Stories

The virtual run from KBR headquarters in Houston to its farthest office in Perth, and back, turned the spotlight on the value of teamwork beyond borders.

After six weeks of hard effort, 561 KBR employees across the globe crossed the virtual finish line of a 21,168-mile journey. The ONE KBR Virtual Run — conceptualized over a series of brainstorming sessions that began in mid-April in KBR’s Gurgaon, India office — closed in style less than two months later with an awards ceremony led by senior leaders.

The original concept was for participants to combine their efforts and run, walk or jog the equivalent distance from KBR headquarters in Houston, Texas, to its farthest office in Perth, Australia. Once live, however, interest exceeded expectations and organizers added a twist by making the run from Houston to Perth a return journey.

“When people started to sign up in greater numbers, we realized we’d set the bar too low. So, as Stuart (Bradie) usually does for me — if the bar is too low, he raises it again — we did the same thing with the number of running miles,” said Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology. “The distance that we covered is a tremendous example of one of KBR’s key values, which is working as a team of teams!”

Planned by Rakesh Singh and led by Anuj Kumar Shrivastava together with volunteer coordinators across the globe, the team produced weekly updates, a leaderboard, and recognized the often unique and innovative efforts of those taking part to maintain momentum and keep spirits high.

Among colleagues who showed exceptional performances and added their creative spin to the run were Allicia Heron from Australia, who did an ultra-marathon of 175 kilometers. From the UK, Sophie Grady and Alex Rutter walked as many as 50 kilometers on Day 1 of the run itself. Finally, Adriana Sanchez of Dubai and Bhavesh Shah of Bad Homburg, Germany, got creative by running their routes to spell out “ONE KBR” on their GPS.

We also had participants in COVID-struck regions under lockdown who ran half and full marathons, not on treadmills but within the confines of their homes and apartments! Some participants even ran on their rooftop patios and balconies, while others walked 50 kilometers in one setting.

The virtual run also saw participation from KBR leaders, including President and CEO Stuart Bradie; Pete Green, Sr. Vice President, Government Solutions U.S. – Defense & Intel Solutions; Doug Kelly, President, Technology; Ulysses Goree, Sr. Vice President, Integrated Solutions Americas; Ahmed Al-Dadah, Sr. Vice President, Integrated Solutions International; Aman Ahmad, Sr. Vice President, Global Sales, and others. Our leaders provided some tough competition to global teams in both the Sustainable Technology Solutions and Government Solutions businesses.

“This initiative has been a shining illustration of KBR values and our people’s determination and spirit,” said Bradie. “At KBR, the mental health, well-being and fitness of our employees is a top priority, and I want to thank all the global and local organizers for putting a spotlight on our efforts. I am honored to have been a part of this outstanding challenge.”

A virtual awards ceremony recognized the efforts of the top 10 runners, with Karthik Raju from KBR’s Chennai, India office coming in third, Peter Lawrence from the U.S. in second place, and Srividya Vairavel, also from Chennai, claiming the top spot.

Before the floor was opened to the audience for questions and answers, Jenni Myles, KBR’s Chief People Officer, spoke.

“I’ve been exercising more because of all the wonderful role modeling and frantically cheering from the sidelines,” she said. “My congratulations to all walkers and runners. Their athleticism, creativity and dogged determination are really impressive. Each one of you is so inspiring!”