Spotlight this week is on Eric Furnas. Eric is a close friend of the family and has provided support for Joe in previous ultra-distance cycling events. As a cyclist, Eric has competed in various races including six hour races, time trials, and cyclo-cross events. Since Eric has a background of swimming, it only made sense that he also compete in triathlons. For the past 6 years, Eric has competed in various triathlons including sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons. This year, Eric is training to complete his first Half Ironman. The past two years, Eric has also started to dabble in adventure racing and recently was a participant in the largest Adventure Racing Camp in the nation.

Eric is not only an athlete, but a husband and a father. He and wife, Jenny, have been married four years and have a son, Camden, who will turn 3 years old on June 16th, just one day before Race Across the West begins. As a three year old has yet to grasp the concept of exactly when his birthday should be celebrated, the family will throw Camden’s party on Saturday the 13th so that Eric can catch his flight to Oceanside the next morning. Jenny and Camden are then meeting Eric in Colorado immediately following the Race Across the West for a family vacation of fly fishing, hiking, and white water rafting.

Eric has a multitude of other hobbies, which his strongest passion is for scuba diving and hopefully plans to find time for a dive just a day or two before the Race Across the West begins. Other pastimes include hunting and fishing when possible. Recently he and son Camden have shared various entertaining moments fishing at a family-owned pond.

Teaming up with our son Caleb during the Race Across the West, Eric will provide great significance to our team. He brings technical support, creativity (web-site updates), enthusiasm, and humor to the team. He and Caleb will get along perfectly during the race.

We’re pleased that Eric was able to get time away from his busy new job as Director of Administrative Services for Muscatine County. Hopefully, crewing for team “Mann Powered” will be a memorable experience, as well as, an enjoyable vacation for him.