DAVE NEFF reports, four members of the InfoSpherix (Frostburg, MD) branch competed in the inaugural Mountain MD Marathon 5K Race.  Pictured left to right are:  Larry Golden - Finished 7th (23:02), Joe Snyder Finished 6th (23:00), Dave Detar Finished 12th (24:07) and Dave Neff Finished 29th (25:58) out of a field of 137 runners.  All four members surpassed their own expectations by posting their personal best times and finishing within the top three of their respective age groups. 

ADNAN ZAIDI played in and WON the Coral Springs Adult Tennis Championships in the Men's 35 Singles this past weekend. It feels GREAT to win a tournament again. Here is a link to the draw: http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/Draws/EventDraw.aspx?T=74485&E=4

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) had a blast at Active X’s first charity work out! It was truly the gift that keeps giving….I’m still sore!

CATHLEEN SWALLOW and ANDREA RISHMAWI started out Sunday Funday the right way with a hike up Iron Mountain in the 85 degree heat.  We love San Diego!

BROOKE KIRKPATRICK and her husband, Jim, celebrated the last day of Vail, skiing (sort of) and having a blast.  Everyone went big with their 80's neon, shorts, and wigs.  A group of my friends pulled out the sombreros and I skied in jeans and powder gaiters, which actually was not so bad!  O.A.R. played a free concert in the village as well.  Now it's time to pull out the bike and hiking boots. 

Vancouver Sun Run!

One of the largest 10 K runs in North America swelled by 40 Active Corporate participants this weekend.

Our times ranged from 50 minutes to 1:50

http://www.vancouversun.com/sunrun/Gallery+2009/1512553/story.html

Our team included Behrad Bayanpour; Benjamin Wong; Brandon Leung; Carlos Chan; Carol Zhang; Daniel Li; Darren Jensen; Doreen Xue; James Reyes; Jamie Haaf; Jan Karlsbjerg; Jane Van Sickle; Janette Kim; Jennifer Yang; John Kadota; Julius Dagot; Mark Myo; Matthew Hoffmann; Megan Hollstedt; Myo Thein; Paul Cheung; Paul Hiller; Raymond Lei; Rong Peng; Ryan Carniato; Shazia Iameo; and team captain Doug Johnson

MICHELLE NGAI – Co-op Website and Email Designer – finished my first Vancouver Sun Run (10k) in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 50 seconds!

DARIN ADLER drove up to Lake Elsinore this weekend to take part in my first solo jump skydiving.  I flew up to about 13 thousand feet and jumped without being attached to an instructor.  Attached is a picture in the plane and one of me jumping out with my teacher. The weather was beautiful and it was an amazing jump.

ALISON TERRY swam with the Mission Valley YMCA Masters Swim Group on Saturday morning and on Sunday, I helped my husband Alan Voisard conduct a swim clinic for the Challenged Athletes Foundation’s Catch a Rising Star program.   There was a great turn out and it was a beautiful day.

The purpose of Catch a Rising Star (CRS) is to provide post-rehabilitation support and mentoring to individuals who have suffered a traumatic injury or been born with a congenital defect, resulting in a physical disability. The support consists of an introduction to sports activities and mentoring relationships.  This program is for the physically challenged person who desires a balanced life of work, family, friends and fitness. Whether you desire to learn to ride a bike, handcycle, rock climb, swim, run, engage in winter sports, or compete in a triathlon, this program will provide you the opportunities, knowledge and confidence you need to pursue an athletic life.     Visit  http://www.challengedathletes.org/ to learn more.

KIRSTEN DIXON did her first charity event this weekend.  I was part of the Walk for Autism Speaks and earned $165.00 for the cause. (Sat) Also, I was part of a big golf group from our office.  We had 13 people participate. (Sun)

Bothell Corporate Challenge – Group Run

As we prepare for the Inaugural Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon/Half Marathon. Team Bothell takes on Discovery Park the biggest urban park in Seattle. We finish the run with a Team Breakfast of pure energy and nutrition. 

TOBY GUILLETTE (AMP) volunteered at the Sunstrides Chollas Lake 5K on Saturday and helped with set-up, split timing, photography and breaking down the equipment after the race. The race doubled it’s numbers from last year as more folks learn that the proceeds from the event go to the Sunstrides Foundation, which funds solar power projects in Africa. 

MICHAEL WILSON, Director of Sales in San Diego had a great 70.3 Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mile run) race in Oceanside, CA on Saturday with his family watching and cheering.  He was among the 2113 racers and wanted to break 6 hours which he did in fine fashion going 5:38:50, great effort Michael!  Your Mom & Dad are proud of you!

TOBY GUILLETTE was at CA 70.3 to support the Active folks who were racing and then on Sunday, kicked off training for the Vermont 100 Endurance Run in July. I raced the Carlsbad 5000 in 19:03 and then ran 26 miles along the coast from Carlsbad to Clairemont for a total of 29 on the day. Starting the day with an all-out effort and then going for distance too made for a very challenging day of running and I don't recommend it.

LIZ HARRELL & MICHELLE NATION got on their bikes and rode from the Solana Beach Train station up to Carlsbad.  13 mile ride up…a few miles tooling around the Carlsbad 5000 fun, then 13 miles back.  Got to see Mike in action announcing the runners coming down the chute.  It was an amazingly crazy beautiful day in San Diego.  

RYAN WOOD in the San Diego office ran the Carlsbad 5000 road race with his wife Lauren on a beautiful day by the beach! Though we were smoked by the high school kids in the 29-and-under race, we still had a blast and finished together in 27:42. We will knock a few minutes off when we run it next year!

JUSTIN LAKIN SD Office embarked on a 7.5 mile hybrid trail and street "urban" hike/walk from North La Jolla Shores (near Scripps Institute) to Downtown La Jolla ("The Village" area) and back.  The objective was to view full size cow sculptures that were set up as part of the Cow Parade.  Each cow is uniquely painted by truly amazing artists and they were well worth the trip.  The Cow Parade will go through June 15, 2009 and you can get more information here if you are interested: http://www.cowparadelajolla.com/.  Afterward Justin ran an additional 5.5 miles in preparation for the Rock 'n Roll Marathon at the end of next month (here in SD).  This is Justin's first marathon and although he is anxious, he has been sticking with a 16 week training program and has been using the Active Networks' vast online resources for guidance.

The Active Events Management Team went skiing at Whistler in Beautiful British Columbia.

It consisted of CHRIS OCHS, Sales Mgr RegOnline, ERIC OLSON, Sr. Director Active Events, ADAM TESAN, Dir. Wingate Web and TYLER DOUGLAS, Dir. Active Government.  A fun day was had by all.

JIM HINE took his family on a road trip over Spring Break - snowboarding in Tahoe, beach days in San Diego and hiking in Zion.  We stopped in Moab and rode a 15-mile out-and-back on the Klondike Bluffs trail over a mix of jeep trails, sand and slick rock.  At trail end we left the bikes for a short hike out to the bluffs with views of the La Sal Mountains in the distance.  The dozen dinosaur tracks were cool along the way, and I was really proud of my girls powering up the long climb, past the lumbering ORVs!  WAY TO WORK OUT THE KIDS JIM! 

AMBER MARTIN in the SD office ran the Carlsbad 5000 in a time of 23:04, which was better than anticipated after running my last hill training run from Del Mar to PB over Mount Soledad the day before.

DAVE ALBERGA our CEO with his daughters KATE & EMMA were out on Sunday at the Carlsbad 5000 to watch his wife run the race.  The girls had huge smiles on their faces when Mommy came thru the finish line.  Plus Kate and Emma participated in the Junior Carlsbad races on Saturday.

How about this for a tough way to prepare for a race?  LAURENT GAUTHIER who works for Active Europe is based in France.  He worked the Paris Marathon Expo for 2 days then jumped on a plane for 12 hours to head to the US.  With no food in the stomach and a 9 hour time difference he headed directly to the Carlsbad 5000 to run.  He ran with MITCH THROWER one of the founders of Active.com and said he had fun.

BURT REPINE had a true Work Out Family Affair this weekend!   His son raced in the Jr. Carlsbad and his Mom raced in the Ford Oceanside Ironman 70.3 (winning her age group and a spot in Kona) on Saturday.  Then he and his wife raced in the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday. Great job announcing by the way. And what a gorgeous San Diego weekend!

GARETH BRUNT spent the weekend in the terrain park at Big White Ski Resort with my two boys Lewis 7 and Owen 5 getting in training for the 2022 winter Olympics (we start them young up in the frozen north)  I’ve attached a couple of pics to show you how they are progressing. Go Team Canada!  OH MY GOSH GARETH WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THOSE 2 FLIERS OF YOURS IN THE GAMES!

JENNI MILLER, ANDREA LEVINSON & MICHELLE ULRICH all ran the Carlsbad 5000 race on Sunday. Between the heat and having not been running much lately Jenni said she was struggling toward the end and hearing my name called on the loud speaker was definitely that last push I needed. I started the race with Andrea Levinson, who was having a much better run day than me and took off around mile 1. Andrea ended up finishing just over 25 minutes and I finished in 29:22… not quite what I was hoping for but still happy with it. Michelle Ulrich also ran the 5000 yesterday and had a great race finishing in 19 minutes flat (just 2 seconds off of her PR from last year).

BRENDA SEIDNER REILLY, Director Online Media sales works out of the New York office came to San Diego and competed in the Carlsbad 5000 for the first time.  Since the northeast has been so cold, it was a shock to the system.  What a fun race.  Tracy Sundlin the VP of Elite Racing who produces the race used to coach Brenda and her Husband at Georgetown University.

TIM & KATIE MANION who both work in the SD office camped out in the Borrego Springs Desert this weekend and woke up Saturday morning to hike the 1.5 mile trail into the Palm Canyon Oasis.  It was a beautiful morning and the Oasis at the end was worth every rock-crawling on the lookout for rattle snakes step.  If you have never been on this short but awesome hike just 2 hours drive from SD we highly recommend it.    

NOLAN HANSEN, Accounting Specialist SD office had the fastest time from Active in the Oceanside 70.3 Half Ironman.  The race went well and I finished in a time of 4 hours and 42 minutes.  The best part of the race was hearing cheers from all the Active people who came out to watch.  They seemed to be all over the run course providing extra encouragement.

CHRIS WHEELER Senior Account Exec also raced the Oceanside 70.3.  He finished his first Half Ironman but it proved to be a challenging task.  I crossed the finish line in a painful 5:17.  Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer us on.  You guys definitely carried us through the last couple miles.  

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) channeled his inner Mike Reilly in announcing the Nautica South Beach Triathlon in Miami this weekend.  Over 1,500 athletes, from over 40 states and 11 countries braved the hot 85’ temp and 85% humidity to complete the Olympic course.  The athletes, including noted triathletes and celebrities including, Anna Kournicova and Dave Scott raised over $139,000 for St.Judes Children’s Hospital.  

BILL KENNEDY, Account Mgr Multi Sports said Michael Wilson put him to shame but had a great time racing in my first 70.3 at Ironman California in Oceanside.  As I zig-zagged the swim course it became painfully apparent to me that I was no longer in my clean, clear, chlorinated pool following my black strip and should have spent more time training in the open water!  The bike was a unique opportunity to ride along the beautiful Pacific Coast and through the pristine, untainted land of Camp Pendleton.  The best part about the run was hearing Mike Reilly’s voice from across the beach and knowing the suffering was almost over!  The rest of the run was a blur, but I am told I finished and the next morning I woke up with a medal around my neck!  It was a great reminder to me of what my clients and their athletes experience every weekend!

Last but not least yours truly had a Blast this weekend calling 2 of the best events in the Country.  The Oceanside,CA Half Ironman on Saturday and the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday.  The best part was calling in all the Active team members across the line!