For Paris-based Operations Management Group (OMG) Principal Kaj Grichnik, it begins with overcoming a bad case of food poisoning days before the July 17-18 competition at Los Gatos High School near San Jose, Calif.

Close to calling off his participation due to his illness, Grichnik thought of the charity aspect of the 22nd annual event - raising funds for the Make-a-Wish Foundation of America - and stuck with it. "I thought, 'letting down the team is a bad thing,'" he says. "But letting down the Foundation and some desperate kids is a much worse thing."

So Grichnik ran - and later learned that the $3,000 he had gathered from fellow BA&Hers was, in fact, more than many large companies raised for the Foundation, which grants wishes to children suffering from life-threatening illnesses.

"The event strengthened my pride in being a part of Booz, Allen," he says. "We are one of the smallest companies there, but compete for first place in both athletics and fundraising.

"I like to think that BAH's intensely ambitious spirit combined with a non-arrogant and easy-going culture is behind this success." The 18-man, 10-woman BA&H team placed second of nine teams in the Division II category for companies of up to 10,000 employees.

For its community efforts, Team Booz raised $10,000, taking home the USCAA Charity Cup for the fourth consecutive year. The award, presented to the company whose staff are the event's leading fund-raisers, is a Booz, Allen-inspired idea, started in 1996, when the firm issued a challenge to fellow USCAA competitors to raise money for worthy charities.

As in past years, Team Booz was directed by Vienna,Va.-based WTB Associate Gordon Smith, a distance runner, team coach and long-time USCAA board member. Among Smith's challenges: ensuring the team comprised WTB, WCB and Corporate staff from offices and countries around the world, to reflect the firm's diversity.

It worked, as BA&H staff from the U.S., France, Germany, Spain and Mexico went to Los Gatos. Along the way came their requisite war stories of the challenges of fitting a training regimen into their hectic lives as Booz, Allen consultants.

For Nehemiah Robinson, a Rome, N.Y.-based Defense Team Consultant, that training was done four or five mornings a week before work.

"Although the winning is important," Robinson says, "the real incentive for training came not only from supporting a worthwhile cause, but also from the generous contributions and the support from everyone in the Rome, N.Y., office."

Others agree. Mexico City-based Principal David Pereda, a member of the Transportation Team, calls the USCAA meeting, "an annual process of rejuvenation" Pereda says.

"Our Dream Team is the Rodney Dangerfield look-alike group. The only respect you get from anyone is how good you are on the track or on the field. So, devoid of unnecessary psychological weight, we simply concentrate on two things - being the best we can be individually and as a team; and, making other people feel good by raising money for charity."

Be sure to check out the BA&H Track & Field Web Site: http://www.angelfire.com/hi2/gasmas/bahTF.html

Other Team Booz members: Errol Baker (McLean); Leon Brittain (Washington, D.C); Sarah Bunting (Denver); Alejandro Caballero (Madrid); Marshall Contino (Washington, D.C.); Naum Fefer (McLean); Mike Fields (McLean); Robert Forsythe (Falls Church, Va.); Melissa Garrett (Washington, D.C.); Donna Hardeman (McLean); Kay Jones (McLean); Mark Jones (McLean); Dave Kent (Arlington, Va.); Chris Lucey (San Francisco); Charles Manahan (McLean); Whitney Moore (Lexington Park, Md.); Kesha Pendergrast (Washington, D.C.); Sandi Rodgers (Arlington, Va.); Barbara Spannaus (Minneapolis); Garry Spencer (Seabrook, Md.); Carrie Statz (Arlington, Va.); Siegbert Steuck (Dusseldorf); Thom Weddle (Minneapolis); and, Pamela Wusthof (McLean).
(team roster, team photo)