Boston Marathon and the Lone Duck

Written by Claire Schneider

As many of you may know, the Boston Marathon is Monday, April 21. We’re excited to announce Brig Sorber, our CEO and one of the original Stickmen, will be running the marathon for the first time. We are so proud Brig will be taking part in such a momentous event, especially after the devastating events of last year. Brig is very proud to have the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing event and be surrounded by such a remarkable community that is Boston Strong.

So how does one end up running in such a prestigious race? This may be the first time Brig will be partaking in the Boston Marathon, however it’s his third marathon overall. Brig’s running career launched when he started to run 20-30 minutes, three times a week to stay in shape until his watchful doctor told him to pick it up a notch and gave him the book called “Younger at 50”. He was 46 at the time. After reading the book Brig agreed and started to push his body on the runs and realized it didn’t take much more to run farther.

“Like a rocket that takes 90% of its fuel to lift off and get to space, it only uses 10% of fuel to stay out in space. Running long distance is the same thing. Try a little harder and go to the next level.” – Brig Sorber

Brig’s good friend introduced him to New Form running. It’s a running technique where you take smaller steps and lean forward instead of back while running. He’s now run more than 1,200 miles with this new form of running and is injury free!

Brig’s love for running also turned into a stress reliever. As other CEOs will know, there’s a lot of stress that comes with running a business, especially with the pressures of managing employees and keeping a company profitable. Keeping off weight, burning stress, providing place and time to work through the challenges in his life, and meeting cool people were all good reasons for Brig to continue running.

To run in the Boston Marathon you have to qualify in another race. Qualifying for Boston is a daunting task to do and was always a stretch goal that Brig didn’t talk about for fear of failure. When Brig ran a race in Charlevoix, Mich., to qualify for Boston, he ran a 3:21:41. He needed a 3:30:00 to qualify.

“I mostly run by myself. When I do run with someone at all, it is with Jamie Adams, a co-worker. It’s wild to go from running mostly by yourself (I call myself lone duck!) to running with thousands of people. I’m really looking forward to running Boston and supporting the race after the tragedy of last year’s bombings.” – Brig Sorber

You can follow Brig during the Boston Marathon by going here and following bib number 12269.