How Business Becomes Friendship

There is a fine line between networking and friendship, but once you cross that line there's no going back - and there's no more satisfying business relationship.

How do you cross that line? One way is bonding through shared experience. And I have shared an experience with Rachel Greaves, Pat Birkle, and Eldon Marks.

It began at 7 a.m. this morning when my very good and brave friend Rachel Greaves took off for 7.5 miles - along with 1,500 other people - to be the first leg in our relay team in the Trail of Two Cities Inaugural Marathon. We had it all planned out; we could finish the course in the 7 hours allotted. Instead, we smashed our expectations and crossed the line in 5 hours 47 minutes.

Rachel set the tone by finishing her segment 18 minutes faster than she thought she could. Pat (relay leg #2) pushed herself to her top pace. When Eldon (relay leg #3) came around the corner toward my relay point, it was the first moment in our lives we'd seen each other. I'll probably never be happier to see him again - the wait was interminable!

I finished the 7.2 miles of my leg in 1 hour 24 minutes - an average of 12 minutes a mile. It was the fastest I've moved over a distance in 20 years. (The Annual 0.025K Race was faster, but a bit shorter.)

Team Access Bar in Action! was sponsored by Pat who represents Melaleuca which produces the very fine and wonderful Access Bar. The Access Bar is the reason I'm sitting here with no pain. I feel great. If you have any athletic endeavors in your future, I highly recommend this fabulous product.

There's more to this story; much more of course. I'll complete it over the next few days. Don't worry - there's networking in it. It includes old friends, never-met family of friends, never-met friends of family and even a few new friends.

1 comment:

  1. Way to go! I once ran a relay and a gentleman had a sign which read "healthy heart, happy feet." So true. It is always so gratifying to challenge yourself and win!

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