Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Lance Armstrong, two-time Tour de France winner and bronze medal winner at the Sidney Olympics, addresses the employees at Interwoven in Sunnyvale. He earlier accepted a donation from the company.
Olympian Gifts
Lance Armstrong accepts generous donation from fitness-minded company
By Daniel Hindin
Olympic bronze medal cyclist Lance Armstrong, fresh off the plane from Sydney only days after the time trial competition, made an appearance at Sunnyvale tech company Interwoven Inc., last Tuesday.
Interwoven handed over a check of an undisclosed amount to the Lance Armstrong Foundation earlier at their San Francisco headquarters. The foundation helps people manage and survive cancer by providing them with information, services and support.
After his appearance in San Francisco, Armstrong was chauffeured down to Interwoven's Sunnyvale headquarters in a rented white stretch Lincoln Navigator limousine for a question and answer session with company employees.
Interwoven is a leading provider of enterprise-class content management software for moving core business processes to the web. It is also a company that prides itself on the fitness of its employees.
"We're one of the only companies around that has a hired fitness trainer on staff," said Interwoven President and CEO Martin Braun. "In Silicon Valley we live in a high-tech, high-stress culture. You need to counter it with something."
Interwoven actually has at least 30 employees who have participated in triathlons. Other employees make serious efforts to stay active and physically fit. Their trainer has even taken a group of employees to two different local grocery stores to show them what they should and shouldn't be eating. Hence, the athletically enthusiastic employees were extremely excited to be in the presence of two-time Tour de France winner and ex-triathlete Armstrong.
Armstrong, tired, jetlagged and a bit disappointed with his third-place finish in Sydney, made himself accessible to the employees during his presentation and afterwards. Interwoven used its technological capabilities in order to broadcast the event on the Internet for those employees who weren't able to attend in person.
Not only was Armstrong happy to pick up the check for his cancer foundation, he was also happy to see his longtime friend, and Interwoven employee, Brad Kearns. Kearns facilitated the trip and provided the link between the athlete and the company.
Armstrong answered many questions, on topics ranging from his performance in the Olympics, to his future athletic plans, to what it takes to be successful, to his experience fighting cancer, and to what it was like to 'kiss' an elephant on his popular television commercial.
Armstrong said he never finds it hard to get motivated to train.
"I just really like doing what I do," he explained. "It's never a grind--I never wake up and say 'I don't want to train.' Some of my teammates don't want to train when it's raining, but I always want to. I love it, and I get paid for it."
Others have used Armstrong's traits and life experiences (his situation fighting cancer and his positive attitude) as motivational tools of their own. Interwoven employee Eric Atkisson, who fought his own battle with cancer, said he has drawn major inspiration from Armstrong and his story. Atkisson has used this inspiration to drive him in his newfound hobby of cycling.
Atkisson has participated in many bicycle fundraising events with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Team in Training" program. Through the program that raises awareness and money for cancer through ultra-endurance events such as century rides (100-mile bike rides), triathlons and marathons, Atkisson participated in the 112-mile Tour de Tucson and the Pan-Massachusetts Century Ride.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
