The Company You Keep

There's a saying that has been around for a long time that goes something like this "You are known by the company you keep." Well, if that's true than boy oh boy I'm in trouble!

Having fun with Pauline for Photo Booth pictures!

Friday was the annual Rush Running Holiday party for the racing team. Every year the party grows and this year was no exception.  The store has expanded to have two locations and so we had new faces with the staff from the Fayetteville store plus several new team members and their families.  As we were preparing for the party...literally 5 minutes before the start time we discovered that the party space was haunted.  Several of us were standing talking when all of a sudden the 5 gallon cooler of Gatorade collapsed and spilled everywhere.  No one was anywhere near the cooler and we couldn't explain how it happened! Crazy! No worries...nothing that several rolls of paper towels can't take care of, right?!?!

With a bunch of runners you would expect healthy food for a potluck! I think we had more desserts than you could imagine including chocolate cupcakes with bacon frosting.  Very different and interesting and quite the hit with the Rush crowd.  Another favorite was the Lumpia which Pauline brings every year.  Lumpia is a Filipino style egg roll type dish made with pork and it's delicious.  Mike dug in and didn't even bother with a plate!

Once everyone had made it through the food line Mike Rush got started with the awards.  Every year the awards ceremony is the highlight of the year for the Rush Team.  You never know what Mike will create for award categories and the speeches that accompany each award are super entertaining.  There are some serious awards and then there are some that are playful. Here's just one of the awards!

Award winners were:
Most Consistent - Shannon McFarland for 28 months of running at least a marathon race or more.
Honorary Shop Employee - Robert Standridge
Most Smiley - Angie McGrew
Most Likely to Get Lost - Ryan Holler
Best Dressed - Dave Kelley
Most Influential - Caleb Cowan
Most Impressive Performance - Robyn Bourlon and Matt Martin
Dominance - Taylor Surly and Marilyn Caulfield

I think there were two others that I missed but I think they were both Most Improved to Aaron Denson and Rachel. 

After the awards we had our annual gift exchange.  We play that the 3rd person to hold the gift owns the gift so it can be stolen twice.  It seemed like a couple people always got their presents stolen like Drew and Lane.  The giant TV remote made it's annual appearance...this remote has been going since our very first Christmas party at Mike and Ali's house 5 years ago.  

Recently a new store opened just down from Rush Running and it seems like a few people headed there for their shopping.  The store is an adult lingerie store and let's just say a couple people got to take home some new training tools...yikes! I ended up with a trucker hat that says "Call Me, Maybe" on it.  The gift I took got stolen and was a hit...everyone needs a tiger shirt right!

Overall, I'm pretty lucky to keep company with such a fun bunch of runners.  We always have a great time whether we are out running, racing, or socializing.