Despite the unfamiliar way in which they had to race, members of team Runaway Cyclists proved Saturday they were racers at heart. Jeremy Brown, senior landscape architecture major and captain of team Runaway Cyclist, said he has been a runner for years. After getting interested in triathlons, he decided to start bike riding to go along with his running. During last year's McKinley Mile Bike Race, Brown was studying abroad in Liverpool, England. This year, he and some of his friends in the Ball State Runner's Association had some bikes and he thought participating would be fun.
"We were pretty ecstatic when we won," Brown said. "We knew going in that we had a reasonable chance to win from looking at the times from last year. It's always a thrill to go out and race. It was my first bike race so to come out with a win like that as a team was great."
Architecture graduate student Joseph Schmidt said the four members of team Runaway Cyclist are in BSRA. The team met through the group and became friends. They partially contribute their win to their conditioning as runners, he said. Training for half-marathons has given them the endurance to do well, Schmidt said.
Junior exercise science major Jeremy Bryson said he has been running for eight years. He expected the race to be fun, he said, and it was despite the different type of race. He said he hoped the event would become greater in years to come, he said.
"I was very excited and proud of the effort all the guys put out," Bryson said. "I went in to the race thinking we had hardly any chance of winning because of the other teams that train for cycling races. The entire event was a lot of fun and hopefully it will grow in the coming years."
Graduate student Constantin Schreiber said he was recruited to race by Brown and Schmidt, who provided the bikes for and organized the team. Schreiber has been running with the Ball State Runner's Association for two years and was surprised at their victory Saturday, he said.
"You can't beat the feeling after a good workout or competition," Schreiber said. "Plus, it came as a surprise, considering that none of us are riding regular workouts on our bikes. In fact, [Saturday] was the first time that Jeremy Bryson and I got to ride the bike we used for the race, never having been on a good road bike before."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
