monkey”) after finishing the Breast Cancer 3-Day last August.

In February and March, many people on our staff find themselves down at Spring Training in Arizona, but just because we’re away from home, it doesn’t mean we’re on vacation. We’re still working and our exercise regimens do not take a hiatus. In fact, some members of our front office put themselves through their own version of spring training with extra-tough pre-season workouts. If you take a trip down there to see the Crew, plan to climb Camelback Mountain and you’ll likely see lots of people wearing Brewers gear. I’m proud to say that I conquered Camelback-and my fear of heights-as I climbed the mountain for the first time myself this year.

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona: The climb was worth it for this view!

Not counting the experience on the Baseball Operations side, we’ve got semi-pro baseball players in our MIS and Suites Departments. There are company softball games against other local businesses. A kickball team comprised of people who work on the Loge Level. Volleyball and bowling leagues. A men’s pickup basketball league.

This kickball team, comprised of many people from our Loge Level, is playing for the championships next week.

Mention the words “P-90X” and you’ll have no trouble finding someone who’s been there, done that. And although we’re pretty busy during most of Wisconsin’s best golfing weather, there’s a good number of people (including me) who take advantage of any time they have to hit the links. We’ve got a former basketball coach on staff and people into dance, tennis and snowboarding.

Again, these are just the things I’m aware of. If I did an official office poll, I’m sure I’d find some more surprises.

So there you have it. The Brewers athletes off the field, a pretty competitive bunch!

What about you, readers? Comment below and let us know what cool feats you’ve accomplished!

-Cait
johnandcait@brewers.com