Business Insight Zone

You may recall that our colleague Russell Secker, who recently wrapped up a 25-year executive career with D&B and Hoover’s, embarked two months ago on the TransEurope footrace.

The grainy cell-phone picture above tells the rest of the story in a nutshell: Russ has finished the race, which took him and his fellow crazy intrepid runners 2,800 miles through Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Norway. In the picture, he’s standing at the final finish line at the Nordkapp — the northernmost point in Europe.

To recap: 64 days with no days off, at an average of 45 miles per day.

What can I say about Russ’s achievement that would tell you more than those simple — but unbelievably grueling — numbers? Our former colleague Rob Lifford got it right when he quoted Rocky IV:

“He is not human. He is made of iron.”

With that, I’ll just add my best wishes for Russ’s safe and speedy trip home — and for his re-accumulation of body fat, since he’s burned off what little he had during this adventure!

You can read the stage-by-stage account of the race at Russell’s blog.

Category: Executives, Hoover's