The 24 Hour Brigade got off to a great start. Samsonite was the star of the show as the media sought him for interviews:

Lots of people showed up to participate and cheer. After some words by Randy Swanson and the National Anthem, They were off and running:

Samsonite and Mav are running the entire 24 hours. There is a countdown clock to mark time and volunteers are keeping count of laps, both the total for everyone and Samsonite and Mav’s individually.

In the first 45 minutes the total miles logged were over 100!

We will keep you posted…

Hooah! That is what Brother Samsonite says (he is military you know) and this week he is saying it a lot. Friday (March 20) at exactly 1700 CDST (military thing again) he will begin running around the quarter mile track at Yukon HS and he plans to not stop until 1700 on SATURDAY. You read that right, 24 hours.

This is the Inaugural 24 Hour Brigade event. The brain child (or aneurysm) of Samsonite, this event was designed to raised money and promote awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. Samsonite has been getting a lot of press lately and Wednesday night while out with the bros at an OKC Thunder game even made it onto television.

The best part though was the subsequent message from a Thunder girl on his facebook page!

Team Pirana will be around the whole time too. Most of the team is training for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, so this weekend’s 20 mile run will be done on the track to support the cause and keep brother Samsonite company. He plans to complete 130 miles. That is 520 laps around the track boys and girls!

If you are in the OKC area, come by and say hello. Make a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project. Run a lap (or several) with Samsonite. Join the brigade!

This morning found Team Pirana joining the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon training group for a 20 mile run on the race course. Having to set the clock forward last night did not help in the sleep department, but it also meant it was dark and cold at 7:00 am when the run started from the official starting line at 5th and Robinson.

Mav, BFG (the Pirana formerly named Mac), T3 and Sweet Tee were ready when Bill Snipes said go and off they went.

It didn’t take long to warm up a bit and from then on the weather was nearly perfect. 40+ with a cool northwest breeze made the early miles a little colder and more challenging. However, once the turn was made to come back downtown the breeze was a help.

This was Sweet Tee’s first solid run at 20 miles, so there was some concern about pace. The plan was to go out around 9:00 mpm and speed up to 8:45 if everybody felt good. The best intentions usually turn to mush, and the trio of Mav, Sweet Tee and T3 somehow dropped into an 8:30 pace and stayed there. There was some talk of slowing down, but nothing ever came of it.

The sun came up and the morning continued to be drop dead gorgeous. The initial plan was for the lead pack to stay on a faster pace and the second group of BFG and Weeble to come along at their own pace. Unfortunately, Weeble’s wife got sick and he stayed home. Turns out that was a good move on his part as she ended up in the ER with severe bronchitus.

Meanwhile, BFG found some people to run with and moved steadily along. The lead group had hooked up with several other runners and that pack stayed together until about mile 15. Sweet Tee was managing the faster pace pretty well.

With about a mile to go Sweet Tee started trying to push the pace, but the older, wiser, and decidely less spunky brothers managed to reign him in and the group finished at 2:55 for an average mile time of 8:35. A quick drink and a banana and it was back out onto the course to find the lost Pirana…

He was not too far beind and Mav ran in with him for a great finish.

All in all it was a great day!