AmyFreeze's Blog

MEDIA TEAM

The Madison to Chicago 200 Mile Media Team in rotational order:

Dina Bair WGN TV, Bart Yasso Runners World Magazine, Amy Freeze FOX TV, Phil Schwartz WLS TV, Ray Stevens US 99.5 RADIO, Tom Negovan WGN TV, Christine Garcia PlanItPR, Liz Plosser Time Out Chicago, Kate Bongiovanni Windy City Sports, Gail Fisher Comcast Sports Net TV, Greg Sanchez WMAQ TV, John Garcia WLS TV

THE FIRST EVER MEDIA TEAM

Truth be known, I should have been running with the team "Not Now Honey, I'm Running" who asked me to be on their team in March. I declined thinking I was too busy to meet for weekend runs and such. Then I met Tom Hepperle one of the MC200 race organizers... and I got the "relay bug."  I agreed to do the race and be the captain for the first ever Media Team. Chicago's "Running News Guy" John Garcia was the first runner to jump on board... he brought along his PlanItPR Wife Christine and one by one Media Runners committed. Nike and Fleet Feet Sports were the first to step up and support the team.

Amy, Christine, Dina

 

Honestly, I had met WGN's Dina Bair and and WLS's Phil Swartz only briefly at charity events. The rest of the team, I met in person the morning we departed for Madison. How did I recruit them? Just told them it would be a cool experience. Ray wasn't even a runner (but he's Superman Fit) and Dina admitted to not running much over 5 miles. (My Secret Revelation: you never know how people respond to the relay experience.... I hoped all these people would still be speaking to me by the time we reached Milwaukee.)

When we met up early Friday... there was a small glitch--- a runner was missing... Tom Negovan--- he's been sent on assignment to Washington DC. But he did not BAIL on us! He flew into Wisconsin and met up with us. Hero!

Ray Hands off to Tom

  Here's how it works: The team is made up of 12 people....you put 6 runners in two vans. One runner begins running at the start... the first van drives to the next transition area and the runners continue until everyone in the first van has run... Then the second van takes over and repeats the process. Each runner runs 3 times over a 36 hour period, their total mileage between 10 and 26 miles. No stopping...just brief naps. It's close quarters and you get to know each other quickly.

The Media works in a world of short headlines and quick sound bites.... but this event is about going the distance. Enduring not just your own run, but the pace of the entire team. We began running at 10 am Friday Morning. We ran, we traveled. We cheered on other runners "GO LINDSEY!" We aimed to pass other teams "Don't be alarmed by our (lack of) Speed!" We ate at Noodles. We showered in the sinks, high schools, and churches along the way. We ate pasta for $1.50 somewhere in Wisconsin in the middle of the night. Six of us slept in a 12 passenger van in a Church parking lot.

 I ran leg three... first run was a hot one (85degrees in full sun!) through the hilly Moraines outside of Madison, WI. My next run was in the evening about 8 miles on a Bike Trail outside of Racine where I swallowed at least 100 nats.... nasty! Then a long haul run Friday morning... almost 7 miles on a Kenosha Bike Trail where I saw a bright red Cardinal and two Red-Winged Blackbirds (and I wished that I too had wings at that point!!) We ran through the night. We did have a weather delay... but we finished in a respectable 32 hours on Montrose Harbor. The city skyline never looked so good. Crossing the finish line as a team was exhilarating! We made it. We may not work together everyday but we know how to work it when we're together! 200 miles.

READ MORE NOW!

John Garcia: Running News Guy!

Liz Plosser: TIME OUT CHICAGO!

The race benefits the Special Olympics.