CRE Adrenaline Junkies
Who needs to go see X-Men when there are those among you pulling off crazy stunts? We gathered up some CRE pros who love extreme sports and flirting with danger.
Jorge Rodriguez
Kennedy Wilson senior associate Jorge Rodriguez (who recently joined the San Antonio office) says extreme sports are not only a way to challenge life and overcome your fears, but are a chance to truly enjoy life to the fullest. “In Costa Rica, we say 'pura vida,' or pure life, but my motto is ‘live life,’” he tells us. He even has a tattoo with that motto. (We'd do the same, but tattoos kinda hurt and we're scared.) “How else are you supposed to live life, if you are afraid to try it?” Here he is in front of Santa Elena Canyon in the heart of Big Bend National Park on a motorcycle trip he does with his buddies every Easter weekend.
Jorge was a Golden Knight while serving in the Army, so skydiving is routine. Here he is doing a sports story when he was a sportscaster for Univision at Skydive San Marcos. He jumped three more times after that first one. He tells us the book Tuesdays with Morrie put a lot of things into perspective in his life: instead of being afraid of death, the book urges readers to be afraid of not living.
Kent Myers
Here’s Marcus & Millichap senior associate Kent Myers downhill mountain biking on the north shore of Canada a couple of years ago. (This is a lot different than putting baseball cards in your spokes and riding to park.) He tells us he rides and races mountain bikes regularly and has since he was a kid. The hardest trails: Powers Creek in Kelowna, British Columbia. It's a good way to have fun and blow off some steam while staying active and healthy, he says.
Greg Johnston
For the past 17 years, Cushman & Wakefield/Oxford Commercial partner Greg Johnston has been getting his blood pumping as a volunteer firefighter for CE-Bar Fire Department, which is west of Austin in Travis County. He tells us he’s living every little boy’s dream of driving a fire truck. The former Boy Scout joined the VFD after learning that volunteers were the folks protecting his family and their community. His primary focus nowadays is as vehicle extrication specialist, engineer/driver/operator, and traffic control. The station has gone from a pure volunteer force to 10 paid firefighters, who are supplemented by volunteers.
Greg's stories range from hysterically funny to unbelievable, to scary and serious, he tells us. One of his favorite stories revolves around an ax murderer on the loose. A man returning home from out of town couldn’t get his wife to answer the phone, so he called a neighbor to check on her. The neighbor found a bloody ax and called the sheriff and a search was on, complete with a helicopter looking for a body and a culprit. Turns out, the wife cut her hand with a hatchet while gardening and another neighbor took her to the hospital to get stitched up. She returned home, much to her husband’s surprise. It was exciting for an hour or so, Greg says. “I've learned to separate small issues from big issues; that may be the best part of the whole experience,” he says.
