Why are we known as the Running Emus? If you are wondering why we are called the "Running Emus", here’s a little background information. Our Running Team was initially organized with the incentive of some very enthusiastic runners at the JCC in February of 2005 as the "Rochester Marathon Training Group”  The purpose of the group was to train runners for the reinstatement of the Rochester Marathon that was to take place on September 17, 2005. Since there was going to be a relay, a half-marathon, and a full marathon, the running group was open to runners participating in any one of these events. The "Rochester Marathon Training Group" met for the first group run on the last Saturday in February to begin our training. At that first training 77 people were listed on our roster. The neat thing about this group was that all of the runners (in all of the categories) were new to their specific event. In other words, the marathoners were 1st time marathoners, as were the half marathoners and relay runners.
During one of our early meetings Beth Goldberg suggested that we get team shirts….and of course with a “team shirt” you need an official team name and a team logo. One morning as I was thinking about our team shirt and team logo a ten year calendar of Jewish Holidays fell out of the book that I was reading. I noticed that Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish religious new year) had begun on September 16th, 2004-- ushering in the Hebrew year of 5765. Since we were running the 2005 marathon, I wanted to incorporate the Hebrew year 5765 into our team name and logo, especially since the meaning for 65 seemed to fit perfectly with what the marathon meant to us personally and what we believed that it meant to Rochester. In Hebrew, numbers have letters and meanings associated with them. The year 5765 is spelled, Tov Shin Samekh Hei. Some of the meanings of 60 (Samech) are to encircle, surround, support or to come full circle as if to complete a cycle. Some of the meanings of 5 (Hei) are the revelation of self in the act giving of oneself to others in the form of self-expression as the ultimate gift.
 Since the Rochester Marathon course was going to be run as a full circle around Rochester on September 17, 2005 (a full Gregorian year after the start of 5765 on September 16, 2004), and since many of the runners (in accomplishing their running goals) were fully giving themselves to this process and supporting others in reaching their respective goals, we decided to call ourselves "Team 65". The logo on our shirt (pictured on the left) was the Samech encircling the Hei with our slogan: "Rochester Coming Full Circle in Victory!”
As we ran the 2005 (5765) Rochester Marathon as a team, we were literally coming “full circle” in victory on the race course and on the calendar while supporting each other in reaching our respective goals.
By the time we completed the marathon (and yes true to our name- we all came “full circle in victory” with a 100% finish rate among our team), we had received a lot of media attention and  For the sake of preserving the authenticity of historical events, I will not attempt to retell the story, but will instead include the actual email that was sent on July 16, 2006 (by Georg) proposing use of the Emu for our team. This email is now considered to be the founding document of the current "Running Emus" Team: Georg's email entitled "Group Mascot" – July 16, 2006 Last night we discussed the need of having a "group 65 animal mascot".  Please see for more information: In our opinion the Emu is perfectly representing fast sprinters and long distance runners at the same time. "They are able to travel great distances at a fast, economical trot and, if necessary, can sprint at 50 kilometers per hour for several kilometers at a time." (50 kilometers/hour = 31 miles/hour, that's 6 minutes for the 5k!) Plus: Emus naturally run from the core, because an Emu is actually nothing but a core with legs. More facts from the article: "Their calls consist of loud booming, drumming and grunting sounds that can be heard up to 2 kilometers away." => This description could serve as a guideline for our upcoming group cheer contest. You can listen to an EMU at http://www.abc.net.au/archives/av/birds.htm#e What do you think? Team 65 - "The EMUs"? P.S.: -end of email- Note: After this email, Team 65 became known as the "Running Emus" and we have certainly tried our best to uphold the reputation of the Emu! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjTgdXrRKI8&feature=related
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