What's your ACTIVE? : 2012 : April

Half Marathons, Triathlon, Tennis & Final Skiing

Posted by IMVoice Apr 30, 2012

Georgiana Foletta, Business Solutions, and daughter Madison participated in the Pacific Grove Just Run Kids 3k.

Eric. Olson (GM, SMB Business Solutions) kicked off the season at St Anthony's triathlon in Florida. It was awesome to do this iconic race -- and even better to do it with my wife Mary Beth, who raced in a stacked pro field as a tune up for upcoming key races at St Croix 70.3 and Ironman Texas.

Frank Michaelis reports for his volunteer day, planned out the trail building day with IMBA and Parks Canada representative. Pictures are from the trail building day. 50 people volunteer to work on 5 projects to improve the condition and safety of the trails.

Moira Clark, Account Executive, Rob Powell, Alan Deicas, Moira Clark, David Eisler, &Jeff Wilson ran the La Jolla Half Marathon this weekend in perfect raceconditions. Jeff Wilson PR'd with a1:38:12 on the hilly course.

Don Munro reports another chilly weekend in NY, but my Active Network jacket kept me warm on the tennis courts!

Anh Wetzel, Technical Specialist reports it was a perfect weather for riding bike. I went on a 20 miles bike ride; exploring the Wissahickon Trail in Philadelphia. The park is a serene trailway, giving an out of the world peace of mind experience from the hustle-&-bustle life of living in a city. Riding my bike along the creek is so relaxing. I find it hard to believe that I'm still in the city.

Sharon Arosemena (Sales Coordinator) participated in her first 5K run to benefit an after school program that she volunteers with called Kids Beach Clubs. With her in the picture are her two mentees, Trinity and Tristen Harris. The girls did the 1 mile fun run and Sharon ran the 5K.

Heather West (Levine), Project Coordinator did the American River Parkway Half Marathon on Saturday. The race was on the beautiful American River bike trail in Sacramento and the proceeds from the race benefitted the trail as well. My parents also walked the race...this is the only half marathon to have a separate course for walkers. The weather was pretty good, and I got a new PR - 2:53! I'm gettin' faster! Here’s a picture of me (on the left) and my race buddy basking in the glow of another PR.

Zach Panther (Software Engineer, Bothell) ran the Hero’s Half in Everett, WA with his wife Shannon and good friends Brad and Becky. This Hero’s Half is dedicated to raising funds for a very special cause, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude helps make a difference in the lives of children fighting cancer and other life-threatening illnesses in communities everywhere. Zach ran the 10k version of the race while Shannon did the true half marathon in preparation for her first full Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, ID this summer. We had a great time and would definitely recommend the event.

Cindy Bones Account Manager - Active Faith went "RAMBones" on Saturday morning at the local gun range, then attended Saturday night "rock & roll" Church Services at Green Valley Christian. Sunday flying to Dallas for our annual DC12 Dynamic Church Conference can’t wait to meet our Church customers & eat BBQ with my co- workers.

JONATHAN SPOONER and MARC LEGLISE (San Diego) ventured up to Mammoth with a group of friends to catch some end-of-the-season snow. The crowds were light and the weather was beautiful. Even without fresh powder, there's something to be said for bombing hills in springtime heat, avoiding the rocks on the way down.

Phil Graham, out of our Draper, UT office, rode around the White Rim trail Saturday. The White Rim trail is close to Moab, UT in the Canyon Lands National Park where the Green River and the Colorado River meet. It's an epic mountain bike ride 100 of miles, 6,500' of climbing and when riding unsupported about 8.5 hours in total. Fortunately the weather cooperated staying a sunny 65-70 degrees with a cool breeze. Photos are mid trail at some amazing rock formations.

Christine Crosby, Sr. Account Executive for Faith, ran the La Jolla Half Marathon this weekend. It was a beautiful day in San Diego to run a half marathon. We ran the challenging course from Del Mar, up Torrey Pines and through La Jolla. It was difficult, fun, and rewarding all at the same time!

Sarah Giacalone brought her Ragnar Team out for Round 2- at the La Jolla Half Marathon. Beautiful run, great company, ended with a big BBQ J can’t think of a more perfect Sunday!!

Michael McDermott, Dir. Sales Resorts registered his 7 year old daughter, Elizabeth, for her first run in the Cherry Creek Sneak in Denver. She ran the 1.5 mile sprint with my wife Paula and me. We finished as a family in 12 minutes. This is now her personal best record.

Lisa Woll - Archipelago 40 mile mountain bike ride from La Costa to Sorrento Valley on dirt through San Diego back country. Mr. Archipelago (Rich Julien ) puts this great event together every year. Jeremy McGrath even showed up.

MICHAEL STRICKLAND (Senior Copywriter) took his daughter Molly on her first hike last weekend on Palomar Mountain. Obviously she has lots of room to grow into her baby backpack, so there's plenty of more hiking in our future!

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Bali, Color Run, Ragnar and More

Posted by IMVoice Apr 23, 2012

GRACE TAI and BRIAN BERGEY from the Singapore office traveled to Bali for the weekend to run a 10k in the BALI MARATHON. This was an Active race and our client is shown in the picture above. It was an early morning start between 5am – 6am to beat the heat, which meant a beautiful sunrise view along the rural course which started and ended at the Bali Safari and Marine Park. Distant views of rice terraces and the coastline were seen from the course, along with traditional Balinese music performances and a line of locals holding torches for the first stretch of the race. It was an excellent, well organized race and the rest of the day was filled with lots of food and relaxing…Bali style.

Shawn Pons Product Manager, ActiveNetwork.com & B2B Marketing Websites. As part of the TALO program, and since I would not be able to attend the Encinitas 5K with the San Diego office, my wife, some friends and I partook in the Color Run (http://thecolorrun.com/) in Orange County. The Color Run is a 5K with each 1K representing a different color station where colored powder is thrown at you. At the finish line, participants are provided packets of color to throw at each other and in the air to celebrate. As you can see from the attached pictures, there is no escaping the color… The event recently added a Color Run in San Diego (https://cui.active.com/event-reg/select-race?e=2480803&mailingId=&recipientId=&style=active).

Dave and Chris Alberga did the color run with their daughter Kate.

Robyn Wien Sales & Marketing Operations Analyst finished her first 10k in under an hour at the 1st Annual Energize the Earth 5k/10k in Beverly, MA. It was misty and cool morning in New England, but perfect running weather. Looking forward to 10k #2 in the near future!

RYAN WOOD, online editor in San Diego, participated in the Salt Creek 10K, part of the new Orangeman Running Series in Dana Point, California. The course started on a cliff overlooking the ocean and went inland through the hills of southern Orange County. I finished in 56:21.

The Cardenas family (Stephany Cavatoni, Consumer Insights) has committed to "May is Bike Month" in Davis, CA – we will be tracking how much we reduce our carbon footprint and miles we log this month – no cars going to and from school for us (rain or shine!)

Don Munro reports rainy New York weekend meant indoor exercise: 8 am Sat & 8 am Sun spin classes. Lots of sweat despite the 50s chill!

Barbara Perser (in pink) from Active Network Faith in Irving participated in the North Texas Warrior Dash on Saturday. It was the first of many. She's considering The Jailbreak as her next adventure!

Rob Erekson from the Active Faith office in Henderson, NV ran his seventh half marathon, finishing in 2:17:58 at the Labor of Love 100M/50M/Marathon/Half Marathon/10K in Lovell Canyon, just outside of Las Vegas. The half marathon had about 1,200 feet of total ascent and was around 2,000 feet higher in elevation than Las Vegas. Somehow it was still hot enough to send at least one person to the hospital for heat exhaustion. Later that night, Rob pulled an all-nighter, working the 11:00pm to 5:00am shift volunteering at an aid station for the 100-mile ultra-marathon.

Suzanne Eltz, Professional Services Project Manager. Hiked around Rock City and Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN on Saturday. Then road bikes down the 13-mile riverside path which parallels the Tennessee River. CHATTANOOGA ROCKS!!

Scott Lange VP, Media + Marketing ran five miles on Saturday in a new pair of Asics and Sunday did an aggressive kettle bell work out. I am just into staying fit and trim right now. However, I am thinking about either running the NYC Marathon this year or next, or doing a Sprint Tri.

Cindy Bones Account Manager-Faith went Kayaking / Canoeing with Husband Mike & friends, (Yvonne Lubsey former Employee ) on the Black Canyon lower Colorado River on Sunday ( I go to Church on Saturday night incase you were wondering ). We launched at the base of Hoover Dam, The first mile of the river offers some spectacular caves and hot springs to explore, including two rain caves and a sauna cave and several hot springs are just a short hike (Pictured is the Arizona Hot spring (God Spa) in the # 3 pool my Favorite). We Saw big horn sheep ,which are likely to be sighted but, still exciting. Perfect day trip 13 miles down to willow Beach for pick up.

Sarah Giacalone, Swim Account Executive ran her first RAGNAR with a group of my oldest childhood friends, my sister, and my aunt. AMAZIIIING Experience, can’t wait until next year!

Michelle Nation (Product Manager, San Diego) ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon this weekend with my big sister. The weather and the course were beautiful and we had a fabulous time running with a group of friends in matching purple shirts for epilepsy awareness. A few of the highlights: big sister crushing her old PR, seeing tulips in bloom all over town, a runner in a tiger body suit and a fan with a cowbell as big as a volleyball. What a day!

Austin Braaten, Burt Repine, Jon Christopher, Katya Meyers, Mark Warble (Team Captain!) and Ryan Scanlon all represented Active at the 2012 Ragnar Relay SoCal as team ActiveX Ultra. Yes, Ultra --- double the pain but double the fun! They “flew” through the 204 mile course in 29 hours and 10 minutes in a blur of Gatorade, GU, Reggae, and carbo-loading. Highlights included Kat-Cha throwing down 42 miles, Mark tackling Corona’s 100 degree heat, Ryan destroying hills, Jonny sprinting through sickness, Burt & Austin finishing their 2nd RAGNAR Ultra in strong fashion, and one unidentified member – in full stealth-mode - “donating” his old, putrid running shoes to one of the other ActiveX vans early into the race….hmmmm.

On Friday, 24 Active employees embarked on a Ragnar Relay adventure, running 203 miles, from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island. We had two teams of 12. Each team is divided into two vans and team members take turns running legs of varying distances. The teams took off at 10:00 am, braved 100+ degree heat, ran through the night, and finished some 33 hours later. All in all, it was an amazing experience! The team members: Adriane Ferguson, Valerie Prestidge, Dennis Triplett, Marc Villanueva, Renee Kerouac, Ben Weinbaum, Tony Cervantes, Lindsey Mancuso, Mike Rouse, Rob Powell, Amanda Radochonski, Jen Meanley, Alan Deicas, Jeff Wilson, Jen White, Evan Bricker, Kaity Maloney, Ben Grafchik, Laurie Pani, Danae Brooker, Erin Hall, Lianne Maly, Shannon Wineman, Kristin Carroll, Brad Hilton and his pup, Raven, came along to document the whole thing. Look out for video and pictures sometime soon on Intractive.

MATTHEW HENRY (Bothell, WA) finished his second winter season of hockey with the Sentinels, winning the championship over their arch rivals the Vandal 2-1 in a shootout (2-1). The shootout was full of suspense, with the Vandals' first shot coming to a stop halfway over the line. The ref correctly called that a no goal. We went down 1-0 with two shooters left but we pulled it out scoring on our last two shots and with our goalie stopping their best player's shot. And now that the season is over, Matt can rest his separated shoulder… Eek!

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Boston, Hiking, Cycling and More

Posted by IMVoice Apr 17, 2012

COME ON BURNABY YOU HAVE ONE OF THE LARGEST 10K'S IN THE WORLD THERE THIS PAST WEEKEND IN THE VANCOUVER SUN RUN AND I RECEIVE ONE REPORT! THAT'S RIGHT I JUST CALLED YOU ALL OUT!

Cindy Bones- Account Manager -Faith Went hiking Saturday at White Rock canyon /Arizona Hot springs trail sent pictures of this trail already.. Sunday went to Gold Strike Canyon trail.(By The Hoover Dam) This was a 10 for scenic beauty, physical challenge (I'm a beginner hiker, so I thought this was perfect... not too hard) We counted 8 "God Spas" one you can dive under the water to a cave under the mountain. The rain cave was cool but, the pictures were to dark and did not turn out. There were 6 Rope obstacles (pictured with me climbing one). We saw about 20 Big horn sheep (Pictured are a small part of the group) I think they liked us taking pictures. We went all the way to the Colorado River & back. This is my new favorite trail to hike with a group (for safety.)

John Kadota, Manager, Product Development from the Burnaby office got his whole family to run the Vancouver Sun Run this year. I got the family started running last year thanks to the Active Couch-to-5k app.

Mike Reilly attended the Boston Marathon on behalf of Active with Steve Mazza and Mike Rouse who ran along with Rob Klingensmith and Scott Lange. It was one of the hottest days on record (high of 88) for the event with over 4500 runners deferring to next year (the event offered this option) and another 3500 not even bothering to pick up their race numbers. The best shot of the day I got was at the start line seeing the famous Joan Benoit (1984 Olympic Gold medal winner Los Angeles and Boston winner) toe the line and run with her 23 yr old daughter. Of course I have to get a picture with Dave McGillivray the race director who always runs the marathon after everything is cleaned up later in the day. With all the trouble with heat he left Hopkinton 4 hours later than normal at 7:00 pm. He finished with a few friends at Midnight, now that is an Ironman day!

Alistair Davidson, Manager of Software Development. No photos, but I spent Sunday at the closing day for Copper Mountain in Colorado. Mother Nature came to the party with a big spring storm and the riding was one of the best days of the season. Was going out to just make a few turns and ended up riding through lunch to the close of lifts. Last run of closing day...over a foot of untracked powder...unbelievable!

Tyler Jump, Account Executive - Camps, and Janean Nation,Account Manager - Communities, braved the storm Saturday to head for the hills and the Gladiator Rock and Run. It was cold, windy, and raining for much of the time we were on the course. It was advertised as a 5k, but the actual distance ended up being a little over 4 miles, and the fastest finisher of the whole day paced 9:03 miles...it was tough!!! Lots of mud, lots of bruises, and even a few paintball welts, but totally worth it!

Sam Renouf Regional Director, Asia Pacific Active NetworkInternational announcing at the ITU World championships in Sydney.

Shekhar Wankhede and Hemant Choudhary from Clarksburg , MDoffice ran “Cakes For Cause 5K” on Sunday 15^th April in Fredrick MD .Weather was really good in the morning. Hemant won 3^rdplace.

Megan Rose, SW Test Technician ran her first 5k around Mission Bay in San Diego for the Fearless 5k / Tri this week-end. Despite the wind, we managed to beat the rain and finish in just over 22 minutes.

Matt Lawicki (Account Executive), his fiancée and friendswent backpack camping in the Grand Canyon at Havasupai (April 6-8th). This was a challenging trip, 10 mile hike inwith camping packs; all said and done we did 26 miles in 3 days!!

Tawn Nguyen, Katya Mansurova and Christine Ta from San Diego Accounting office ran the Skins Fearless 5K on Saturday morning. It was cold blustery morning for San Diego.

Anh Wetzel reports it was a beautiful sunny Sunday in Philly at 80s degrees. I went for a 20 miles + bike ride from South Philly to Fall Bridge via Kelly Drive & West River Drive in Philadelphia. On the way, I stop at the Horticulture Center in Fairmont Park for a little of nature hiking.

Jamie Snow, Product Marketing Manager, Associate Active Network had an awesome weekend at the 2012 Annual Pismo Beach Kiting Expo! I got to try the latest kite gear, the weather was beautiful and the wind was perfect. It was a great trip to the Central Coast and I can't wait to go back next year.

Aaron Waldman and William Bassler of San Diego took on the Fearless Triathlon Sunday. It was a great morning but due to the recent rains the swim was canceled making this a Double Duathleon (run 2k - bike 10k - run - bike - run). It was a fast paced race with lots of transitions. William was stellar with a podium appearance for his 3rd place finish in his age group.

KEITH WILLIAMS, CHRIS HAWKER & LARS RONNING (all EMEA/UK) ran Brighton Marathon Sunday 15 April. In only a couple of years Brighton Marathon has become the UK’s 2^nd largest marathon with 15,000 participants taking place.Only London is larger. It was Keith’s marathon debut, and Chris’ second marathon, and both finished in impressive times:

- Keith3.28
- Chris3.18

Lars decided to participate with short notice and biked down from Slough to Brighton 3.30 am in morning of the race (80 miles / 120K) on his winter bike (LARS THIS IS FROM ME MIKE, YOU'RE NUTS!). After a few GPS goose chases and 4 hilly hours on the road, he reached the start andmade the race with a few minutes to spare. Lars had a solid 1^st hal f(1.41) but decided to slow down on the 2^nd half due to Ironman Lanzarote coming up in only 5 weeks. He finished the race at 3.41. The team had a fantastic day out and it was great to see the Active colors in play again! Video link her: http://youtu.be/BACSinaoPnE

Cameron Rocha, Ryan Caro, and Steve Caro (Sr. Business Analyst, Platform Financial Services) enjoying the spring snowboard/ski conditions at Brian Head, UT.

Dennis Triplett, Mike Reade and Jen White all participated in the Cannondale Gran Fondo and Medio Fondo on Sunday April 15th. Couldn't have asked for better weather on this hilly course, though a bit windy at times along the way home. Special thanks go out to super fans Kevin McGuire and Brian Graham who were still there at the finish to cheer Jen in on her first century ride. Congrats to all riders on this big accomplishment!

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Cycling, Golf and a Little bit More

Posted by IMVoice Apr 9, 2012

RUSS MILHAM, Manager - Global Research & Analytics. I'm down from Bothell for another car-free week at the home office in San Diego. Between riding from the airport and a trip out to Trader Joe's for groceries for the week, I managed 32 miles. Great to get out of my Seattle cold-weather raingear and into summer riding clothes again!

LISA WOLL on Saturday 65 mile road ride kitchen creek to Lake Cuyamaca. Then Sunday 30 mile mountain bike ride. A total 9000 feet climbing and 8 hrs in the saddle. Beautiful mountains in our own backyard in San Diego County. Life is great!!!!

MARK MORAN, Visual Designer on Saturday went for a 28 km (18 mile) walk from the mountains to the south of Xi'an back to the city near the Active Network offices. It took 6 hours and 15 minutes of total walking time (8 hours total including some breaks and stopping for dinner) and the weather was beautiful. A rare spring day that isn't too hot or too cold. It was also a good chance to experience some of the local country-side. This is part of my preparations for a 45km walk taking place on April 15 with several of the Xi'an Active team. For those of you who are familiar with Xi'an I walked from the ???? (Translation University) to ??? (the High Tech Zone). The attached map shows my route.

JOANNE INGRAM, AE in Business Solutions, ran her first ever trail run on Saturday. Ran the 5K in 39:36 which I didn't think was so bad for the first one and looking down the whole time. Trail runs might be the way to go to avoid the Atlanta heat during the summer months and it definitely was much more challenging. I just may have found a new passion.

CINDY BONES Account Manager-Faith went hiking on Saturday to "Sunrise Mountain" Frenchman's Peak Trail. There are two "peaks" to hike up on this trail. The first picture is on the first peak looking at the second peak. Once on the top near the cellular towers there are 360 degree views of the las Vegas Strip & Lake Mead.

BRITTNEY GARCIA, Deployment Engineer this past Saturday ran her first half marathon, Hollywood Half Marathon. Even with the last 2 miles uphill, I finished in 2:02. I was also able to raise $500 in a week for CMT and Angel City Pit Bulls.

MARC LEGLISE, Sr Software Engineer, spent the whole weekend jumping out of planes, finally earning his solo-rating! That's right, no more instructors by your side, much less attached to you. Doing backflips and 360s during 120mph free-fall is way more intense when you're on your own. Now the real fun starts!

On Friday Afternoon, 26 members of the Bothell Office participated in this year's Spring Golf Tournament at the Walter Hall Memorial Golf Course in Everett, WA. We made it a bit less competitive to encourage non-golfers to participate, and we got quite a few newbies out there which was a lot of fun. Best Scoring Team included Charles Gardiner, Ryan Miller, Stephen Branstetter and Ryan Wuflestad. Worst Scoring Team (which was a prize worthy award in this tourney) included: Kenneth Baltazar, Shawn O'Neill, Scott Baisch, and Jason Warren. Best Dressed: Kenneth Baltazar. Squiggly Line Contest: Stephen Branstetter was the clear winner, but gave his winnings to the MVP of the winning team, Ryan Miller. Closest to Pin Contest: Matt Amsden and Rob Gillespie were both 26 inches from the pin. The real winner will be decided in a putting duel this afternoon!

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Training, Racing and Talking

Posted by IMVoice Apr 2, 2012

Margaret Patrick, Sports Associate Sales Manager, completed her first 70.3 this weekend at Oceanside. It was an amazing event and fun to find a new physical limit. It was great seeing familiar faces on the course and getting special shout outs from the Reilly Men.

Katie Morse, Engagement Manager crushed it at Oceanside 70.3 on Saturday. Even taking a tumble in T2, she finished strong, taking 13th in her age group!

Mike Dobransky, Lead TAM said the Oceanside 70.3 was a blast! Although I look pretty miserable in this picture, the day was fun & definitely not hot. Saw a couple X’rs in the race including Margaret and Katya. Also, the Mike and Andy Reilly announcing team was a welcomed addition to the experience. Great weekend!

Mike & Andy Reilly made some history this weekend. For the first time ever in the sport of triathlon a father and son team was on the microphone together at a triathlon event, the Oceanside 70.3. Two Reilly’s full of Irish BS at the same event what more could the athletes ask for!

Michele Crepeau, "epic" day of skiing at Squaw Valley, 13 inches of powder. With friends Cindy Holbrook and Cathy Sabo from San Francisco.

Heather Levine, Project Coordinator on Sunday did the Sac Town 10 Mile run, to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. We started at the capitol and ran to East Sacramento and back. It was a beautiful day for a run, and we finished in 2:10! (That is actually pretty good for me).

Cindy Bones Account Manager -(Faith Department) went hiking in Arizona Hot Springs & White Rock Canyon trail & ALL NATURAL DAY SPA (soaking the the natural springs highly mineralized water with a temperature of about 111 degrees Fahrenheit. ) Near the Hoover Dam just over the boarder in Arizona / Nevada mile marker 4. This was my first time hiking this trail but it was so beautiful & peaceful we are planning a weekend camping trip. Picture is from the part of the trail that meets the colorado river (a great place to camp). My aching back feels great now thanks to the natural God made mineral pools!

Tim Wood, Director, Global Software Quality Assurance and his family was in Carlsbad this weekend for the Junior Carlsbad and Carlsbad 5k. I ran my PR over the 5k, but didn't do nearly as well as my son Cameron. He took 3rd place in 7-year old age division with a mile time of 6:51! It was a great time getting the entire family out there over the entire weekend for both races.

Toby Guillette, Social Media Specialist, San Diego -- Saturday a couple brave buddies and I took on the informal challenge of connecting all the high points in Mission Trails Regional Park (www.mtrp.org). The 23-mile loop included 5100' of gain and took us 5hrs15min to complete! Check out the elevation profile.

Tyler Jump (AE Camps) and Janean Nation (AM Communities) spent the weekend in beautiful Escondido. Prepping for Safari Park, Janean went out for an 8 mile training run, dogs in hand, while Tyler sagged for the pack. The weather was most agreeable and the worn out puppies made for a very relaxed Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Alex, Educate Division went on a 2 mile hike in the San Elijo Lagoon with his 3 year old son, Soren. Soren made it the whole way, Dad was proud. We both also enjoyed a nap afterwards.

Anthony Valentino, Senior Account Manager - Sports (San Diego), participated alongside his mom Monica and daughter Jade in the American Lung Association's Fight for Air. The event is a timed stair climb up the 64 floor Aon Center in Los Angeles. This was Jade's second year and she was one of the two youngest participants AND top fundraisers ($1,245 - gratitude to all Active folks that helped her be the SEVENTH HIGHEST FUNDRAISER OVERALL!) - giving her access to all the cupcakes she could eat in the VIP tent. This was Monica's first year and she earned a second place category finish (thinking the ActiveX T may have given her a little extra power) - good job, rookie!

On Saturday, Renee Kerouac, Valerie Prestidge, Dennis Triplett, Marc Villanueva, Ben Weinbaum, Lindsey Mancuso, Rob Powell, Jen Meanley, Kaity Maloney, Jeff Wilson, Evan Bricker, Alan Deicas, Laurie Pani, Danae Brooker, Erin Hall, Ashley Peters, Mark Warble & Mark Kuusik gathered for a Ragnar Training run through the hills of Torrey Pines. The group ran 7 ‘ish miles then headed to Pacifica Del Mar for brunch. These Ragnarlians will be ready to crush SoCal this April!

Laurie Pani, Product Marketing Manager ran a great 7-mile run with some Active Ragnar runners on Saturday in Torrey Pines. An inspiring group. Did the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday in 23:23. Beautiful course along the water. Tons of spectators. Worth doing if you haven't already.

Phil Graham, Enterprise Sales, Draper Office, on tandem ride with his wife from Santa Clara Utah to Beaver Dam, AZ, just out of Mesquite, NV. 61 miles, 4,900 feet of climbing and a gorgeous day on the tandem with my wife, Allison.

Brian Wasserman, Manager, Architecture Team last week completed his test for Red Belt in Karate. This is a major test, as the next belt after Red is the Black Belt. The test included board breaks, forms, practical self-defense, and sparring well past the point of exhaustion. Pictures of the board breaks are attached, but you can also see a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUY3kTlW-r4

On Sunday, Lindsey Mancuso, Valerie Prestidge, Austin Braaten, Ryan Scanlon, Jennifer White, and Aaron Waldman ran the Carlsbad 5000 5K, almost all with a PR, and everyone receiving a top 250 coveted medal.

Michelle Nation (Product Manager - San Diego): My sister Kristie and I raced in the Leadman Triathlon outside Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend. The 2.5k mile swim, 109.5k bike, and 13k run was made even more challenging by the high winds (sustained 25-30 mph with gusts in 40s). About half way through the bike course my goal for the day shifted from "racing" to "survival". That said, the race directors, officials and volunteers put on a fantastic event and the finish line was a VERY welcome site when we made it in. This race took me about 2 hours longer than I had estimated, but I'm still very proud to have made it to the finish line in 7:53:41 ... 5th place in my division on a very surreal day.

Active father and son team; William and Kellen Bassler strike again at the Carlsbad 5000! Kellen PRed his Kid's mile with a time of 7:44. This is awesome, considering his last mile at the Turkey Trot was 9:06! Dad did his first sub 20 minute 5K! 19:51. It was a cold and windy morning for San Diego and there were close to 1500 Men(over 40) doing the 5K, with some super fast times! The first 250 finishers got a medal.

Ken Tarmas ran the Carlsbad 5000 yesterday with my 12-year old daughter Janelle - her very first race. She was awesome, finishing in 33 minutes!

Jane Marshall, Account Executive had a great weekend biking the Kokopelli Trails and 18 Road Trails in Fruita, CO. We ended the weekend with a cool hike up Garfield Mountain - 2,000 ft. up to spectacular views of Palisade, CO and the Grand Valley.