The race that stops an agency...

Today is my boss, Dan 'Bish Bash Bosh' Smith's last day in the office. He and his girlfriend, Zooey, are taking 6 months off to travel before heading back to the UK for awhile. Dan's been an awesome guy to work for, and I'll definitely miss his UK-isms during my last week next week.

Awhile back, he and Neal, a planner here at the agency, got to talking (after a few drinks) who they thought would beat each other in a foot race. It went from speculation at a bar to actually coming to fruition, and people now taking bets on who's faster. The foot race is today after our all agency meeting. We'll walk out in front of George St, have people prepared to close down the road, and the guys, Dan, Neal and Steve Back the Creative Director are racing up the hill in a 92m dash - the prize: pride & bragging rights.


AJ sent out this email the other day to get the agency excited about the race: The sporting world has seen a number of rivals throughout history. Joe Frazier & Mohammad Ali, Larry Bird & Magic Johnson, Federer & Nadal and Jen Hawkins & Mirander Kerr. All top match ups people would give their right nut to witness.

Fear not sports lovers, for this coming Friday will see some real heavyweights do battle in a fight for supremacy right outside your office window. To mark the end of Dan Smith's days at Saatchi & Saatchi, a race has been organised to put to rest months of debate over who the fastest runner in the agency is. Three athletes have been chosen with Dan himself taking on Neal Fairfield and Steve Back in a race that will stop the nation.

The race will be held on George Street starting from the Hickson Road pedestrian crossing, with the finish line outside of the Merc. Athletes will hit the blocks straight after Friday's all staff meeting at around 5pm. There will be a commentary team (your Melbourne Cup MCs), a bookie (Ben Charlton) and an official race starter (KCT has a shot gun). It will be all happening!

It's extremely difficult to split the athletes at this stage. Past and present athletes throughout the world have described the match up as a most intriguing contest. Australian champion Cathy Freeman predicts a "tight tussle", Diego Maradona can "sniff an upset" and 100m World Record holder Usain Bolt thinks the race will be "good".

Full player profiles to follow tomorrow.
The gloves are off so let's get this place... ah.... running???

AJ has had his megaphone out all day today - and is ready to call the race. I'll be one of the photographers, and we've got 2 videocameramen ready to go to capture this historic sporting event. I'll have the results for you after the weekend...stay tuned next week.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my kiddos back in the US. Although I'm not officially celebrating Turkey Day over here, I am very thankful for the most amazing friends and family a girl could ask for. Enjoy the turkey, post-meal naps and football. Go Broncos!!