As I sat down to write this, a whirlwind of emotions flew over me. Yesterday, I made out my calendar for my last month of events at the Texas Beef Council. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about ending my internship. This has been an amazing experience that God has blessed me with. I have met so many remarkable people at the Texas Beef Council, and I will always be grateful for this opportunity. I know that I say this a lot, but this has truly surpassed anything that I ever expected an internship to be.
One of the awesome things that the Texas Beef Council has a team of runners, triathletes and cyclists called the Texas BEEF Team; Yes! You heard that right! The Texas BEEF Team represents beef at in runs, cycling events, and triathlons wearing BEEF Fuel for the Finish jerseys. If you are in the racing community and have ever been to a race in Austin, you could not have missed these members. They wear their BEEF jerseys loud and proud. The BEEF team has members not only in Austin but all across the State of Texas. There is also a kids BEEF running team. The Beef Team Kids program helps the younger folks understand the importance of physical activity, good nutrition and community service.
One of the latest events that I got to participate in was an adventure race for the BEEF Team. The adventure race was created by Jackie Dobson and Jamie Doty, who are active members on the BEEF Team. They held an adventure race in several different locations including; Austin, Waco, Houston, and Dallas. The adventure race was more of a scavenger hunt. There are clues and items placed throughout one of the local parks where the race is held at. In order to get points, the members have to go to the main locations and pick up clues that lead them to another destination. The participants will receive points after the obstacle course is completed. There is only a short amount of time to travel across the park, find clues, participate in obstacle courses, and try to get the most points as possible. So, most of the groups you see are running. While this is supposed to be a fun event, the competitive nature almost always takes over. One of the things that I really enjoyed about the race involved the options that you were given. If you were not a big runner, you could walk the race. If you brought a guest that was not a BEEF team member, you could stay with your guest and complete the race. The awesome part of the race is that you were split up into groups of two with someone that you did not know. This was very neat as you saw relationships build over the course of the race and new friendships being made.
While there were winners at every event, everyone ultimately won because they all got to participate in a Grilling 101 and cook their own flat iron steak! Jerry and I would have all the grills set out, so when they got back from their race (hungry more than likely) we would jump into the Grilling 101 and the participants would be eating in no time!
Being involved with helping with the BEEF Team and the adventure races has peaked my interest in being more physically active and I have noticed that I make more of an effort to take the longer route; to walk a little farther. Even though my time with the Texas BEEF Council is winding down, I still have the BEEF Team and I hope to be more active on the team in the up and coming future!
If you would like some more information on the BEEF team, check out the website at:
No matter if you are a runner, walker, swimmer, or biker, whatever activity inspires you keep doing it!
Casey.Lynn 