MICHELLE CREPEAU On Saturday Michele Crepeau joined Brenda Seidner and 8500 others to run a 4 mile races in Central Park to raise funds for Haiti.  $400,000 was raised with just over 18 days to plan the race.  NYRR immediately put into action their ability to rally runners in NYC who were blessed with a perfect spring like day in Central Park.  Sunday brought more spring like conditions out east so Michele spent Sunday afternoon snow shoeing in Mohonk with good friend Matt Morchower.

DAMON MATHEWS, Sr. Web Designer and his wife ROBIN MATHEWS Web Production Manager for M + M participated in the 2010 Las Vegas Footbag Jam! This year the Tournament was held at UNLV Student Center and was sponsored by Freedom Footbags and Nucleus Footwear.  I placed 4th in the annual Rippin' Run contest and helped to introduce the world's first Footbag Freestyle shoe called the Nucleus.

Current US Footbag Champion Jim Penske from Boise Idaho was also in attendance and blew away the competition in ALL categories.

It was a blast and Robin and I are excited about attending these years’ world championships in San Francisco later this year.

TOBY GUILLETTE, Social Media Specialist in San Diego, ran 32 miles in the rain this weekend. 12 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. The run on Sunday was quite the adventure, starting at the US/MEX border in Campo, CA and running 20 miles north to Lake Morena. There were two big climbs (1000ft each) on the way and the last hour we were running in the dark and in thick fog. Here's a video from the adventure:

ANDY GEORGE, BRAD WILLS, and PAUL APODACA from the San Diego office poached some Colorado powder this weekend with big smiles and sore legs to boot.

WHEN YOU SEND IN YOUR REPORT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR SIGNATURE LINE INCLUDED WITH YOUR TITLE AND WHICH OFFICE YOU WORK AT.  WE ALL WANT TO KNOW. Thanks, Mike

Here's a weekend warrior update from Switzerland.  BRIAN BERGEY (ActiveEvents EMEA), ERIC OLSON, (ActiveEvents) and ANTHONY MILLER (ActiveEvents EMEA) did some team building in Flumserberg, Switzerland Saturday, taking some time to enjoy the Alps and "shred some serious Swiss gnar." I WONDER IF THAT WAS A WORK TRIP?

ADNAN ZAIDI, Tech Account Mgr Tennis played in the 58th Annual Challenge Cup Seniors tennis tournament in the Men’s 35s Singles division in Stockton, CA. I won my semi final match and am now in the finals this coming weekend.  I am currently 22 in the country in the Men’s 35s. If I win this next match (i.e. tournament) I should move into the top 15. Here is a link to the tournament.

http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=83665

TODD PREECE reports a rainy weekend canceled most of the San Diego events this weekend so I went for a 10-mile trail run out of pure spite.  It was a cold, slippy, sloppy mud bath with intermittent downpours.  Felt more like an Amazon expedition than a trail run.

ALEX AFANDI had the pleasure to assist with the Pasadena ½ Marathon. My duties were mostly to organize the course and prepare the Aide Stations. The course was hilly and the vast majority of it was on dirt roads.  Walking on wet dirt while carrying equipment took some balance skills. The race was very successful and 1200 competitors finished the race. I also got to cheer as I directed racer. Only one medical aide was needed.  THANKS ALEX VOLUNTEERS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF ALL ENDURANCE EVENTS!

KAT KEIVENS (Online Account Coordinator) competed in the Surf City Half Marathon this past weekend.  This is her second half marathon ever in just two weeks (first was Carlsbad)!

EVAN WITTE had a leisurely relatively injury-free Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach followed by an intense afternoon of chips, dip, and the Super Bowl.

More Gran Fondo (http://www.active.com/triathlon/san-diego-ca/gran-fondo-colnago-san-diego-2010) training for MARC VILLANUEVA, JEREMY SPITZBERG and TAWNYA BORDALO (Media + Marketing) who rode from Fiesta Island up to Del Mar, via the hill at Torrey Pines, and back.

MIKE REILLY, VP Major Event Sales along with his niece visiting from Columbus, Ohio did a 35 mile ride up and down the coast.  While all the SD people riding on a 60 degree blustery day with long pants and sleeves my niece thought she was in the tropics wearing shorts.  We are such wussies here!

TOBY GUILLETTE, social media specialist in San Diego put in 2.5 hours on the stationary trainer on Saturday while it was raining outside to prepare for the Grand Fondo San Diego in March. Then on Sunday, despite the weather, ran 14 miles in the mountains in east San Diego County. The run was 7 miles of climbing and 7 miles of descending. During the climb, the rain turned to snow! SEE EVERYONE IT DOES SNOW IN SAN DIEGO, AT LEAST IN THE MOUNTAINS.

ANUSHEH CHAVEZ ran the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon, finishing in 2:12.  This was 2 minutes faster than her half in Las Vegas in December.  Also pictured are JESSICA WEXLER (Sr. Business Analyst) and LIZ HARRELL (Director, Product Management & Projects) ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon together.  Jessica and Liz have been training buddies for the past few months.  Sunday all of their hard work paid off and they crossed the finish line together.  The weather was perfect, the course was amazing and lots of Active folks were out there cheering us on!  A truly epic day!

MICHELLE NATION WENT ALL THE WAY! She ran the Full Marathon yesterday in a new Personal Record of 4:39:39. She said it was great seeing so many smiling faces from all her Active friends and family out on the course.

TODD PREECE ran the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon and had a fast day.  He completely crushed his previous PR, putting in a 1:37 and placing in the top 10% of his age group.

JENNIFER ROMINE, Account Manager Endurance had a mini family reunion with both her sisters and Mom coming down to race the Carlsbad Half Marathon (this was the first half for the rest of the family and only Jen’s second).  A little friendly sibling rivalry helped Jennifer to PR with a time of 2:12:22, however she still was not able to beat her older sister J. 

JAMIE WILLIAMS, Data Warehouse Architect ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon Sunday – his first Half, so he now has a PR – 2:02! J

KEVIN BEATTY from the SD office completed the Carlsbad ½ Marathon while battling a head cold. He finished in 1:39, good job Kevin a lot of people would have stayed in bed!

STACEY JOHNSON also ran the Carlsbad ½ Marathon in a tiem of 1:45. She said what a beautiful day to run, clear skies and sunny with a big surf to watch along the course.

JASON GRIFFITH, Project Manager Foundations sending in his FIRST contribution after being here almost a year! He ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon (my first).  I finished w/ a time of 2:22.57.  Five Months ago I started doing trail runs w/ Michelle Nation & Kevin Burke and couldn’t run more than a mile.  So I’d like to thank them for the motivation and support as well as the training plan Arch put together.  Overall I’m very happy considering it was my first, I was able to run the whole race, no walking, and had no on course issues.  The weather was absolutely perfect for running I don’t think it could have been any better and I feel great today my legs are only a little sore.  WAY TO GO JASON GETTING TO THAT FINISH LINE!

ROB POWELL ran the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon along wth 60 other friends/family as par of Chloe’s Crew, an organization inspired by Chloe Nichols, an 8 year old girl whose spirit and determination inspires others to reach for and achieve their goals.  Chloe was a fiercely determined girl who never backed down from a challenge, and Chloe's Crew is determined to keep this spirit alive.  She passed away at age eight on August 25, 2009 from complications due to medical treatment, and yes, she fought the good fight all the way to the end... 

MATT BECKMAN did yesterday’s Carlsbad Half was a perfectly sunny morning.  There were quite a few Active supporters out there, which is greatly appreciated, especially for the under-trained.  Attached is a pic I snapped as we approached Highway 101 at Mile 3. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE MAY ALL YOUR 2010 GOALS AND DREAMS COME TRUE! Mike

PENNY CURRY ActiveNet consultant and RON GAETZ play Ice Hockey at the Cool Sports Icearium in their home town of Knoxville, TN (we are remote employees).  Our team, Randy’s Heroes played last night.  We lost 6-3 against the Blue Bombers (we are a newly formed team with a few newbies, like myself).  Attached are a few pics from a previous game we played against the Wolves.  Last night’s game was my 5^th hockey game!  At 46 years of age, I decided I wanted to play.  It’s a hard sport to learn but its great fun and great exercise.  WOW ICE HOCKEY AT 46 PENNY WE ARE IMPRESSED!

ANDY GEORGE from the SD office had a minute of podium time taking 2^nd in a San Diego mountain bike race. 3 days later, he and his daughters hit some fresh powder and sunshine at Snow Summit in southern California. Love the weather!

STANELY ULMER from the Vancouver office ran the 5 km Resolution Run along the Stanley Park seawall in Vancouver, BC on New Year’s Day. It was raining pretty hard but I had great fun splashing through the puddles.

MICHELLE CREPEAU from the NY office ran the NY Road Runners club Ted Corbitt 15K in the frosty 27 degree temps in Central Park on Dec 19th followed by a week of amazing skiing with fresh powder at Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe, CA.

JESSICA WEXLER SD office (Foundations) traveled to New Zealand to hike, bike, and kayak. The best parts included going on a heli-hike on the Franz Josef Glacier and taking a small plane into the backcountry and then spending a few days backpacking in the middle of nowhere. WE ARE ALL JEALOUS JESSICA!

ERIN LANG HR Assistant took a snowboarding trip to Utah for 5 days with my family between Christmas and New Years.  The weather was definitely a little chilly compared to what I am used to in San Diego, but all of the fresh powder was amazing!  Pictures attached of my Mom & I, as well as a shot of the view from the top of Snowbird.

Jim Garfield (AMG) and Active alum Chris Wheeler, did the Big Rock Triathlon this past Saturday.  It was great to hear the fans cheer "Go Active".  Wish the cheers could have loosened my tight calf's.....but fun all the same!!

Last Saturday, Oct 31, David Detar (National Account Manager - ActiveOutdoors) and his son Matt (10 yrs old) participated in a local Jack-o-lantern Jog.  It was a 5K race.

The course was tough - a 3/4 mile hill less than a mile from the start and then rolling hills throughout.  We also were forced to run through heavy rain and wind.  We still enjoyed our time together and finished respectably in 27:30 and 27:31.  Pacing with Matt, I my time actually put in in 7th in my age group while Matt finished 4th in the under 11 age bracket.  Next up for both of us is a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day!

Michelle Nation, Product Manager - I travelled to Las Vegas this weekend to take on the Desert Beach Big Dirt Triathlon.  The weather and the 1.5 k lake swim were perfect, but the 30 k bike and 10k run were brutal!   As the only female to finish the long course, I brought home the first place trophy which helps me feel a lot better about all the cuts, bruises and sore muscles from crashing on the bike course.   It was my first off-road tri and I will definitely be back for more.

Jim Hine, GM for Consumer Access, rode with a group of eight riders on a 24-mile loop along the South Fork of the Boise River on Saturday.  The stock trails in the Danskin Mountains aren’t maintained so you get pretty worked on the side hills and washouts. You can only ride this area in the fall/winter due to the heavy rattlesnake population in the spring.  I hooked a pedal and got a close-up look at a rock, but the trails were a blast.

Mark Lister (Documentation – Burnaby) competed in the Haney 2 Harrison 100 km road relay this past weekend. Running with “Oconnor’s Washed up All Stars” (comprised of current and former Richmond Kajaks track runners), the team finished second overall in a time of 5:43.48.

Mark was 3rd on his leg of the race, running the 13.1 km stage in 46:26, despite the cold, persistent heavy rain.

Stage 6 results: http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2009/run/H2H2009Stage6.html

Marea Blue (Implementation Analyst) and I (Kirstin Hartos, Technical Account Management Team Lead) traveled to San Francisco over the weekend with our rugby team to play for the Division 1 National Championship.  We faced the Atlanta Harlequins in Friday’s semi-final match, and although they scored first we managed to come from behind in the second half to win 21-10 and advance to the final against Northern Virginia.  We had Saturday to rest and refocus, and came out firing on Sunday – scoring within the first minute of the game to go up 7-0.  We got penalized several times for repeated offenses, and one of our players was sin-binned (like a penalty box in hockey) so we played a man down for 10 minutes in the middle of the first half.  Although we didn’t score again until well into the second half, we managed to hold NOVA scoreless throughout the game.  The final score was 14-0, marking our team’s first ever National Championship.  Marea was also named MVP (well deserved).  Thanks to everyone here for your support throughout the season!

Chris Ochs,  Sales Manager - The Boulder Team participated in Habitat for Humanity.

L-R:  Chris Ochs, Jen Napoli, Dan Partain, Aaron Romero, Eric Johnson, Holly Hale, Nick Stevens.

A fun time was had by all!

Here is the Weekend Warrior from China.

Phoenix Zhong, Jex Chen and Crusoe Xia (From left to right) from Foundations, Chengdu office attended a cycling match at Sunday.

This is the first time China ActiveX team members to attend a national wide, public cycling match in China!

Crusoe got the 1^st place in his group and got 53^rd in the whole match. It is China ActiveX team’s first record.

“225” in these two pictures is Jex

THIS IS THE BIGGEST NAME DROPPING YET FOR WEEKEND WARRIORS! 

AMG’s MATT BECKMAN, LATANE MEAD AND JIM GARFIELD were with actor Will Ferrell in a golf outing to raise money for “Cancer for College” an organization that funds scholarships for college students fighting cancer. Although we’ll never make it to the tour…we had a blast.  Sure our game could have been fixed with “more cowbell”!

VANESSA ALLEN did a weekend hike in SD on Iron Mountain in Rancho Bernardo.

JAMIE WILLIAMS competed in a practice Sprint Triathlon with the San Diego VAVi Sports & Social club in Coronado on Saturday. The practice Tri was 500m swim; 11+ mi bike; and 3.1 mi run. . . . He’s preparing for the Mission Bay Sprint Tri on 10/4!!

MICHELE CREPEAU in NY did Fall kickoff health and wellness weekend, ran 9 miles, weights classes, spa, healthy snacks, herbal teas and went hiking yesterday in New Paltz at Mohonk.  

TIM VALANTI said he is fairly new to Active and was wondering what the Weekend Warrior report was all about.  I’ve raced almost every weekend over the summer and my Cyclocross race season is coming up.  On Sunday I competed in the final Playa del Run series race in Malibu.  1000m Swim and a 5k Run.  Fun race to end the Aquathon season with.  WELCOME to you Tim and now you know what the Weekend Warriors report is. Mike

http://www.playadelrun.com/results/2009/points/playa2009_agegroup_points_aquathlon.pdf

This weekend was the Boulder/Denver Charity Challenge Event, and we participated in the Boulder Marathon & Half Marathon.  TINA NOVACKf and Robert Ham (from our charity, Urban Peak) ran the Half Marathon, and we had 3 Relay Teams participate as well.

Justine Tumolo, Mike Schultz, Staci Rieder and Stacey Edlund of Team Speedy Turtles ran a great race!

Michael and Leslie Cimperman, Ryan Bell and Gina Puzo of Team Knee Pain cruised in with anchor Gina running a 56:35!

Team SFWDY consisting of Sue Fonda, Brian O’Neill, Brett Burch and Akira Shirai had speedster Brian keeping them in the race!  It was a beautiful course, on dirt roads along the foothills with incredible views of the flat irons. Got to be a little windy and toasty towards the end, but everyone had a great time!

Tina Novak, Michael Cimperman, Sue Fonda, and Justine Tumolo pictured

TOBY GUILLETTE, Community Development Specialist, ran the VERMONT 100 MILE ENDURANCE RUN over the weekend. The course offered a brutal 14,000' of elevation gain and 14,000' of loss through the rolling hills of southern VT.

My support crew consisted of my parents, brother and close friends and we executed our race plan perfectly. I averaged a 13min09sec pace to finish in 21hrs57min. That is 2.5hrs faster than my previous PR and was good for 30th place overall, 5th in my age group. I'm thrilled that my months of hard work came together and brought my family together to share such a unique and exciting experience. With only 8 toenails remaining, soon to be 7, I'm already being asked what's next... Stay tuned! TOBY YOU ARE MY HERO! Mike

I didn’t yet receive a report from anyone who competed in the Vineman 70.3 ½ Ironman event in Sonoma, CA but did talk to ARCH FUSTON. He said it was one of the toughest triathlons ever. The swim was interesting because the river was so low that they actually walked part of the swim! Then on the bike they were all safe which was good because a tree fell on the road during the bike ride and hit a few riders. They have some broken bones but are okay. I’ve been in triathlon over 25 years and have never heard of that happening! Then on the ½ marathon run the temperature hit 101 degrees with no wind.

The CHAMPIONS from Active that finished and should be congratulated by all are ARCH & CHRISTY FUSTON, KAREN HARDY, MIKE DOBRANSKY, SARAH MOOSBRUGGER, KEVIN BEATTY, BETHANY DOMINICK, STEPHANIE SNAMAN, ANDREA LEVINSON AND REBECCA DIVITA. Next step IRONMAN baby!

BRIAN CHOY, Customer Programs Specialist in Burnaby reports that ir was a big weekend for the Active Assassins roller hockey team consisting of BRIAN and JUSTIN LEUNG, JASON LO, JIMMY LAM, INDERPAL DHALIWAL, RYAN LYSTER, MEGAN HOLLSTRDT, MATT COX, ANDRE TESSIER and MATT HOFFMAN. After finishing in 8th place after the regular season, we needed to play an elimination game against the 9th place team to qualify for the playoffs. The Assassins came out hard and got a well deserved 9-2 victory on Friday night to advance into the first round of the playoffs led by a 4 goal (5 point) performance by team captain Justin Leung. With little rest, the Assassins were back on the floor on Sunday afternoon to face the top seeded team, the Angry Dragons in the first round of the playoffs. After losing both regular season games to the Dragons, we knew we were the underdogs going into the game. Sunday’s game was definitely the most physical, hard-nosed game that we have played all season and both teams did not let up even after the whistles. However with nothing but pure will and determination, the Active Assassins pulled off an amazing 4-3 upset victory playing our best game of the season. The game was a closely fought battle with the game-winning goal coming with just 8 seconds left on the clock to break a 3-3 tie and seal the victory for the Assassins. A huge thanks to the fans who came out in the blistering heat to support the team! Next up for the Assassins are the Sharpshooters who we will face on Tuesday night.

JIM HINE did a short exploratory ride near Stanley ID. Climbed Boundary Creek to the Casino Lakes loop. The trail starts at about 6,700’ and tops out at 8,800’ in 2.5 miles, and my HR kept shooting up so I had to take some extra ‘photo breaks’. The ridge has great views of the Sawtooth range and Redfish Lake. Lewis (my aussie/lab mix) descended fast…cutting me off on 3-4 switchbacks, and whenever I gunned it he was on my wheel. Great session.

JESSICA WEXLER (Swim), LIZ HARRELL (Bike), MICHELLE NATION (Run) teamed up for the Carlsbad Sprint (Relay) Triathlon last weekend in San Diego. The event was a lot of fun and great practice for our upcoming races on the 26th. Jessica’s swim was much faster than anticipated (current aided), Liz’s ride was in fact 15 miles not 9 miles as previously assumed, and Michelle’s sub-10 minute mile was cheered on by all! We stayed after the race to cheer for some tri-newbies who were still out on the course. A great day had by all!

AMBER MARTIN, SD office climbed half dome this weekend with my entire family and Jessica Brustad who used to work at Active. I was extremely proud that my 53 year old parents were able to make the 17 mile Hike! It was my second time doing the hike, and it was much harder in 100 degree weather this time. And on a personal note - WOW 53 and hiking 17 miles, that’s soooo OLD!

MEGAN CARTER, CATHERINE HANSEN, ERIC RAETHER AND ERIC went for a killer mountain bike ride in Penasquitos Canyon last Friday. It was an epic ride, not too hot. Thanks Scott and Dave for fixing Megan’s mechanical bike problem.

MICHELLE CREPEAU out of NY did lots of biking in Nantucket this weekend. Ah summer in the East!

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) spent the beautiful weekend in USAT certification class so he could officiate at the Strawberry Fields Triathlon Sunday. The Junior and Youth National Championships were held during the triathlon. It was incredible to see 13-15 and 16-18's race with such skill and speed. Definitely saw our future Olympian's there! I did not even have to blow my whistle or throw a red card!!

!Garfield-1256.jpg!

DON CRAMER Product Manager spent last week competing in the USA Shooting National Championship in Shotgun. USA Shooting is the National Governing Body for Olympic Shooting Sports. Don opened with a 91 out of 100 targets on the first day within 7 targets of the lead. With the competition lasting over 3 days shooting 250 targets, Don finished 46th out of 120 competitors with a score of 215/250. In the women’s trap competition 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist Corey Cogdell won with a score of 250/275 after the finals.

LAUREN EDER found a great way to get the heart rate up while strapped to a seat.  I spent an exhilarating hour on Saturday in a 2-seat glider over the Fraser River and British Columbia coastal mountains, near Hope which is about 2 hours west of Vancouver.  Geoff, the pilot, is husband of ex-Class employee Judy Holt, who is really just on extended maternity leave. J  Of course I had to say Yes to the offer of experiencing some aerobatics.  I cannot describe the feeling of “pulling 2 G’s” (new lingo for me), but want to do it again!

Saturday, three members of European Active Team went to volunteers to the St Jean de Luz stage of the charities race series called Odyssea.

From left to right: Loic Metais (St Jean de Luz triathlon race director), CEDRIC PRIMAULT (France account manager), PIERRE DUVELLEROY (Senior account executive) & LAURENT GAUTHIER (Endurance European managing director)

JIM HINE's Bogus Basis Weekend:

On Saturday we mountain biked the Boise foothills to Gardener Peak, just East of Bogus Basin ski resort....climbing 7,490 ft over 32 miles in a little over 4 hours.  The single track along the ridge was solid, but one of our favorite descents - Shingle Creek - was rutted and sketchy after the heavy rain a week ago.  Then on Sunday my family (and Grandparents!) drove up to Bogus and hiked to the summit of Shafer Butte.  The views came and went with the clouds, but we made a couple snowballs before switch-backing down through the wildflowers.

ROBERT SUBKOW: There were dogs from all across the United States that came to ride the waves in Southern California.  CBS morning show, Channels 5, 8, 9, and even a station from Germany were there filming the contest.  The event has gotten so much notoriety that the film makers for the new movie Marmaduke were there to get shots of the “Big Dogs”.  Although my dog Jill didn’t place this year, her team mate from the “Golden SurFurs” took 1st place in the dogs over 40 pounds.  Next Year!  Pictures are courtesy of the Union Tribune.

JAKE COONEY reports, "With one week left until the Seattle Rock ‘n Roll Marathon, the Bothell office has done 2 team bike rides as an alternative training event.  Cody Lamens, Jake Cooney, Jay Lee, David Knapp, Nicole Pelley, Chris Inouye, Joel Werdell, Zach Panther, Sijen Olthof, Jason Karls, Brian Grover, and Stephen Branstetter have all participated in the rides."

FRANCIS DUPUIS and his wife, Faye Dupuis were in the dragon boat races this past weekend: Recreational Div C Consolation – 4th place @ 2:21.240

She's in the back of boat #2

Also, my two boys played in a roller hockey tournament, their teams finished first and third. This is Devon with his third place trophy.

TOBY GUILLETTE completed the 26-mile 9-Peak Challenge across the San Bernardino mountain range on Saturday in 8.5 hours. My 32-mile day started at 2am with an ascent of San Gorgonio (11,499ft), the highest mountain in SoCal, arriving at the summit for sunrise and continued with hike/running 8 more peaks all above 10,000 feet. Since it was a point-to-point route, I had another 10 miles to go to get back to my car after the 26-mile traverse was complete. This is when the real adventure began. I'll post a blog this week with details