Team Ewing Runners Rock and Roll to the Finish Line

Ewing was back in bright green shirts for our eleventh year running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon with over 240 runners.

On January 17, Ewing employees pounded out 13.1 miles—or 26.2 miles, in the case of six very dedicated runners—to earn first place in the Rock Corporate Challenge Corporate Large Division, a friendly competition that encourages companies to train for the half or full marathon.

“At Ewing, we are working to make health and wellness a priority,” said Doug York, Ewing’s president and long-time half marathoner. “By getting everyone out here together, each employee is showing their commitment to that.”

Peter Teng, Northern California account manager, has completed three full and seven half marathons as part of Team Ewing. He compares running in the events to running the business.

“Our personal life and doing business is just like running in a race. We need to set a goal and stay focused to stay in the race to finish strong,” Teng said.

Half marathons are a family affair for Chris Eaton, inventory services specialist for Ewing, who has run with Team Ewing since 2005, and completed many half marathons on his own, too. After doing a half marathon with Ewing in 2005, Chris got his wife and daughter walking and jogging, and he’s been running ever since.

“It's a great feeling being at the start area with thousands of other people who not only got up early like you did, but trained for the past couple months and are all working to achieve goals, whether it's a particular time or simply finishing the race,” Eaton said.

“Seeing all the Ewing managers and staff that have come out for the races gather together at the tent afterwards really shows the continued support of Ewing making this the hallmark event in its wellness plan,” Eaton said.

Having Team Ewing come together has motivated many employees to start running. Programmer Jason Brady ran his first-ever running event—the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona full marathon, all 26.2 miles. Ewing gave him the opportunity to achieve a lifelong goal, show his children what hard work and determination can do, and lose some weight at the same time.

“During my training and preparation for the marathon, I began with the end in mind,” Brady said. “I set a realistic goal, and then I worked hard every day to reach that goal. I know that these ideas are applicable outside of just training for a marathon, so I continue applying them every day.”

Ewing runs for health and for fun, but also for Autism Speaks. This year, Ewing employees and the York family raised $5,000 to help increase awareness of autism spectrum disorders, fund research into the causes, prevention and treatments for autism and advocate for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Since 2009, Ewing has raised over $200,000 for the charity.