Tag: run

EXAIR Gives More Than Compressed Air Savings

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

EXAIR is a company that is built around saving, sustainability, and doing the right thing.  Our products focus on saving compressed air, reducing sound levels, and improving the safe operation of compressed air blow offs.   EXAIR is also focused on ways to give back to our community and better our team.  Over the past year EXAIR, through an employee sponsorship program, has given back to over 30 charities.  This program is open to all EXAIR employees and enables us to select a charity event that we wish to participate in and EXAIR will sponsor our participation. Fortunately, many events have a charitable arm associated with them and we have a great deal of events to choose. This leads to us, the employees, being able to contribute to charities we want to, but also gets us out and doing these events and staying active.

Over the past year EXAIR has sponsored employees in over 30 different charity backed events. This list continues to grow every year and this does not include the charities that we have always supported through direct donations or volunteering, for instance.

The picture below is of our 7 person team for the Tough Mudder in Kentucky for 2016, out of the 7, 6 are employees that were all sponsored and chose to support Wounded Warrior through running the Tough Mudder for the 2nd year in a row, first time in Kentucky, and third Tough Mudder for a few of us.

 

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EXAIR Crew at the 2016 Kentucky Tough Mudder

For myself, the best part of working for a company that not only gives to charities but encourages their employees to get out and participate within our communities, is knowing and experiencing these events together.   To give an idea we had five separate departments represented at just this event.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer Manager “One Tough Mudder”
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

 

EXAIR & Tough Mudder Ohio 2015

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

Several months ago, maybe even last year, a group of EXAIR employees started joking and talking about trying to get a team together to do the Tough Mudder in 2015.  After several months of joking, things got serious and 4 of us signed up to do the event at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.   You may have seen a few of my blogs that involve Mid Ohio but they normally also involve a motorcycle.    The event was held on Saturday, May 9th, and was my first official “race” at Mid Ohio.   Prior to a few months ago, if you asked if I would ever “run” (I use the term run very loosely here.) a 10 mile race, I would have laughed in your face and said no way.   Let alone a 10 mile race with a whole slew of obstacles. Never underestimate the power of co-worker’s friendly chastising aimed at one’s toughness…

This was after the first wall during the pre race pump up speech / comedy show.
This was after the first wall during the pre race pump up speech / comedy show.

For the team, an Application Engineer (me), our CFO, and two from Shipping & Receiving.  As soon as we hit the first obstacle, which was a 6′ wall you had to clear in order to get to the starting line, our EXAIR mind-set kicked in.   There was no discussions on who would go first, who is going to take what position, or who is going to be the weak link.   It was simply teamwork.   We each helped where we knew our strengths were, anytime we needed a solid ballast, or good step off point, I was the man.   If we needed upper body strength, it was obvious that the handling of heavy freight found in shipping and receiving provided the necessary muscle – most definitely not me.

Needless to say, we made it through the entire course in less than three and a half hours which was absolutely shocking.   Not as shocking as the last obstacle, where we got shocked with 10kV before the finish line (see below).

Electroshock Therapy 2.0 - 10kV wires that will make any man scream.
Electroshock Therapy 2.0 – 10kV wires that will make anyone scream.

The fact of the matter is, we went there as a team, we conquered each obstacle and didn’t only worry about ourselves, but helped many others clear the same obstacles, and each one of us faced and conquered a personal fear.   For me, it was being able to complete a 10 mile run, and a slight fear of heights.  (You can see here that we had to jump out and grab onto a pendulum then swing and hit a bell, after which you would fall 12-15 feet into a pool of 15′ deep water. )

Didn't even come close to that bell, but I did remember to let go of the swing at least.
Didn’t even come close to that bell, but I did remember to let go of the swing at least.

The fact that people from three different departments in EXAIR worked so well together on something only one person on the team had ever done before speaks volumes to the environment and the way we conduct our day-to-day business here.

From the front offices, to the shipping dock, EXAIR is here to help you tackle any obstacle and face any fear you might have (involving your compressed air system that is).

Brian Farno
Application Engineer Manager
TOUGH MUDDER FINISHER
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

EXAIR’s Runners, Crazy but Generous

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

In case you haven’t seen any of our blogs concentrating on our makeup of employees, EXAIR has a group of employees who actually think running is fun.  Needless to say, I do not find running to be one of my strong suits.  A few members of the EXAIR running crew are going to be running a rather difficult race this weekend.   This race has been said to be “one of the most grueling sub-mile runs on the planet” (according to the event organizers).

That’s right, this race is not a marathon, or a half marathon, it is said to be the oldest micro-mini marathon.   You may be asking yourself what kind of race is this?  Well it is a hair more than 1/3 of a mile, steeply uphill. This will be the 37th year for the Straight Street Hill Climb.

Straight

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The best parts of the race is all the proceeds benefit the Cincinnati Soap Box Derby, a great family event here in Cincinnati that goes on every year.  This is yet another way that the members of EXAIR give to our local community.  Now if we could just get Professor Penurious to finish up his Soap Box Derby car, and find someone willing to let their kid ride in it, we may get to compete in the downhill race too!  I doubt it would go as smooth as the video below however.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF