The year that was...

As 2013 draws to a close I'd like to reflect on my favorite Furman Elite memories.  I do have a small handicap having only joined the group this September but a lot can happen in 4 months! So here are a couple of my top moments of 2013 with Furman Elite...

1. Visiting Furman in July and telling Coach Gary I wanted to join the group.  His reply, "why don't you think about it some more and tell me by mid-August." I hope he never gets into sales.

2. Receiving an email from my soon to be roommate, this kid Michael Hammond, saying that he will be bringing a puppy to live with us. The pup, Brail, has turned out to be part black lab and part cat-dog as he climbs around the apartment with little grace.

3. Putting my altitude tent together with my girlfriend Bridget, our first true test of compatibility.  The tent still stands.

4. Ripping the football across the pool with the next great American steeplechaser, Wilkerson Given.

5. My first workout on the Furman golf course were I was dropped like a bad-habit.  A summer of life guarding and eating pork roll sandwiches didn't help my fitness level.

6. The "lunch at Ale-House" that turned into lunch, and dinner, and Sunday night football.

7. When it was time to strip down to singlet and shorts for our first race as a group and mother nature decided to give us a shower to add to our cold early morning plight.  Thanks for the good times Richmond.

8. Arriving at our month long rental house in Flagstaff, Arizona and running around the place calling rooms like the first episode of "The Real World." Especially when we found the missing room outside the main house which Jack and I claimed and coined "The Bro Den."

9. Beating Jeff See twice in a row in Ping-Pong.

10.  The arrival of Furman Elite's father, Coach Robert Gary, in Flagstaff.  It was no surprise that with his arrival we all had our best workout of the trip, capping a great month of growth as athletes and as friends.

Happy New Year, 2014 looks bright for Furman Elite

-Craig