This weekend's report is truley impressive and I'm proud of each one of you. Get ready for a big dose of inspiration:

SHAWN BOOM For the weekend warrior, I’m proud to say that I completed a 37 hour trail running race, traveling 102.6 miles this weekend. 

Friday morning at 8am I toed the starting line of the Superior 100 Trail run on the North Shore of Lake Superior.  The Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) is rugged and wooded foot-traffic only trail that follows the rocky ridgeline above Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota.  It stretches from Two Harbors to the Canadian border. The trail dons extreme “baby head” rocks, tree roots with nearly every step, heart racing uphills, and quad pounding declines.  None of the physical surroundings, however, compared to the monsters that attack the mind during a 37 hour event that had me see two sunrises and two sunsets before resting. 

I remember as a kid sitting down with a blank piece of paper and a penning my life goals.  Marathon, check.  Ironman, check.  Climb a mountain, check.  The one that scared me the most though, was to run 100 miles.  Ever since I was 13 and picked up a runner’s world magazine at the local library and read an article about the concept, I’ve feared the distance.  Mark Twain said “Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.”.  After running from 8am on Friday morning to 9pm on Saturday night without stopping or sleeping, I’m happy to report I’m not longer “afraid” of what lies on the fringes. 

I am not highly scientific about my training or about researching the course ahead of time, so I had overlooked the fact that what I initially though was a 100 mile run turned out to be 102.6 total miles on what the race directly claims to be one of the top five hardest trail races in North America.  Luckily I found out about the extra 2.6 miles a few days ahead of time.  Apparently they came free when you pay for the 100 mile entry fee.  

I had an incredible support crew in my fabulous wife Bethany and my parents who met me at every single aid station with warm soup, ginger ale, turkey sandwiches, and most importantly a healthy dose of mental nourishment. 

I’ve attached the finish line picture and I will put up more race images and a detailed race blog later this week for anyone interested in the nuances:  http://community.active.com/blogs/QuixoticGuy

Sunday the ActiveX team celebrated our fearless leader, Arch Fuston, with a “thank you Arch!” BBQ in his honor.  Arch has sacrificed a lot of himself this year, organizing our thrice weekly ActiveX workouts at the company headquarters in San Diego. He has pushed us athletically, challenged us to do more than we thought we were able, organized our weekend triathlon workouts, and has inspired us to reach goals we didn’t think we could reach. We have not only seen our bodies change, but we have created friendships that are very unique in a work environment. The ActiveX team has become like a family, and if it was not for Arch we would not have this truly unique experience. The least we could do was get a custom ActiveX surfboard made for him. Arch was very surprised and touched. Thanks to Hannah Sansome for organizing the event and coordinating the surfboard, and to Kelly Conti for hosting the event at her house. We feel very lucky to have a company that supports our athletic endeavors and gives us the ability to have such a unique experience. (Written by Carrie James)

MIKE DOBRANSKY and STEPHANIE SNAMAN competed in the LA Triathlon this weekend with a crowd of about 2000 finishers.  Armed with the preparation of Active X and weekly swims in La Jolla, we set off in search of fast times on the streets of LA.  Luckily for us we have experience in medium sized surf and didn’t get pummeled by the waves coming out of the water (some folks did)...  riding the empty streets of LA was a blast and actually pretty eerie.  We would definitely do this event again.  Special shout out to Bethany and Bekah for making the trip to be our support and crew for the weekend.

This week-end, 1 200 participants (all registered through Active Europe) gathered in Monaco for the Ironman 70.3. With a great sun and perfect conditions to race, it was one of the most exciting race of the season. LAURENT GAUTHIER (European Manager) along with PIERRE DUVELLEROY (European executive account manager) were there to meet some clients & prospects and monitor the entries opening for the 09 edition.

Even if this race is said to be one of the toughest Ironman 70.3, it’s fantastic to be able to race in Monaco and especially on the Formula One track. You get to do 5 loops of the official Formula one track… if you were able to do the 90k bike ride in the hilly French Riviera before.

If anyone wants to do an Ironman 70.3 in Europe, this is the one!

MIKE MACDONALD and his girlfriend camped with good friends at William Heise Park in Julian. On Saturday we hiked just over 6 miles around Mt. Laguna, discovering several “lakes” (read: stinky marshes) and dozens of cattle…some of which were not so friendly. It was a great weekend and we are already planning a return before the sunny weather goes away.

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) had a change of pace this weekend. Instead of being IN the water racing, he had the opportunity to be ON the water piloting his dream boat a 52' Hinkley for a spin in the pacific!

On Sunday MICHELLE VALENTI got up at 4:45 am to help her boyfriend pick and sort grapes for his wine-making experiment. Come 3 p.m. I was tired but still had to do a 12 mile training run. I went across the street to my usual running trails and I immediately noticed a bunch of pink flags all along my course. There was a race going on. I had caught the tail end of the Steven's Creek 50K, and although I was only running 12 miles it was great to have company and a cheering section on what would have been a long and lonely run.

Ashley Ellis participated in the 78th Annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim.  This was my first open water race EVER as well as my first time racing a mile.  After a long 4 days in Vegas working the ASCA conference for Active I had no idea how well I would do.  Shockingly enough I placed 3rd OVERALL in the Master’s Women’s 1 mile race.  I am still waiting for my official time and what place I took in my age division and will report that back to you as soon as I find out.

On Sunday, Jesse Hammond also lined up in La Jolla Cove with over 500 competitors for the 78th Annual La Jolla Rough Water Swim 3-mile Gatorman. After surviving the underwater wrestling match known as the start, it was a looong trip over to Scripps Pier. But that was nothing compared to fighting the rolling waves and current for the 1.5 miles back to the Cove.

But I made itthe clock read 1 hour, 23 minutes when I hit the beachand I had a lot of fun finding out I could actually finish a swim that long without having to do the elementary backstroke.

Steve Mazza reports, "A beautiful late summer day at the nations' oldest roughwater swimming event. I swam the 1 mile in the La Jolla Roughwater Swim. Clear and sunny, almost 80 degrees at race start, water temp was 73. A bit of swell/chop and some kelp, but a great day!"

The end result of a weekend “surfing” session featuring Ricky, Nick, Karen, Andrea and myself – followed by stitches and five hours in the hospital. A guy will do anything to get his picture taken with a lifeguard!

Picture #2 may be too graphic for less-than-mature audiences.

Eddie Strickler did the Mt Baker Hill Climb race this weekend. It’s a beautiful bike race along the Scenic Mt Baker Highway. The race starts in Glacier, WA (about 1,000 ft) and climbs up to Artist Pt above the Mt. Baker Ski Area (about 5,300 ft). It is 24.5 miles almost entirely uphill. It was my first time doing any serious riding and I kind of got worked on the hill. I finished in 2hrs flat. It was fun and a beautiful day for a ride.

GT and friends participated in the 26 miles first annual Bike the Bay ride (http://www.bikethebay.net/site3.aspx). About 2000 riders showed up at the Embarcadero on Sunday. Weather was perfect for riding but morning fogs affected the view from the Coronado Bridge. Crossing the Coronado Bridge on bicycle was interesting and the ride around the bay was a lot of fun.

Emily Ogata (Application Specialist) and Kirstin Hartos had their first rugby game of the Fall season against Coast WRC up in Long Beach on Saturday.  It was Emily's first game back after her ACL surgery last December, but that didn't stop her! (see attached for proof)  We did beat them 84-0 on the field, and won the boat race at the bar afterwards too! Shameless solicitation for fans: our first home game is this Saturday (9/13) at 11am at Robb Field in Ocean Beach, and should be a better contest against a more experienced team. 

Sarah Moosbrugger completed the Big Kahuna Half Ironman triathlon in Santa Cruz, Ca. on Sunday, with the time of 6 hours, 21 minutes, a PR for Sarah. The day started off rough for Sarah. Riding her bike from the host hotel to the race start, she caught her front wheel in train tracks and was thrown off her bike, hitting her head and scraping her palm and knee on the ground. Good start. Sarah had a great swim which you never hear her say, and a sketchy bike http://community.active.com/blogs/Weekend_Warriors/2008/09/08/active-warrior-celebration-weekend/it got a little derailleur damage in the fall, and a hot, hot, run. Sarah trains hard, and it paid off with her personal best time for this distance.

Post race, Sarah walked into the chilly Santa Cruz water to cool off, only to be accosted by a very strong NoCal wave, sending her tumbling along the ocean floor, filling her tri kit up with sand. A tough end to an already tough day. At 8:00pm last night, she was having a drink. Or two.