News Article
Womble Bulldogs Complete Two-Day Relay Race
September 13, 2006
Team ran a 208-mile relay race through some of the most rugged territory in the southeastern Blue Ridge Mountains.
Last week, the Womble Bulldogs, a team comprised of Womble lawyers, alumni, and friends of the firm, ran the Blue Ridge Mountain Relay, a 208-mile relay race through some of the most rugged territory in the southeastern Blue Ridge Mountains. The Womble Bulldogs exemplified the best characteristics of Womble Carlyle: tenacity, skill, and teamwork.
The race began near Damascus, Va., at Grayson Highlands State Park on Friday, September 8 at 8:00 a.m. and concluded in downtown Asheville, N.C., at about 1:00 p.m. the following day. During that time, the team, captained by Womble lawyer Tom Schroeder and Womble alumni Dennis Norris, ran 36 different legs through a variety of terrain, including a leg described as “mountain goat hard” on North Carolina 197 (S), with a vertical climb of more than 1,400 feet over a six-mile length. Womble Bulldog and environmental law/toxic tort litigation attorney Stan Green handled that leg like it was a Sunday stroll in the park.
The course, which follows country roads, includes some of the most impressive scenery in the United States, such as the New River, Grandfather Mountain, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. Each team member ran three legs and covered an average distance of more than 16 miles, maintaining a pace of 8:19 per mile.
The 12-member team was comprised of 11 men and one woman, Melanie Holton, the wife of Womble alumni Mark Holton. The team, along with 35 other teams, ran through the night and gave each other encouragement, nourishment, and plenty of laughs.
The team, while exhausted, all agreed to run the relay next year after placing 14th in this year’s race. Several of the top finishing teams were professional.
The team was comprised of Womble lawyers and technical support staff: Tom Schroeder, Howard Grubbs, Ric Morton, Stan Green, and Greg McGrath; Womble alumni: Dennis Norris, Mike Greer; and friends of Womble: Melanie Holton, Andy Good, George Starnes, Doug Blackford, and Dr. Greg Hawthorne.
Click here for more information about the Blue Ridge Relay.
A full-service business law firm, Womble Carlyle ranks among AmLaw's 100 leading firms in the country and is a top law firm for companies doing business in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic states. The firm is a recipient of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award, making Womble Carlyle the first law firm ever to receive the highest honor given to a business organization in recognition of its support of the Fund and its 45 member educational institutions.
Founded in 1876, Womble Carlyle operates in six states and the District of Columbia with nearly 550 attorneys in eleven offices located in Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Wilmington, DE; and Baltimore, MD. Womble Carlyle is located in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally.