Thiele Geotech in the Community: Trek Up the Tower 2016

For the third year in a row, the Thiele Geotech “GeoTrekers” took on the First National Bank Tower and conquered the challenge. This year we had a record size team of 14 attending.

Trek the Tower is a vertical race consisting of climbing the 40 floor stairway in Omaha’s First National Bank Building. The event is organized by the Wellness Council of the Midlands (WELCOM). The Wellness Council of the Midlands was established in 1982 and is dedicated to promoting health and wellness throughout the workplaces in the Omaha community. WELCOM’s Mission is to lead employers to create a workplace culture of health and wellness.

This year’s theme was Stairway to Heaven. The TG team was Rockin’ the Stairwell.

Thiele’s men’s top finishers were Chad Price at 6m 51s, Seth Yakel at 7m 16s, and Cody Kimball at 7m 49s. Thiele’s women’s top finishers were Emily Thiele at 7m 21s, Maggie Yakel at 8m 43s, and Aaron Norman at 9m 20s.

Emily Thiele, while officially participating with another team, was considered a TG teammate at heart. Emily took 1st place in her age division and placed 18th overall for women. Way to go Emily!

Participating team members included: Dan Thiele, Emily Thiele, Michael Gerdes, Wendy Gerdes, Bart Pugh, Seth Yakel, Seth’s wife Maggie Yakel, Chad Price, Cody Kimball, Cody’s girlfriend Aaron Norman, Bob Lapke, Kelli Maas, Robert Miller, and Josh Kankovsky. Team members sported customized Thiele GeoTreker Rock-n-Roll Led Zeppelin themed Stairway to Heaven shirts.

Outside of the Geo-Trek team, Ivan Marsh has won this event 10 times. This year Marsh finished in 4 minutes and 32 seconds. Marsh provided these comments to KETV Omaha, “It always hurts” and “You’re exhausted. I mean, you can’t breathe, you’re trying to catch your breath. It’s very painful”. Ivan, I think we would agree.

While being a short-lived activity, it’s a huge mental and physical endurance test. Congratulations to all that participated.