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 Linda Thomas
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Linda is the morning news anchor and features reporter for KIRO Radio. This is her local news blog, with an emphasis on social media, technology, Northwest companies, education, parenting, and anything else that grabs her attention.

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Getting down and dirty with co-workers

June 6, 2012 @ 7:08 pm (Updated: 10:18 am - 6/7/12 )

For some companies, morale building amounts to employees standing around a conference room table, eating birthday cake with plastic forks off chintzy paper plates for Joe's birthday. Or was that for Jerry? What department does he work in anyway?

Team work at leading-edge companies involves scaling walls, climbing cargo nets, and crawling through a muddy obstacle course.

You spend at least 2,000 hours every year with your co-workers, you might as well like them. The Wall Street Journal profiled one way employees are bonding away from the office with a muddy obstacle course challenge for normally desk-bound workers.

ToughMudder

Participants in a "Tough Mudder" challenge get away from their desks for team building. Photo by Randy Harris

A Bellevue financial firm puts on its on competition every year that is "team building on steroids" for them.

After watching an episode of "The Office" that featured an office Olympics competition, Guidant Financial co-founders David Nilssen and Jeremy Ames thought it was "absolutely ridiculous." But it also seemed like a great way for staff to have fun each other and create a company tradition.

It's become Guildant's most anticipated event every year, complete with an obstacle course and eating disgusting things. They held their annual event this week with a "Hunger Games" theme.

"My very favorite event ever was when we did an eating contest, and we got these huge Costco muffins. If you ever try to eat one of those, it takes about a half an hour," says Ames. "Eric pours a glass of water at sets it there. Everyone's looking at it thinking, 'oh, he's just going to have a sip of water,' and then they say go. Eric starts dunking this muffin in the water and smearing it in his face. It was everywhere. It was beautiful."

I don't think there will be muffin drinking Thursday night (sounds so wrong) but the entire KIRO Radio team will be at the Everett Performing Arts Center tonight. All of our shows will be there telling embarrassing stories, sincere stories about the work we love, and some amazing did-that-really-happen John Curley stories. Can't wait! If you can't make it to Everett, we'll be in Bellevue next .

By LINDA THOMAS

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