Jenson USA Spirit Awards: Thoughts become words become actions...

A committee is a thing which takes a week to do 

what one good man can do in an hour.   

~Elbert Hubbard

The JensonUSA Spirit Awards all started at about 3 a.m. on October 24, 2011 at the 100 Mile Endurance Challenge, a 100+ mile urban ULTRAmarathon.  Jenson USA's own Jared Saunders was in charge of coordinating bike escorts, aka Mobile Aid Stations, from Corona, CA to Santa Monica, CA...a distance of over 100 miles and 30 hours.  These bikers were escorting our ULTRArunners to the Finish Line. We were somewhere between Huntington Beach and Long Beach (or was it Long Beach and Santa Monica? I don't really remember.) when Jared said to me,

"You know, we should totally give away awesome bikes to the top 100 Mile Club runners this year."

Time out. 

Normally, the layers of speaking something out loud to another person go something like this:

Think it.

Think about what you are saying.

Think about how you will affect others by what you are saying.

Think about HOW you will say it so as not to offend or anger or do something totally irrational.

Think about how it will make others feel.

Layer on allllll the manners you have been taught in your life.

Go over it in your head.

Take a deep breath, and then...

Say it.

Usually, that works well in the world.  It keeps us all in check.

But, by the time you are 19+ hours into helping with a 30 hour foot race, you have absolutely no filters.  All of the layers of manners have been peeled away and you are left with the following:

Think it.

Think about what you are saying.

Think about how you will affect others by what you are saying.

Think about HOW you will say it so as not to offend or anger or do something totally irrational.

Think about how it will make others feel.

Layer on allllll the manners you have been taught in your life.

Go over it in your head.

Take a deep breath, and then...

Say it.

Now, back to the conversation.

"You know, we should totally give away awesome bikes to the top 100 Mile Club runners this year."

Had we not been completely punchy and sleep-deprived and stressed beyond belief, he may have never even said anything.  Again. No filtering here.


What did I say back?  Well, normally I would have been more like,

"Well, I think that's a great idea, Jared.  We should take this idea to the board and figure out how it best fits in with our mission and vision and we can figure something out. Let me get back to you on this."

Thank goodness I had lost all my filters.  :)  Instead, I just said...

"Nope. No way. That's not how we do things." 

...because it's not.

It isn't how we do things. We work hard at 100 Mile Club to recognize excellence in ALL FORMS. It is really easy to recognize the child that runs the most miles, the one that runs the fastest, or the superstar who is just a gifted runner.  They are right there.  In your face. Every day.

True success comes in all forms, and part of the beauty of 100 Mile Club is that we celebrate those fast kids, of course.  They are incredible!! 

...but we also celebrate those kids who are doing something new, challenging themselves, taking risks, reaching out, or simply showing up to give their best every day.  We ask kids to find their spirit...and they always do.


Jared and I had an awesome conversation about personal best in all forms, and what 100 Mile Club really means. 

We went back and forth until we had created The Jenson USA Spirit Awards, an award for five (5) children who exhibit the TRUE spirit of The 100 Mile Club®. The whole conversation lasted maybe two minutes. Had we been lucid and normal and not foggy-brained and sleep-deprived, it may have never happened.

We cut through a whole bunch of meetings and dialogue and filters and manners and gunk and made. it. happen.  The graphics guys at Jenson even made this cool logo!!

I made a simple nomination form with Google Docs (my first time ever!).  We received 31 nominations this year, and as soon as we crossed the nomination deadline, I closed the nomination form and sent it all over to Jared over at JENSON USA.  The nominations circulated through the offices and everyone voted.

Simple.

Once the decisions were made, Jared called the families and we all agreed that the kids would not be told at all about their nomination or award.  It would all be a HUGE surprise at Run 4 Kids.  FUN!!


The JENSON USA Spirit Awards were created on a whim literally in the middle of the night, by two very sleep-deprived people with no filters.  We probably wouldn't have created such a thing had we been a bit more lucid.  We just went for it...and I am so glad we did.  Look at these smiling faces!

Our Spirit Award Winners with their new bikes from Jenson USA
From L to R (front):  Melanie S., Ryan M., Nolan T., Vivianne S., Jonnice Q.
Back: Jared Saunders, JensonUSA and Kara Lubin, 100 Mile Club®

 

Thank you to Jenson USA for their incredibly generous donation of 5 bicycles for our Spirit Award winners this year.  We are so grateful for their support, and for their belief in our mission and vision.



Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

~Mark Twain