Buckle Up; It's Going To Be A Bumpy Ride
A pair of TQL teams entered chairs in the third annual Race a Chair for Health Care Office Chair Races Oct. 10 in Milford.
The event runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with time trials set to begin at 11. The races benefit HealthSource of Ohio, a private, not-for-profit Federally Qualified Community Health Center offering primary health care services including medical, dental, behavioral health and pharmacy.
Kelly S. of the payment resolution team leads team 18 Wheelers, which also featured Lauren D helping build the chair. Kelly will do the actual careening down the .2-mile course at Park 50 Techne Center.
“I’m an adrenaline junkie, but I don’t know where it comes from,” Kelly said. “My dad likes adventure, but my mom won’t get on an airplane to go on vacation. This is completely new. It’s just the thrill of competition. We tried the chair out in our driveway and it got some pretty good speed.”
Their chair resembles one of the thousands of semi-trailers TQL moves every day. Director of carrier operations Mark F. and quality systems supervisor Mike J. – on the other hand – won’t divulge what their chair will look like.
“It’s a top-secret design with all the work being done in a secure Skunk Works facility,” Mark said. “All I can say is I have confirmed that the chair we will be using in the race meets the criteria as described by the official rules.”
Kathryn Glover-Grever, development director for the HealthSource Ohio Foundation, said the idea for chair racing came from a similar event in Germany. The only other chair races she knows of in the USA are in Sacramento.
The rules are simple.
“You have to have a chair – duh - knee and elbow pads, a helmet and closed-toe shoes,” she said. “No motor on the chair and brakes are optional. Everyone will race a minimum of twice, unless they freak out just from the time trial.
“We have racers that can’t wait to come back. Last year we had a chair modified to include handlebars to be a motorcycle, a guy in a hazmat suit and our favorite gorilla (one of our employees).”
“Any time we get a chance to show our pride and commitment to TQL, we do our best to participate,” Mark said. “This event was a no brainer for us to join and help demonstrate TQL is a community partner. In addition, it fits into our department’s motto of being ‘all in.’”
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