After just 50 days, Netsertive crossed the finish line on our 1,077 mile relay race around North Carolina.

When we laid out the race course, we thought it would take approximately 10 to 12 weeks for one of the 43 teams of four to cross the line.

Having traded the lead with Bandwidth’s lead team for most of the last seven weeks, Netsertive jumped ahead earlier this month and left Bandwidth panting with 40 miles to go.

Netsertive’s victory was a team effort. While Bandwidth’s lead runner Josh Redlus has racked up an astonishing 642 miles, Netsertive had a deeper bench with Bob Bradley running 364.8 miles, Billy Pomarico covering 274.5 miles, Clair Smith contributing 273.7 miles, and Katie Harrell pushing through 164.5 miles.  (Even at #4 on the Netsertive team, Harrell finished #31 among total of 157 people registered for the race.) 

In addition to one other team from its own company, Netsertive bested four teams from Bronto, four teams from Redhat, three teams from SAS, three from sister companies Republic and Bandwidth, two from Adzerk, three from Channel Advisor, two from Windsor Circle and two from Newfangled.  The race was sponsored by The Startup Factory and HutchLaw.

Don’t worry, the Tarheel tech elite is not missing work to pound the pavement out on NC’s highways and byways. Sleeping at home each night, racers advance their respective team avatars on the race map by submitting mileage from their daily runs near home.

Here are two posts (1 and 2) about the start of the race. And don’t miss this post about the psychological, physical and social boosts this virtual race delivered.