Yellow Bricks

by Duncan Epping

run

VMworld Run 2019??

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A few folks had asked me if I will be organizing a VMworld RUN again in San Francisco this year. I organized one in 2009 and then after that, the VMworld team took over. In Las Vegas running wasn’t really an option considering the heat. But now that we are back in San Francisco the question popped up again. I briefly considered it, but then I came to my senses and realized that it wouldn’t be the smart thing to do. It would be too big and risky. After some discussions, I found out that there’s a run organized called the Bridge to Bridge run on the 25th of August. (https://bridgetobridge.com/) Why organize something yourself when you can potentially work with a professional organization? I reached out to the VMworld team, the VMworld team reached out to the Bridge to Bridge organization, and they came back with the following:

Looking for a fun and active way to kick off your VMworld experience? We’ve partnered with the Bridge to Bridge run in San Francisco to offer VMworld attendees $15 off registration for their annual run supporting the Special Olympics of Northern California on August 25th. Just enter the code INNOVATEVM750 during registration to save.

Register here if you want to join a great run, and take advantage of a 15 dollar discount, while supporting the Special Olympics: https://raceroster.com/events/2019/16196/bridge-to-bridge-run

Sign up!

VMware RADIO Fun Run 2019

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William Lam and I have been organizing a “running” event at a VMware internal event called RADIO. RADIO is our yearly R&D Innovation Offsite and is usually held in San Francisco. What is this run? Well basically it started many years ago (7 or 8?) with a group of 4-5 runners meeting up at 6:00 AM to go for a run. The group organically grew the next year to about 7 or 8 and I figured I could potentially do something similar to the VMworld RUN I organized many years ago. So the year after we asked the RADIO team if we could have it listed on the agenda officially, they looked at us a bit strange as they didn’t expect anyone to wake up at 05:30 to go for a 5KM or 10KM run at 06:00 AM. I guess they forgot that many of us fly in from a different country, and as such are jetlagged and will be awake for hours by then. The first official run had 15-20 runners, followed by 25 the next year and it steadily grew. It wasn’t just William and I, of course, organizing this, we had folks like Chris Wolf, for instance, helping out.

The past two years we stepped up our game, as the numbers started growing, and we managed to get funding for running shirts and hats and started working with the event team to get it a bit more structured. Why? Well, when there are 75-80 people running in a city like San Francisco you need to stand out and you can’t just walk outside and run, things need to be a bit more structured. This year we had about 120 people joining on the run. VMware employees from different business units and different countries. A great way to meet people you normally wouldn’t meet, especially not in a setting like this. For instance, we had our Chief People Officer joining last year, we bumped into Michael Dell this year and of course our global field CTO Chris Wolf also joined again. But that is not the goal, the goal is to get to meet people you normally would not meet. I for instance also happened to run next to a developer who worked on VASA and we got to discuss an issue I was experiencing, which subsequently then got fixed. Pretty cool.

Anyway, I just wanted to share some pictures of the run, as it may get you thinking about organizing something like this as well for a company event! It is fun and worth the effort! If you participated and are reading this, thanks for joining, hope to see you next year! And of course, everyone who helped to organize, thanks!

VMworld San Francisco Run 2010

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In 2009 I was one of the people who came up with the idea to run the Golden Gate Bridge during VMworld. This idea got a little out of hand and we ended up with roughly 200 runners and 4 Sponsors. It was probably one of the best social events I ever attended during VMworld.

This year we expected that a lot more people wanted to join and as such the VMworld Organization is running (:-)) the event this year.

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What: 5k out-and-back course
When: Sunday, August 29th at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Crissy Field, San Francisco
Who: VMworld 2010 attendees and spouses
How: Registration and further information to come out next week.

VMworld Golden Gate Bridge Run – 2009 – Thanks everyone

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I’ve seen many cool things this week and I’ve met a lot of cool people. But the VMworld Golden Gate Bridge Run was definitely the best thing ever. We had roughly 200 people who joined us and everyone had so much fun. The view was amazing, almost a clear blue sky.

Five weeks ago I never expected that a single tweet between @jasonboche and myself would end up in an event like this. Imagine just a couple of guys talking about running during VMworld and ending up with 200 people running the Golden Gate Bridge with multiple sponsors who committed to this on twitter. That’s not something that happens every day! Thanks Stephen Herrod, Chad Sakac, Vaughn Stewart and last but not least David Davis for sponsoring the run.

Of course thanks also goes out to my VMware colleagues Craig Williams, Scott Drummonds and Timothy Stephan for stepping up to the plate and making this happen.

If anyone made pictures during the run please share them and drop a link in the comments section of my blog.

Thanks everyone for participating! And for those who missed out, we know it was all very last minute but we already spoke about making this an annual event and not only in San Francisco also Copenhagen!