Margaret Patrick, swim and sports sales manager, and husband Luke ran the Surf City Half on Sunday. It was a gorgeous course and picturesque weather.

Matt Cox out of the Burnaby office hit the mountains just south of Vancouver for a Mount Baker back country alpine touring ski trip. We did about 2400' of vertical, got in a few powder runs and had awesome mountain sunshine with visibility as far as the eye could see. The peak of Baker is in the first picture at just under 11,000' and double the elevation where I took the pic.

Josha Richards, Senior Security Engineer had a very Active weekend!  I went to kite beach (Cabarete) in the Dominican Republic with some friends.  Our mornings were filled with activities such as Waterfall Canyoning in the Rio Blanco where you hike/swim/rappel/jump down the waterfalls -- some as high as 50 feet! We took to the towns by motorcycle and found some very beautiful beaches, people, restaurants, and giant water reservoirs with rope swings. Every afternoon was filled with about 5 hours worth of Kiteboarding on the beach.

PATTI ROSENTHAL reports that DANA BLACKWOOD from Active San Diego finally comes out to Durango, CO to get a taste of winter.  We first started out by celebrating in the Snowdown Winter Festival.  Went to the annual Snowdown parade & this year's theme was "Once Upon a Time" so we dressed up as Fairy Princesses.  Then on Saturday we went cross-country sking at Ironton which is a beautiful spot between Ouray (Little Switzerland) & Silverton.  Dana loved it so much we had to go out again on Sunday to our local spot in La Plata Canyon for another quick ski before she headed back to sunny San Diego.  Great weekend playing in the snow!!

TYLER CONLEY reports in Boulder we received over 20" of snow.  On Saturday I went on a 5 mile snowshoe adventure up North Table Top Mountain.

Nutrition Editor VANESSA RODRIGUEZ PR’d at Surf City Run in Long Beach, CA on Sunday.  Great weather and awesome company.

Saturday morning proved to be a great day in San Diego for riding. We were fortunate to have 75 degree weather and the company of a lot of folks. Fourteen of us (2  not pictured here) rode 45 miles, did over 4,000 feet of climbing and followed it up with food, Jacuzzi, and chill time. The riding crew consisted of Alan Deicas, Aaron Waldman, Ashley Peters, Austin Braaten, Ben Weinbaum, Dennis Triplett, Evan Bricker, Jen White, Jon Christopher, Margaret Patrick, Valerie Prestidge, and three other friends. It truly was a great day.

Abbey Schingler, Account Executive, Took part in the first annual CardiffKook 5K/10K on Sunday before the Super Bowl. The race was a blast perfect weather and lots of energy with over 2,000 runners! Getting up early and running was also the perfect excuse to enjoy all the SuperBowl treats that afternoon. I will definitely make this run a tradition going forward.

To kick off Super Bowl Sunday, Jen Meanley, Shannon Iberger, Austin Braaten, Ryan Scanlon, and Greg Wong ran the inaugural Cardiff Kook 5K and 10K.

JAMIE SNOW got to participate in the Echtells Fleet 13 Super Bowl ODW regatta this weekend. It was a beautiful weekend out on the water. We even had some dolphins swimming along-side the boat for awhile.

MARC LEGLISE, Sr Software Engineer in San Diego, spent most of Saturday in ground school, learning how to skydive solo.  It was an intense class; the first step towards earning the US Parachuting Association A-License. Unfortunately, the winds were not in our favor, so the first solo jump has been postponed to next weekend.

Hi there! Monica Manning Project Coordinator, San Diego Office. I ran in the inaugural Cardiff Kook 5k/10k run. It was a beautiful day for a run with a  very scenic out and back course along the ocean. Many people dressed up in costumes to show their Kook spirit , there were sharks, pirates, angry birds you name it! There was a lot of local support as well along the course. I topped of my weekend with my very first tandem skydive with Skydive San Diego.  What a rush, I will definitely be jumping again!

Joe Schum, Sales Manager – Enterprise – Business Solutions, completed the Red Top Rumble 11.5 mile trail race at Red Top Mountain, Cartersville, GA on Sunday.

Todd Preece ran with his 8-yr old daughter Natasha in her 1st trail race at the Xterra Mission Gorge in San Diego.  Natasha took a nasty tumble on the 1st descent, volunteers tossed a band-aid on her bleeding knee and she wiped the tears out of her eyes to finish off the remaining 2.5 miles.  Despite the early drama, she walked away with a 1st place finish in her 1-14yr old age group. After all the attention she got for being by far the youngest there, I think she's hooked.

Cindy Bones-Account Manager (faith) & Yvonne Lubsey- Accounting Associate (faith).  After Hiking up to the mountain in Boulder City NV waiting for the all clear signal to zip line.

JIM HARNAGE from the Nashville, TN office completed the 32 mile Big Hill Challenge in Watertown, TN on May 14^th.

BLAKE THORNLEY attached a photo from the Bay to Breakers 12k race in San Francisco which I ran this morning.  Finished in 1:07:11.  Not my personal best but considering that I did almost zero training for it, I'll take it!

TIM MCMAHON, Senior Account Manager ran the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco  The event was great.  As far as I know we registered more people for this event than any other in Active Endurance history, 55,000+.  We also received exposure as a sponsor at the expo, starting line and mile markers as you can see from a few of the pictures. I think this is about the 10^th time I have participated in the event and the 100^th Anniversary was by far the best.

JIM GARFIELD (M&M) joined Rich Abend (M&M) and Shannon Iberger (M&M) at the Pasadena Marathon, half, 10k and 5k this past weekend. The event was the culmination of our successful “Couch to 5k” program for the Walt Disney Company Corp Wellness initiative. Despite the extra effort of running through the rain the event drew thousands and 120 Walt Disney “cast members” …many of whom had never participated in an athletic event!!!

SIJEN OLTHOF reports a Great Day for the UW 5K Run/Walk. Special Thanks to Michael Mott, Anthony Owens, Stephen Branstetter, Camarin Flores, Jason Karls, Mike Moronczyk, Matt Wanamaker and the ActiveX kids for helping to support Active.com.  Active.com canopy photo: (listed left to right: Jason Karls, Camarin Flores, Matt Wanamaker, Mike Moronczyk, Stephen Branstetter)

RUI ZHANG, SW QA Engineer  (China Class Team). We organized a BBQ event this Saturday to TaiPingYu at QinLing Mountain. Andy Yi (Class dev), Kenny Li (Class dev) with his wife, Tracy Duan (Class dev), Andy Qin(Class tester) drove bus and John Zhang (Class dev), Shanner Kang (Class tester), Vivian Wang (Manager), Eda Zhao (IT) and Rui Zhang (Class tester) rode bicycle to there. We rode 90+KM and 5 hours in total. The weather is good, the landscape is beautiful and the air is very fresh, especially the self-help BBQ is delicious, a very enjoyable day.

JEAN SU, Operations Director sending the first activity report in from Chengdu office:  Eleven team members from Chengdu office joined Chengdu Fun Run 2011 – Charity Run for Oak Orphanage in the morning of May 14.  Bobo Guo (ActiveWorks), Crusoe Xia (ActiveWorks), Ian Jiang (ActiveWorks), Jex Chen (ActiveWorks), Martin Wang (RegOnline), Paul Li (ActiveWorks), Scott Wu (IT Security), Sean Lonergan (ActiveWorks) and Sky Li (ActiveWorks) joined the 10k run. Karen Huang (Admin) and Jean Su (China Operations) joined the 5k run race. We grouped at 5:50 am and went to a hill at south side of Chengdu city for the run. Sky Li was able to keep his record of #1 among our group and Bobo Guo has great potential to win out next time. It was a great morning as you can see what our shoes looked like after a muddy run.

Here is our badminton activity report in from Chengdu office. Arlin Luo (Corporate CIC), Joey Yin (ActiveWorks), Matthew Cox (ActiveWorks) and Jean Su (China Operations) played badminton matches in Chengdu on Sunday afternoon.

The badminton facility had 40 courts with almost 100% usage on courts and it was great fun to join a group of badminton enthusiasts in the facility who enjoy social afternoon via badminton activity.

DAMIAN STAMM, Associate Product Manager.  Last weekend competed in the Devilman "sprint" which was more half-way between a sprint and Olympic with a 20 mile bike and 4.2 mile run.  Overall pretty happy with the results and ended up having a lot more at the end than I thought, so plans are to push harder in the next tri!  Then this weekend tuned up for the upcoming races with a 60 mile bike/4 mile run on Saturday.

BRIAN ENGE, VP Revenue Growth had a truly Active weekend at the Encinitas Sports Festival.  On Saturday the U-12 girls soccer team I coach all participated in the 5k (all registered through Active).  On Sunday I raced the Sprint Tri.  My effort was  good enough for 5^th in my age group.  However, that put me at the bottom of the barrel in my house as my son and daughter took first and second in their 5k age groups.  I need to train harder to stay ahead of the kids!

AUSTIN BRAATEN participated in the Haul Ash Ride at Red Hook on Sunday, where riders faced the torrential downpour to ride the 42 miles from Seattle and back.

RODNEY VAN WINCKEL (Product Manager in the Pleasanton, CA Office) and friends went mountain bike riding in Moab, Utah.  Had a great time on some of the best trails in the US!

MICHELLE NIKOLAYEVSKY, Product Specialist in the Boulder office, competed in her first race ever this weekend. She, and four other friends, participated in the Kaiser Permanente Colfax Marathon Relay. Despite the cold and the rain, and even a little bit of snow, the team finished in 4 hours and 46 minutes with a pace of around 10:57 minutes per mile.

RUSS MILHAM, Manager - User Research.  Russ said it worked great!

MICHAEL STRICKLAND (ActiveWorks) went scuba diving with this giant school of fish at Tanner Bank, a seamount 105 miles west of San Diego in the open ocean.

MATTHEW HENRY (Bothell, WA) has had a busy couple of weekends.  Last weekend, he spent his entire weekend finishing up his certification to teach yoga.  That meant a brutal 22 thirty-five minute classes in three days.  It's taken a long nine months, with numerous classes at 6 am and 12 hour yoga weekends.  But I am now able to be certified with Yoga Alliance!  During that weekend, he also found the energy to play ultimate Frisbee with the Game of Life, crushing their opponent 15-4.  This weekend, he got in more ultimate frisbee, narrowly losing to Risk 13-12 before time was called.  He drove a couple miles up the road to take part in the opening of the Seattle Bouldering Project, massive bouldering gym.  It'd been three years since he's been climbing … and it showed.  But it was still fun!  Finally, last night the opening of the summer season for Sentinels hockey began successfully, with a 5-1 victory over the Loose Cannons.  That may sound like a blowout, but we only had five shots on goal.  This of course means, they played with no goalie for the entire game.  It was 2-1 after 36 minutes of hockey.  We clearly have some work to do.

DEMIAN DORRANCE made the trip to Mexico for the 32nd annual Rosarito-Ensenada 50-mile Fun Bike Ride.  This was one of the most upbeat events I've seen with costumed riders, roadside cantina stops, a finish line fiesta, and 50 miles of scenic open road through Baja California along the Pacific Ocean and over inland mesas. 'Official' route map goes something like beach, exercise, cerveza, mountain, exercise, margarita, beach, exercise, fiesta, and tequila. Round trip bus packages are available from San Diego including bike truck transport, which I found greatly simplified the logistics of taking a bike over the border and returning after the one-way ride. I finished the ride in 5hrs 43mins, including a leisurely cantina break. Highly recommended as a fun, unique, and non-competitive event.

Lisa Baldwin, Director of Client Migration in Burnaby completed the Inaugural Golden Ears Bridge 10K run.  Despite the relentless rain, some wind and the steep bridge incline, Lisa set a new PR shaving 8 minutes off her previous best 10K time!  Ah, a good day indeed.

Rebecca Zent, Strategic Account Manager in Boulder, CO -- Did 6 mile snow hike without snowshoes. We thought we didn't have enough snow for our snowshoes, so we used our Yack Tracks but mine got lost on the hike. This photo was taken about 40 minutes into our hike. Areas of our hike, your foot would drop into about 2-3 ft of snow. You had to laugh your way through the hike even though it was frustrating to lose your footing. Great core workout to lift your body out of the snow and continue on the path.
Over the hike took us 3.5 hours for 6 miles. Great day, great company, and great workout!

James Lonsdale Hands (Events) and Sam Renouf (International) enjoying a day's skiing in Beijing with event clients. Note the smog and complete lack of snow beyond the piste - it was entirely artificial only a few miles from Beijing Airport.

Brian Enge, VP, Revenue Growth -- This weekend I traveled to Catalina Island for the Catalina Marathon.  I was thankful to finish 3rd overall and 1st in my old guys age group.  It was fun to get ActiveX on the podium.   The run across the island is spectacular and should be on every runner's short list.

Marc Kozai, Manager, Online Advertising Systems -- Justin Ramers, Jen Meanley and myself attended the Adobe/Omniture Summit last week in SLC and decided to extend our trip a bit to get a little snowboarding/skiing in.  It had not snowed for about 4 days so there was not much powder to be found inbounds.   1/2 way thru the day, Jen told me she was bummed that she missed ActiveX this week and that she had not been physically challenged yet.  So we went for a 45min hike and found the attached.  Snow was so good, that we traded the second half of our day to get this twice before the lifts closed for the day.

Yesterday in Escondido, Mike Reade (Sr. Software Engineer), Anusheh Chavez (Executive Asst.), Mark Warble (Desktop Mgmt Team Lead) and Bree Kulis (Market Mgr, Golf) from the San Diego office finished the inaugural Safari Park Half Marathon.  It was a beautiful day for a half marathon, but the course was hillier than expected. Not too many animals were out and about that early, but we caught a glimpse of some Rhinos near the finish line.

Chris Hemphill, Manager SCM and DevTools -- safari park 1/2 marathon - 1:56:11 chip time; 1:51:52 watch time which does not include the potty stop at mile 3 – best part of the race?  Seeing the baby rhino doing laps with her Mom at mile 13. I also killed my previous PR of 2:12 5 years and 30+ pounds ago.

Valerie Prestidge, Technical Account Manager -- Valerie Prestidge (Technical Account Manager) & friends ran the Inaugural Safari Park Half Marathon on Sunday.  Even with a gnarly spill after mile 6, I was able to PR the race!

Christine Crosby, Account Executive, Communities in San Diego - I completed my first 5K event with my husband, Bryan Crosby.  We ran the "Finish Chelsea's Run 5K" in Balboa Park.

Anthony Valentino, Senior Account Manager - Strategic Accounts (San Diego) enjoyed a weekend of wheels and great California locations.  Saturday he rode the Solvang Century in Central California and washed it down with a 4 mile run along State Street to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara.  Sunday was a little less intense - beach cruiser boardwalk crawl in Manhattan Beach.

Stephany Cavatoni, General Manager, Consumer Insight and Access -- The entire Cardenas family (Stephany Cavatoni, GM, Consumer Insights) enjoyed opening day festivities for Davis Little League, including a parade, dedication, the first pitch, picnic, games, and more.  We are looking forward to Lucas' first season with Little League - Go Phillies!!

Amanda, Bennett, baby to be named later, and Joel Werdell (ActiveWorks Swimming Product Manager in Bothell)  built some long lasting memories up at around 4500ft during the dead of winter. Amanda is with child and in her 8th month of pregnancy! It took us about 5 hours to hike the 6 mile trail with 1100 ft of elevation gain. We were all very glad to get to camp and have some hot food. The evening and morning consisted of playing in the snow, hanging in the tent and plenty of sleep and hot food.  The next day we awoke to plenty of snow and a fantastic hike out.  Bennett (16 months) was either belting out animal noises or conked out in the baby backpack.  Overall we had a great time and surprising even for me, Amanda said she would do it all over again.  As you can see in the pictures we got a few of feet of new snow while we were up there and Bennett, when warm and fed was all smiles. Thanks to our beloved community of Peak 7 who helped get us every step of the way. Couldn't have done it without you guys!  http://werdell.blogspot.com/

This weekend I finally did something worthy of the weekend warriors updates.  I did my first roller derby bout!  San Diego has had women’s derby for years.   We are starting up a men’s team.  There’s not enough men yet so we play co-ed with the girls (which is a blast).  This weekend, I played in my first public bout.  White shirt in the photos.  Number 1966 (great year to be born).

Burt N. Repine, Sr. Software Engineer in San Diego -- had a blast with the family at the inaugural San Diego Zoofari  Park Half Marathon on Sunday finishing in 1:29:13, which was good enough for 2nd in his age group, but not good enough for the highest family placing, as his Mom ended up winning hers. His two boys and his step-father took on the 5K portion and everyone had a great time! What a venue/what an event!

(photo courtesy of Active's own Arch Fuston who was shooting and cheering along the course)

Demian Dorrance, Sr. Systems Engineer,  IT,  San Diego

I was in the UK to attend my graduation from the University of London  with a BSc in Information Systems and Management, when I represented  ActiveX in a local race organized by the Mornington Chasers running  club. I landed on Saturday evening and ran my first ever 10k race, in  freezing weather near 0 Celsius early Sunday morning. Finished the  Regent's Park Winter 10k in 1:05:45, despite some outrageous event  preparation that consisted of a transatlantic flight, a night on the  town in London, some local cider, and three hours sleep. Still achieved a  personal best: this was my first event running continuously with no  walking breaks. Kudos to the local club marshals who kept everyone going  with delightfully understated English cheers of "well done, runners."  at every corner of the Regent's Park course.

I finally got to hear Mike Reilly tell me "You are an IRONMAN!" while crossing the finish line this weekend in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  The course was amazingly beautiful and the community here was incredibly supportive.  I was spoiled to have my parents and my older sister here to cheer for me in person and many people supporting and following along via the web. I've never felt anything like running in the last 4 blocks with screaming fans lining the streets towards the music and lights at the finish line.  It was worth every sacrifice I've made to get there.   What a day!  Finished in 15 hours and 7 minutes ... way ahead of my goal.  Huge thanks to everyone who was a part of the journey!  :-)

Congratulations to Michelle!

Eric Olson, Associate GM – Events, competed in the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon this weekend. The race was changed to a 5K run, 40K bike, 10K run duathlon after a swimmer went missing in Saturday’s sprint. I’m not a duathlon guy, and it was a tough day. The race started well with a good first run and a decent bike. In the end, the 100+ heat index and lack of shade took its toll, and I was just happy to finish. My girlfriend finished 5th in the pro women’s race, suffering through the heat and humidity at a much faster pace than me. 

Mike and Brian Law at ironman coeur d alene

Michele Crepeau ran the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5 Mile run in NYC, such an incredible inspiration with all the Achilles athletes participating.  Followed it up with a bike ride down to Battery Park City.  Fun in the NYC sun!

Anthony Valentino - Account Executive, Higher Education, San Diego – spent the weekend with daughter Jade teaching her to build and start her first campfire at Cuyamaca State Park, share apple pie in Julian, celebrate his grandmother’s 90th in Corona, and watched his girlfriend compete in the Huntington Beach Sand Soccer Tournament. Perfect!

Chuan Hu from China:

Chuan and Lily continue their Tibet trip. We drove to the Everest Base Camp at June 24th. We saw the beautiful lake, the glacier and the highest mountain in the world – Mt. Everest.

On the way to the base camp, there is 102KM road under very bad condition. It requires very good driving skill. After 3 hours, we arrived at the base camp.

When the evening was coming, Mt. Everest in the sunset became red. It was the most beautiful view in the world!

Matthew Henry (Interaction Designer – ActiveWorks Swimming) ran the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Saturday with Team in Training and a few of his friends from the Bothell office, including Sijen Olthof who he caught up with around mile nine.  The course was incredi-hilly, but he managed to finish in 4:31, a PR by 17 minutes.  The best part was, he felt good enough to do 90 minutes of hot yoga on Sunday morning.  Next up, Chicago!  

SCOTT FRIESEN (Associate Product Manager for Golf & Resort Solutions) ran in his very first marathon at the Seattle Rock N Roll on Saturday.

I was a little disappointed in my time of 4:16.   But considering that my longest run before the marathon was 15 miles, overall I’m happy to have finished with a smile on my face.  This was easily the most challenging physical event that I’ve participated in.   I couldn’t help but fill up an entire notepad of the things I’ll do differently next time.  Despite all of the new pains I enjoyed over the weekend, I’m looking forward to running this distance again in the future.

Big kudos go out to Jamie Williams who powered through a weekend of serious cycling. Friday evening sported an intense spinning class at 24 Hour Fitness, followed by an early morning 30-mile road ride through the hills of Palos Verdes on Saturday. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Ask Jamie about the 13% grade on Via Coronel. On Sunday, Jamie set out to conquer the hills of the Santa Monica Mountains with Lorraine Daly, and former UCLA varsity crew members Justin Price and Brad Stapleton. The 72.5 miles may have had close to forty miles of rolling to flat terrain along the Pacific Coast, but the remaining 32+ miles dished up just over 4000 feet of vertical gain, with gradients as much as 11%. The climb up Stunt Road, very close to where the Tour of California passed earlier this year, was sweetened as Jay Leno drove by in a classic 1915 roadster and waved to our weekend warriors.

Jim Garfield, Tawnya Bordalo, Mike MacDonald and Jim Sola participated in the San Diego International Triathlon on Sunday.  All four of us competed in the International distance race (1K-30K-10K), and the cool and cloudy morning was perfect for all of us to meet or exceed our expectations… “good times” were had by all: Jim G. (2:01), Tawnya (2:29), Mike (2:13), Jim S. (2:25). They were cheered on by Nolan Hansen and Karen Hardy.  A beautiful course winding its way up over the Spanish Bay Park. Interesting point to point run finishing at Fisherman’s Village.  It was a long walk back to the transition area…..oy!

Robert T. Klingensmith, Vice President, Media + Marketing, Thanks to everyone at Active who participated in -- and volunteered at -- the 2nd annual Gran Fondo Colnago San Diego (and bike wash).  Conditions were truly heinous. You all are tough!

Ricky Grey (Active Creative), Race Director and Active M @ M VP Rob Klingensmith and Jim Garfield (Active M&M) enjoyed another successful Gran Fondo Colnago San Diego. Jim once again channeled the mighty voice of Active's own Mike Reilly in announcing the race and battling the elements.   Over 3,200 riders braved a couple rain drops and participated in this year's event!

Chris Gielow, Lead Interaction Designer, Foundations, San Diego, did the San Diego Gran Fondo with the Active crew! There were 8 flats between us, but we hung together and finished strong!

I was intwo of the San Diego Union Tribune photos:

Emily Nesselroad Manager, Sampling/Promotions & ActiveRewards, San Diego, my sister and I rode in the 32 Mile Gran Fondo bike race on Sunday. It was poring rain for about 80% of the race. It was a real test of inner and physical strength. I'm so happy that we finished the race. The Gran Fondo was an all around amazing experience!

Jamie Williams, Data Warehouse Architect, Jamie Williams survived the Gran Fondo ride this weekend - starting from Little Italy in downtown San Diego, across the Coronado bridge, around the bay and back into town.  Actually it was the cold and the rain and the 8 flat tires our group of 7 had that made the ride a challenge! :-O  We opted for 32 miles instead of a longer ride since we spent over an hour just changing tires.  On the plus side I think we're all tire changing experts!

Regina  Huricks also completed  the Family Fondo ride and sent in some photos...they capture the mood of wet, cold and shaky...as most  are blurry..hahaha!

Toby Guillette, Social Media Specialist, San Diego, rode with the above-mentioned crew from Active (including Airey Baringer, Evan Witte, Brett Davies and Mike Reade) during the Gran Fondo and put this video together:

Jeannie Freis, Associate Product Manager in Boulder, snowboarded at Eldora Sunday.  Friday night I took 2 dance classes (hip hop and jazz). Saturday I took 2 tap dance classes.

Penny Curry, ActiveNet Consultant, my C League Ice Hockey team won the Winter Season Championship!  I don't have a picture yet of the team, attached is a picture of the cup.  Unfortunately, I was not able to play the last 4 games because I was injured during a playoff game February 24th.  I broke my right clavicle during a playoff game. The break was severe enough to require surgery, which was performed last Wednesday. Luckily, I was able to attend the last two playoff games last night to watch my team, and my husband win the championship!

Paul McLure, Account Manager, My wife, two daughters and I participated in the Kids Magic Mile on Saturday in Balboa Park.  It is a nice short 1 mile run - Lily our four year old ran the entire mile. Stella our 3 year old was on my shoulders most of the way for a free ride.

Joe Schum, Account Executive, Activeevents, Atlanta, GA, Ran the Albany Snickers Marathon in Albany, GA last Saturday, March 06 in 3:53:00.

Michelle L. Ulrich, Ran the SCPD 5k at the Beach 5k in 18:35 to finish first female and set a new course record for top female finisher!

Sijen Olthof, Sr. Implementation Analyst, Bothell, WA. Took advantage  of the sun and went hiking with family and friends at Barclay Lake,  beautiful day. Looking forward to spring and summer.

And last, but certainly not least, we have Demian Dorrance, Sr. Systems Engineer, Active Systems Team:

In our second year participating in the Gran Fondo Colnago San Diego, my 15-year-old son and I were determined to challenge the 101 mile route and complete a first century ride for each of us.  We spent the week before in the bike shop and on the road preparing for the event, and we both volunteered at the Gran Fondo event check-in. We were going for it rain or shine, but the weather didn’t cooperate. We were already soaked through before the start but still cheerful as we crossed the start line with a great group from Active.

The heavy rain and winds for the first 22 miles caused us two stops to buy extra layers and a pair of dry gloves. We reached the 2nd aid station at mile 30 in the Olympic Training Center well behind the other century riders, and my son’s bike needed a bracket repair. Despite the delay, we were feeling good and decided to push on into the countryside for full mountain route rather than turn back for the 50 mile route.

We were the last ones to start the climb at the King of the Mountain timing line, just as the course timer was packing up.  Neither of us are strong climbers, but we ground out the mountain stage one mile at a time. The course crew tried to talk us out of it three times since we were now the tail end of the century group and behind course schedule, but neither of us would quit. We got a mental boost at the mountain aid-station, and some quick support to temporarily fix a broken bolt on my son’s bottle cage with tie wraps. Ride tip: you cannot each a sandwich on a mountain descent… even at slow speed each bump throws tomato and cucumber on the course

At mile 64, we met our match. My chain started skipping then the rear derailleur caught on a short climb and snapped off. We had brought the parts and tools we might need, but somehow a derailleur hanger hadn’t come to mind.  I told my son we were done and called ride dispatch to see if we could get a repair.  By this time, the repair teams were elsewhere on the course and they would only pick us up.  When I broke the news to my son, he wanted to continue on solo and finish what we started.  I admired his determination, but wouldn’t let him go on without support.  With 37 miles to go, I decided to convert my 18-speed bike to a single speed by tying the derailleur out the way and shortening and repairing my broken chain.  I thanked the SAG vehicle for the awesome moral support, but turned down the last ride in. The course was now closed, and we were on our own adventure to finish what we started. Who knew that you could seat mount a derailleur?

At mile 78, my son had a flat tire. After we had replaced the tube darkness had fallen, so we installed his bike light and made a push to get out of the backcountry. We were never so happy to see a street light, and the final miles in the city felt fantastic despite my slower pace with a single gear.

We successfully crossed the finish line in San Diego’s Little Italy 14 hours after we started. We were thoroughly soaked, but incredibly thrilled to have finished 101 miles distance, 4,000+ feet of elevation on climbs, and overcome every obstacle to finish our first century ride.

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.