Team captain Kirk Woltman’s passion to run for a cause helped him triple his company’s participation in Texas Tough.
Woltman, of Royse City, has enlisted three seven-person teams from Plano-based Hill & Wilkinson General Contractors to compete in the Texas Tough Ultra Relay on March 29 at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park. Texas Tough founder Joel Williams hopes to create a fundraising phenomenon to benefit Children’s Medical Center along the lines of the two-day BP MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin that collected more than $15 million last April. “Geoff’s got the right concept to get a lot of people to do a little bit to make a big difference,” said Woltman, who has finished five marathons for charity. “He’s managed to capture all the folks in the mode of staying fit to concentrate on one group effort.” The relay consists of four 5K legs and three 10K legs. Teams can have four to seven members. A $25,000 prize purse will be divided among the top 20 finishing relay teams that meet their fundraising minimums. The 5K and 10K courses will be on the Fair Park grounds, with all relay exchanges on the Cotton Bowl field. “We can be pumping up the guy that’s about to run and cheering the guy who just finished,” said Jim Sackett, a senior project manager with Hill and Wilkinson.
Sackett served as captain of the company’s Texas Tough cycling team last September. Five employees raised $2,500 and created a buzz that resulted in 21 registering for the run, including company CEO Greg Wilkinson.