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The running network

The other day my manager asked me to interview a candidate for a position on our team. When I looked at the resume, the name looked familiar. I squinted at the screen, thought about it for a minute, and asked, "Do you know if she's a runner?"

My suspicions were right -- this woman was on my Providian Relay team four and a half years ago. In October 2001 we spent 24 hours together in a very crowded van while our team members took turns running the 199 miles from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. We had never met before then and we hadn't seen each other since.

The Relay is an interesting way to get to know someone. Each twelve-person team is divided into two vans with six runners each. You spend the entire time with those five other people and you quickly learn how your teammates hold up under pressure, extreme fatigue, sleep deprivation and soreness, all while sharing cramped quarters (a minivan) with limited access to showers. All it takes is one annoying person to shatter the delicate equilibrium. I learned that the second year I did the Relay, when we had a non-stop talker in our van. We were all ready to duct-tape her mouth shut by Sunday afternoon. In other words, who's in your van determines how much you enjoy the weekend.

In 2001, which was my first Relay experience, we had The Perfect Van. No one (from my perspective at least) was particularly overbearing, smelly, delicate, over-competitive, or lazy. Everyone had a good attitude. The vibe in our van was excellent, and we finished exhausted but happy. The other van on our team, no so much. I had an amazing time. And this woman, who was until then a stranger, was a big part of that.

So when my manager asked if I thought she'd be a good addition to our team, I could speak from experience.

March 18, 2006 2:05 PM