Or better yet, who?

Run Fuqua is a group of Weekend Executive MBA ’18 students that have come together to simultaneously push one another physically and mentally. The group was founded a few weeks prior to the start date of our 19-month program, and has continued to grow since.

We are students, athletes, executives, and friends. We are determined to maximize our opportunity and to take advantage of the time we have together. Pursuing a healthy body directly correlates with our healthy minds. John F. Kennedy said it best, “Our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our security.”

It’s 5:30 A.M.

Dozens of Weekend Executive MBA students are rising and shining to get their early morning workout in before a full day of classes. Regardless of pace or distance, we can easily find a buddy to sweat with while roaming the hilly roads of Durham.

The J.B. Duke Hotel gym offers additional options for fitness seekers, and most mornings you will see a handful of bodies hitting the weights hard.

The motivation and dedication coming from the group is infectious. Newcomers to fitness are becoming obsessed. Goals are being set, races organized, and weight lost! Jokingly, a few have mentioned they will not gain the “grad-school gut.”

Our Team Challenges

In September, a group of us will compete in the Fayetteville Spartan Race—six miles of intense obstacles that you cannot hurdle alone. We’ll leap over fire, climb 8-foot walls, crawl under barbed wire, and do everything we can to finish the extremely challenging race. I have no doubt we’ll succeed in this feat, but more importantly, we’ll have fun.

Then in November, a large group of students will represent our class at the City of Oaks Marathon and Race Fest. Some have never run a 5K before, but the race offers a variety of distances to accommodate any runner. Students will be pushing themselves and each other through the streets of Raleigh. Training has already launched and new runners have the support of seasoned runners to guide them in the ramp-up toward their distance of choice.

Team Fuqua Spirit

Run Fuqua is an example of how the collaborative spirt that embodies Team Fuqua goes beyond the classroom and beneath the surface. Life-long relationships are being formed, as each student motivates one another to take on more than they thought possible and become the best version of themselves.