The MAX’s O’Hartford 5K is a 3.1 mile race that takes place in downtown Hartford every year around St. Patrick’s Day. This event is one of many annual races sponsored by the Hartford Marathon Foundation, with their most recognized event being the Hartford Marathon.
Many of the O’Hartford participants dress in green and orange and some even wear costumes, making the event a very festive atmosphere. ebm-papst participants wore our green “GreenTech” shirts featuring the GreenTech logo on the front and a HyBlade axial fan image on the back. Both images on the shirt represent our corporate philosophy of continuous improvement and innovation.
We decided to challenge employees to participate in this event as an effort to promote exercise and to encourage people to set new health goals. A 5K event was chosen so that everyone from the walker to the casual jogger to the runner could participate. We had 20 ebm-papst participants who represented the following departments; Customer Service, Engineering, IT, Marketing, Production, and Sales.
Race events are nothing new at ebm-papst and our colleagues at ebm-papst Mulfingen, Germany take road racing to another level. They have been a long-time sponsor of a large race-event called the ebm-papst Marathon, which takes place every September in Niedernhall, Germany and includes a variety of race events.
This year there were over 2,200 participants in the race. The temperature was around 32 degrees, and even though it was a sunny day, a brisk wind kept the temperature closer to the low 20’s. Besides the reward of working towards one’s personal fitness goals, a pint of local beer and a corned beef and cabbage sandwich on rye was enjoyed by all at the finish line!