July 22, 2015 is a day that will go down in history! Marking the inaugural FloSports(company that owns Milesplit) Intern Root Beer mile!
Interns from the Flo departments (Milesplit,FloTrack,Development,HR,etc) will go head to head in the biggest race of their lives. 4 laps...4 root beers...ONE champion! Race kicks off tonight at 7:30pm!
Performance List/Preview
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-Trevor Heinz - Senior Dripping Springs HS, Texas - XC/Track - MileSplit Intern
- 1600m PR - 4:20
- 800m PR - 1:56.99
Prediction: No doubt Heinz has the track resume to enter as the heavy favorite. His achilles heel will be the Root Beer. Up until last week, he hadn't had soda in 2 years! He still managed a 66s Root Beer 400 in the promo, but we'll have to see how he manages through the 2nd half of the race. His goal is to break 6min, and he will be tough to beat.
When asked how he'll adjust to drinking soda, Trevor had an interesting answer... "I'm from Texas. It's hot all the time, like 100 degrees. So I'm planning to heat my root beer to 100 degrees so my body will handle it easier".
| Pre Race Q&A | |
| Twitter handle | @XcHeinz |
| Root beer brand of choice | A&W |
| Mile PR | 4:20 |
| 12 oz soda chugging PR | 18.15 |
| Accolades | Ping Pong Champion, State qualifier in Ultimate Frisbee, Regional 6X Qualifier in track and XC |
| Favorite Athlete | Steve Prefontaine |
| Inspirational Quote | To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift |
-Jake Willard - Freshmen University of Oregon - Club XC/Track - MileSplit Intern
- 1600m PR - 4:47
- 800m PR - 2:15
Prediction: If there's one intern that has been fired up for this event most, it's been Jake Willard! He knows he lacks the speed of the top seeds, but is confident in his XC background to give him the edge in this race. Willard is short in stature, weighing approximately 43lbs...I believe drinking 4 sodas in seven minutes will double his body weight. His race will depend on his ability to manage the heavy fluid intake.
MileSplit Statmaster David Everett has analyzed all the data...ever...and has determined that Jake's chances of winning are "0%".
| Pre Race Q&A | |
| Twitter handle | @runjwill |
| Root beer brand of choice | Barq's |
| Mile PR | 4:47 |
| 12 oz soda chugging PR | 18 seconds |
| Accolades |
Can quote Anchorman in its entirety. Left bench for his high school ice hockey team. Can down a large slurpee in under 5 minutes, only getting brain freeze once. Is a Duck... literally. |
| Favorite Athlete | Alexa Efraimson <3 |
| Inspirational Quote | There's always money in the banana stand! No touching! - George Bluth |
-Temi Baj - Senior Binghamton University - XC/Track - MileSplit Intern
- 1600m PR - 4:46
- 800m PR - 1:57
- 400m PR - 49.51
Prediction: Temi runs for Binghamton University, and while he has some 1600 & 5k times to his name, has shifted completely to the shorter events in college. His training program leading up the race has consisted of lifting, eating wings, and snapchat. There's no question he has more speed than the rest of the lineup, but he'll have to put himself in a position to use it...Do it for the Vine...
FloTrack/MileSplit vet Ryan Fenton has been to workouts with Temi all summer and had this to say about the Binghamton trackie... "My experience with Temi is that he does 50% of the work but expects 100% of the credit. If that's his approach to the Root Beer mile...maybe we should tell him it's 8 laps".
| Pre Race Q&A | |
| Twitter handle | @Temibaj |
| Root beer brand of choice | Honestly not a fan of Root beer. |
| Mile PR | 4:46.90 1600m ( FAT) |
| 12 oz soda chugging PR | 18.96 seconds ( hand time ) |
| Accolades | dabbled in the Sport of Track and field, Received #1 son award from my parents in 2007, can eat chipotle everyday without getting sick |
| Favorite Athlete | Sarah hendrickson or ian weykamp |
| Inspirational Quote |
“I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” - Mewtwo |
-Karsten Kaufmann - Senior Chico State - FloTrack Intern
- 1600m PR - 4:38
Prediction: Every time he's asked if he's running the Root Beer Mile Karsten's answer gets less and less enthusiastic. He's been killing it all summer working for FloTrack and now faces his biggest challenge.
Jimmy Stevenson has been training closely with Karsten and gave an insight to their secret training technique. Jimmy says, "Throughout my time training many elite root beer milers overseas, I adopted the "Swedish Method" and have put Karsten through a strict regime using this proven method. The "Swedish Method" focuses on training the stomach to avoid gastroparesis, a disastrous condition that many root beer milers suffer from, due to lack of proper stomach training. This highly calculated system involves me putting anything I want into a blender and having Karsten drink it every morning. This includes, but is not limited to raw eggs, flesh from horse, nails, and brussels sprouts. Karsten's stomach is ready for anything. His legs and endurance are the furthest thing from ready, but quite frankly, I don't care. His training from the Swedish Method has mentally prepared him for any physical challenge set before him. Karsten will wipe the floor (technically, the track soaked with throw up) with his competition."
| Pre Race Q&A | |
| Twitter handle | @karkarbinkz |
| Root beer brand of choice | A&W |
| Mile PR | 4:38(2011) |
| 12 oz soda chugging PR | idk i've never done this before. |
| Accolades | I won my age group at this Turkey Trot once |
| Favorite Athlete | Lance Armstrong - Dude will do anything to win. gotta respect that drive. |
| Inspirational Quote | You can't back down from whatever...so... - Jenna Prandini |
-TJ Pura - Junior Duke University - Tennis - Business Development & Event Ops Intern
- 1600m PR - 5:14
- 22-7 Singles Record as Freshman
- Shares the program record for highest ACC singles winning percentage as a freshman (1.000, 6-0)
Prediction: TJ is a complete darkhorse in this event, and is the sleeper pick for many in the office. Absolutely no track background to work from, but he's a standout tennis player for Duke and has been trying to break 5min in the team's preseason mile. His strength will be chugging speed and determination. TJ is a machine! When other interns may hit a point where they physically/mentally hit a breaking point, that's where TJ will start making up ground. If he's close into the final lap, watch for him to make things interesting!
TJ's Root Beer Mile personal trainer Adam Oestreich had this to say about his athlete's chances: "The only person that can beat TJ, is every runner that isn't TJ."
| Pre Race Q&A | |
| Twitter/Insta | @tjpura8 |
| Root beer brand of choice | Never had a root beer before...sooo there's that |
| Mile PR | 5.14 |
| 12 oz soda chugging PR | Does Dasani sparkling water w/ lime count? |
| Accolades | Heart baby. Heart. |
| Favorite Athlete | Roger Federer |
| Inspirational Quote | "If you have your health, and you do what you love, then you're a billionaire" -Dick Vitale |
-Corinne Smith - HR Intern
Prediction: She's stepping into a race dominated by male entries but isn't intimidated at all! She's been making some pretty bold statements around the office all day.
MileSplit US editor Johanna Gretschel reports she heard her claim "I'm going to crush dreams and end souls tonight!".
| Pre Race Q&A | |
| Twitter handle | |
| Root beer brand of choice | Does Dr.Pepper count? |
| Mile PR | 7min. 30seconds |
| 12 oz soda chugging PR | 2 hours |
| Accolades | Voted most likely to spill soda down shirt |
| Favorite Athlete | Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet |
| Inspirational Quote | This may kill me" - me |
Texas Milesplit will have LIVE coverage through Twitter (@TxMileSplit) & Snapchat (texas_milesplit) starting at 7:30pm!