Relay for Life: Bobsledders, Beauty Queens, and Kicking Cancer's Trash

So we announced a few weeks ago that our bobsled team was invited to help out at a local Relay for Life event held in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. I have to tell you, it was quite an event. Full of a lot of firsts, and a few lasts.

It was the first time we'd all gotten together to do a Relay for Life, though I and a few of my past teammates had done so.

It was the first time we'd offered to push people around in the bobsled to help raise money for cancer research. And man, oh man, what a blast! I have to give props to our team member Brad Welch for his ingenious wheel-system that he built to mount onto the shoes of the bobsled. I confess we were all a bit nervous when we put the system on and began to flip it over, but after a few people took their rides, confidence took over and we were pushing a bobsled on wheels across the soccer fields. By the end of the night, we were all pretty exhausted. Its tougher than the pictures will make it look.

Another first was that night was the first time (perhaps ever) that two beauty queens ever sat in a bobsled at the same time. When the even coordinators showed us where they wanted us to set up, we all laughed. It was right next to the booth that contained the 2009 Miss Utah and Miss Teen Utah. It was a rough night, let me tell you!

Both girls were very nice and even jumped into the sled for a ride across the field and back. Kudos to Miss Utah for her handling of the sled, if she's ever ready to kick off the high heels and put on some bobspikes, she might be a slider yet!

I think the best part for all of us, though, was knowing that we were making a difference. We couldn't help but stand there in thoughtful silence when all the cancer survivors began their walk around the park. There's a quiet serenity about them and you have to respect what they've gone through, what they've overcome. Perhaps that is why we love hearing about cancer survivors so much: because they show us that no matter what we face in life, no matter how difficult, we really can overcome. Whether our personal "cancers" be an illness, an addiction, financial stress, family struggles, or whatever the case may be, let us take a lesson from the chapter of cancer survivors. You face it, you beat it, and you come out stronger because of it.

Enjoy the pics everyone and I hope you have a great 4th of July weekend!

We're Headed to the Relay for Life

A couple weeks back, our bobsled team was invited to participate in a community event to promote healthy living. During this event, we had the privilege of meeting Melissa Lowry, the Cottonwood Heights local Relay Online Chair.

We got to talking about the upcoming American Cancer Society Relay for Life and what they were planning. Melissa wanted our team to participate in the event and well, it wasn’t long before the Don, Brad and I got the wheels in our heads moving. We started coming up with a couple of different things we could do to participate in the event.

If you've never heard of the Relay for Life, here’s what’s going on.

The relay is an all-night event where teams of people will take turns walking around a local track to help raise money and fight cancer. During the event, we’ve decided to bring the bobsled to the track and place it on wheels. We are going to offer rides to people who want to sit in the bobsled and be pushed by our team.

We’re all stoked about the idea. Not only is it for a great cause, but we are also going to get a bit of a workout in the process. The riders are going to have it cushy; maybe even try to find a couple pillows to place in the sled to make the ride that much more appealing.

We will be charging people to ride in the sled, but all of the proceeds will be going directly to the cause.

If you happen to be in Utah, and would like to come check it out, here are the details.

Relay for Life of Cottonwood Heights
June 19, 2009
7500 South 2500 East (Butler Park) Salt Lake City, Utah

For more information, go to the web site.

New Team Holm Bobsled Logo - Over 10 years and running

I was recently going through some boxes of my old junk and I came across some photos and documents dating back to my earliest days of bobsledding. Man, I almost felt old as I flipped through the pages of old time sheets, letters to my high school excusing my absence due to training, sponsorship agreements, and photos of a rather nerdy looking teenage bobsledder. Let's just say I'm glad that the glasses are gone! God bless whomever invented contacts.

But as I looked through all the old memorabila, the thought crossed my mind that I've been in bobsled since 1997. Wow. Has it really been that long? It sure doesn't feel like it. I mean, I did take two years off to serve as a missionary to Honduras and Belize for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Plus, when I got home, the next season and a half were really a bust since I had to fight tooth and nail to get track time at the Park City track. I was told over and over again, "We'll make it happen." And then no one ever did. I'll be forever grateful to Steve Revelli and Tom Raty for starting up the local skeleton group and letting my team and I slip into the training slots.

So, being in a creative mood (I am a graphic designer after all) having recently been working on an incredible project for the Price Musuem of Speed, I decided that it was time to revamp our ten-year old Team Holm Racing logo and turn it into what we really are: Team Holm Bobsled.

So, please, take a look at our new logo concept ideas and help us decide which one is best by voting at the top right hand corner of this blog.

Cheers!

The End of the Season - March Madness

As I spent the evening packing up an old USA gear bag for a trip to my families cabin in Wyoming, I couldn't help but feel a certain longing to be back on the ice. Its been a few weeks now since our last day of training and as I came across my bobsled gear spread throughout my closets, drawers, cabinets, and shelves, I could only smile as I silently wished I could be back out there on the track.

Our sliding season normally runs from the beginning October to the end of February. In some ways its kind of like school. The summer seems to fly by too quickly and before you know it, you're back out there, ready to prove how hard you worked (or slacked off) over the summer months. But, in the end, the time flies by even more quickly when you're training four nights a week. When the day comes that you empty your gear bag for the summer, and quietly stow your gear, your body gives a big "Hallelujah" for the break it will get for a few months. But your mind....that's different. After a few days, you're ready to pull the sleds out, polish the runners, squeeze into the spandex, throw the spikes on, and go again.

I have to say I felt incredibly lucky to have worked with such wonderful athletes this last season. From my dedicated and hard working teammates, to the skeleton athletes we trained alongside; even the skaters, skiers, and luge athletes I came in contact with. Everyday I sit back and wonder how I was so blessed to become involved in such a sport as bobsled and to be surrounded by some of the greatest people on earth.

It will be a fun summer though, with plenty of pushtrack training and some bobsled clinics, etc. Plus, plenty of vacations and parties! Oh, and throw in the job-hunting for some of us!

Speaking of that, I know the economy has put a pretty dark cloud over a lot of the world, but we can all still do some amazing things with our lives, even when life gets tough. Staying optimistic is the best medicine around. I recently read a biography on the great American actor John Wayne. He said something that has stuck with me since I read it: "Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway"

So no matter what situations you might be facing in life, no matter how tough it might seem, saddle up. Luck might just be turning in your favor.

-Jeremy

Online Bobsled Game

Well, after a few weeks off and some repairs to the sled, we are looking forward to our last few days of training for the 2008-2009 season! Don't worry, we'll post some pictures from our World Cup adventure (including the ensuing sled work), but in the meantime, we thought we'd let you try your hand at the fast-paced world of bobsled...online that is!



Click to Play!

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Sitting here this morning after a few hours of job hunting, I can't help but think of that famous line from Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities." After the incredible time we had with training the other night, reaching the best time we've ever hit AND getting ready for the excitement of the World Cup next week, imagine the cold water splash of getting laid off yesterday.

Yup, that was my Friday morning surprise. Well, I can't say total surprise as I worked in the travel industry and we've been hit pretty hard by the economy. And yet, we just finished a hugely successful travel show Jan 30-31 in which I put in a ton of work. We had 3,000 attendees last year and 4,500 this year!

So now I find myself on the hunt. And trying to stay positive and focused for World Cup forerunning next week. For anyone who's been where I am, you can imagine that some moments make it tough to do so.

What am I looking for? Wait, am I shamelessly self-promoting on my team's blog? Oh well, as they say, "(Team) Captain's Perogative."

I'm looking for something in the following fields: marketing, advertising, graphic design, public relations, instructional, writing, media production, journalism whether it be print, TV, or radio, and pretty much anything that's out there!

I am also open to freelancing to all you self-employeds out there. Hiring someone full time to do your marketing/graphic design/media relations can be expensive and quite simply unfeasable. Solution? I can freelance the work that you need to increase the public's awareness of your company and its services.

Whether it be something as simple as designing a business card or as complex as creating a website, I can help you with it. And I'm cheap! Much cheaper than you would pay someone full-time or even a professional production studio. You can expect to pay bucco bucks for that sort of thing. But I have almost 10 years of experience in the field and can promise you top-level work. When is the best time to cut marketing costs? Never. Companies make that mistake when times are tough and it only hurts them in the end.

And don't be afraid to pass the word around about my services! If you know of any friends, family, or previous employers who could use some inexpensive marketing and graphic design work, please pass this information along to them and I would be happy to work with them.

As you can see, I'm hitting the ground running. So many of you have been such incredible supports for my bobsled running, now I ask for your help in my financial running!

Giving It Your Best is a Good Feeling

There are some nights in our sport that just feel amazing. Nights when everything just gels together. The energy is just right, the sled is dialed in, and the driving is just perfect.

Well last night was almost one of those nights (driver error on the second run ruined it). A slight drop out of Turn 11 and a brush in Low-Point kind of set us back from a perfect second run.

The good news is that we got all the bungies for the brakes replaced and moved the handles for the #2 spot back a little bit. Turns out we'll have to move them again, but the brake handles worked just great for both runs. We're trying to get the sled all dialed in for World Cup forerunning next week. We also need to adjust the driving bungies and use our coach's alignment bar for the runners. But that's a story for another time.

Last night we had a bit of a laugh because we got the sled up to the top and two-man after two-man kept arriving. Turns out there was a race-off to see who was forerunning for the two-man races. Oh well, we wanted to focus on four-man last night anyway! The ice was nice and the track was fast.

So fast that we PR'ed, or hit our "Personal Best" downtime: 49.87 seconds. That was our first run, and as soon as we came down the braking stretch and saw the time I heard the crew behind me start cheering. Our goal is go get down into the 48's, but we'll have to do some sled work and some leg work to make it happen. We were all very pleased with the 49.87, however. I know World Cup times are a few seconds faster than that, but it was a great accomplishment for us. And we didn't even have as fast a push as we could!

As a driver it feels very good to hit that mark! Now we just need to finish up work on the sled and get ready for World Cup next week. Cheers!

Down By Two

(A post from Blackout – Don)

Last Saturday came as a surprise to both Jeremy and I. We were unaware there was going to be a bobsled race; therefore, didn’t do much to prepare for it. Sure we’ve been at the track regularly, but practicing 4-man bobsled. The race was for 2-man sleds. Until Saturday morning, we hadn’t pulled out the 2-man in about a month and a half. That sled felt neglected (and it made sure we knew that).

We got to the track about an hour before the race to do a little maintenance. Most of the time was spent sanding runners. After about 45 min, the runners weren’t perfect, but they looked better.

Show time!

Once the sled was in position, Jeremy and I set ourselves and began the cadence: “Back. Set. Ready…”

Since I don’t see much in the back, I have to recall the trip down the track by feeling. And once I felt turn four, I knew something wasn’t right; we were taping walls and dropping out of turns.

Sure enough, once we crossed the finish line Jeremy turned to me and said, “Something’s not right with the steering.” (Yeah, that would explain the ride.) And after the first heat, Team Holm was in fourth place.

After taking a couple minutes to adjust the steering, and getting back in the zone, we were back at the top of the track waiting for our second and final heat of the race. (If there were ever a time to get in the zone, this was it. We needed a really good push off, and you could tell that Jeremy was ready to pilot.

Again came the cadence: “Back. Set. Ready…” And we’re off! We definitely pushed harder; I also gave it a couple more steps before jumping in. (I think I kick Jeremy by accident during the load.)

This time it was a lot smoother, and I could feel Jeremy taking the bobsled to higher lines than before.

Given the condition of the track (I failed to mention it was raining that day and we were sliding on slush – not ice, which would be far more conducive to bobsledding) we were pleased with the run. But, we still needed to wait for one more bobsled before finding out if we medaled.

Sure enough, we made it! We came in third. I gotta hand it to Jeremy; he did a fabulous job getting us down the track safely the first time, and having a killer run the second time. Medaling with a non-responsive bobsled is pretty impressive.

Team Holm Goes to Australia

A good friend of ours, Jason Oliveri, from the Australian bobsled team recently sent us a copy of this ad from an Australian broadcasting company Foxtel. As a team we're extremely excited about the ad because that good looking team riding in that red sled? That's us. We participated in a photo shoot last year with Getty Images and this photo is one of the shots we did. I have to give Kudos to Foxtel's creative team for putting the shot on the water, it looks amazing!



It's kind of exciting to see stuff like this coming in from all over the world. As a team we feel very lucky and blessed to have been able to take part in such a great thing.

To read more about the photo shoot, please click here.

Hmmm that's odd...

In the world of social media, numbers can either mean everything or nothing. It all depends on what you're going for. If your blog or online profile on the social site is just for fun, numbers don't mean anything. But if you're a professional blogger or a business profile, you try to boost your numbers as much as possible.

The Team Holm Racing blog is a bit of a mixture of both. It is written mostly in fun for our friends and family to follow our weekly training sessions and what life is like in the sport. We've made it very clear that we are not the US Bobsled team, but you can read all about them on www.usbsf.com.

That being said, it has been fun, and odd, to see readers finding this blog all over the world. From Utah to India, Australia to England, Switzerland to Japan, we've gotten hits from across the globe. And lately there's been a lot of them. We used to get maybe 7 or 8 views a day. Yesterday we logged 48. How does a jump like that happen? Blame it on lucky keywords or just a lot of posts, but it has been fun to see the power of the Internet in action.

We hope you enjoy our blog and the stories and experiences we get to have in the sport. We're very lucky to get to do what we do. As the Australian national bobsled team told us, we're lucky to have the opportunity to live close to a track, have training time to get to do it, and be able to just drive right up after work or school and slide.

We really are some lucky guys.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Dear All,

At Team Holm Racing we've toyed around with the idea of putting together a fun video for the team that we can show friends and family as well as potential sponsors and groups we might find ourselves presenting to.

Well here it is!



Let us know what you think! And a special thanks to all the athletes, photographers, videographers, and editors who helped finish it. And an even bigger thank you to the man behind the scenes who sponsored the production of the video, Donny Osmond. Thank you, sir!

Taking One For The Team

This past Friday we had a bit of a last-minute change to our training session. And it reminded me of a sport-related principle that isn't often seen in the competitive world of athletics.

Right before the final check-in time for the session, two of our athletes let me know that they couldn't make it up in time. So there we were, three athletes with a four-man sled ready to go. As the clock marched forward, we desperately tried to find another athlete who would jump in with us. This is difficult at the last minute as all the other athletes who are up there are heavily focused on their own training schedules and needs. Totally understandable.

About fifteen minutes before the session was to start, Chad, one of the skeleton athletes, said he would be willing to ride with us and still take his skeleton runs down the track. I was so grateful as by this point I was starting to feel a bit nervous and frustrated.

The point I wanted to make, in gratitude for Chad's willingness to help, is that in the end he had to skip his planned skeleton runs down the track so he could ride with us. And we had some decent times, ones that I was very happy with. Like I said, its not very often that you see an athlete in any sport who is willing to give up what they want in order to help another. It was the perfect example of "sportsmanship."

A special thanks to Chad for helping Team Holm get their training in on Friday night and for helping us get some great times!

On a side note, we must have impressed the coaches as they kept saying that I was making the driving-coaching too easy for them. They had nothing to advice me on!

And to make matters even greater, after the session we were officially asked to Forerun (hill test) for the FIBT World Cup race to be held on the track in mid-February. Stay tuned for details and times!

Auzzie, Auzzie, Auzzie - Oy, oy, oy!

L to R:Jeremy Holm, Jason Oliveri, Jeremy Rolleston, Matt Storms, and Don Osmond)

This past week and a half has been a lot of fun for us as a team. As we've tried to cram in as many training sessions as possible to make up for the holiday break, we've found ourselves up at the track as much as four days a week.

One of the best part about bobsledding is all the friends that you make through the sport. Not that they're all bobsledders themselves, you get to meet athletes from all sports, summer and winter.

These past few training sessions we've had the great honor of training alongside some athletes from the Australian bobsled team. Jeremy Rolleston and Jason Oliveri. Despite requiring a few minutes of straight conversation to get used to their accents, we quickly became mates with these guys and had a lot of fun together (especially when they were so thoughtful and tried to buy us beer as a thank-you for all the help we gave them even though none of us, including the Aussies, drink)! I was able to sit and talk with Jeremy and go over drive-lines in the track and to help him in some spots he was trying nail down. Some of the Team Holm pushers were able to go over technique with Jason as well.

And then, the best of all, we were able to get Jeremy into our 4man bobsled for some runs just before they had to leave to head back to Australia. Two Team Holm athletes, Don Osmond and Matt Storms, even volunteered to ride with Jeremy on his runs down the track that night. I decided that Jeremy needed the runs and my athletes more than I did, so I helped coach at the top of the track that night. And he did great! Jeremy's first runs down in a 4man were very nicely done, so good on ya mate!

Afterwards we all went down to Main Street Park City for a farewell dinner. Although it ended up a late night by the time we all got to our homes, it was well worth it.

Jeremy and Jason, you'll always have mates in Team Holm Bobsled and we'll see you on the ice!