Active Warriors

Active "Picture Perfect" Weekend

IMVoice — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:45:49 GMT

THIS WEEKEND WARRIOR REPORT IS CHOCK FULL OF PICTURES. THOSE WERE ALWAYS THE FUN BOOKS TO READ, THE ONES LOADED WITH PICS! ENJOY, Mike

Sorry this didn’t get reported last week but SCOTT EVANS VP of Sales is another Active Ironman! He completed June 22 at Ironman Coeur d’ Alene in beautiful Northern Idaho. His family was there watching him the entire day and his Dad was waiting for him at the finish line about 2 ½ hours before Scott arrived. As you can see by the photo he was a happy finisher in 13:03:00. Congrats Scott!

CHRIS INOUYE is a new implementation analyst up in the Bothell office. Last Tuesday was his first day, and the weekend before he took a mini vacation to climb Mt. Rainier with some buddies. Here are two pictures of him looking sick at the summit of Mt. Rainier.
On Sunday morning he finished the Seafair Half Marathon. Welcome to Active Chris!

NICO REIS writes to us from Munich, Germany. Yesterday was the Final of the Euro 2008 the Football (or soccer:) Cup that is held every 4 years. After a three week tournament, Spain and Germany met in the finals in Vienna, Austria last night. Spain won 1-0 and they deserved it, they had the best team of the tournament (now that is a gusty and classy comment from a German).
I watched the game in the historical Munich Olympic Stadium in a Public Viewing on a gigantic screen with 50,000 other fans! Can you imagine, so many people watching TV together? It was almost a live experience, people were singing, chanting, dancing. Very cool! Cheers from Munich,

BURT REPINE, Foundations Development Climbed Mt. Baldy (aka Mt. San Antonio, 10,064 ft. elev.) via the Bear Canyon Trail. The 12.8 mile round-trip had a 5,804 feet elevation gain and was a perfect way to spend this past Sunday.

LAURENT GAUTHIER & PIERRE DUVELLEROY from the Active International division went to the Mont Blanc Marathon this week-end in France. The Mont Blanc Marathon gathers 3000 participants on the marathon and the 26K Trail. They have been using Active Europe from the beginning and their event has grown by 50% this year! This is a very tough race. The marathon winner time was 3h52….

They both ran 26K trail run that was won in 2h08 and we proudly finished in the top 300 with 3h15 for Laurent and 3h20 for Pierre. Breathe taking race with wonderful scenic along the course. You run in the Alps with the Mont Blanc as a background. Try to picture this…

BRET HARRIS & MIKE DOBRANSKY from the SD office after weeks of preparation in the high altitudes of Mt. Cowell’s they finally embarked on our maiden voyage to conquer the infamous Mt. Whitney. In spite of the numerous warnings and sound advice we received from former Whitney trail blazers, we decided to tackle the 22 mile round trip death march all in one day (that and we could only get a one day permit…but I like to think it was by choice . Armed with nothing but headlamps, power bars, iodine pills and the blissful ignorance of youth, we hit the trails dark and early around 2am. We breezed through the first set of switchbacks, passing what I can only assume were a couple of beautiful waterfalls, lush forests and straggling snow fields. We cruised past the first camp site filled with all of the lazy (yet infinitely wiser) and still slumbering campers just in time to catch the sunrise over Mirror Lake.

Anyway, in the interest of keeping this somewhat short, we climbed hard, befriended a couple of local mountain hobbits, saw some guy get sick, Mike got sick, we hit summit and then climbed down…and down…and down…until we finally arrived home at the Portal around 7pm. Good times.

KELLY SCHULTE, AMG Client Services celebrated her birthday at the beach this weekend with some Active men. They had a “Who know Kelly best” contest (I don’t even want to know what the rules were). The Gold Medal “lucky” winners were JIM GARFIELD, RICKY GRAY, LUKE SMITH and ARCH FUSTON. I’ll also bet they were the only entrants!

JIM GARFIELD, AMG (he’s everywhere) cheered on 5 Active Newbies during their first triathlon this weekend. ALYSON TYSON, SILVIO FRISON, RYAN DREW & REBECCA DIVITA did the Breath of Life Triathlon in Ventura, CA. All of them not only finished strong but finished in the TOP 5 in their respective age groups. WAY TO GO ACTIVE X!

LEE GRUENFELD doesn’t work for Active but is a friend of the company. He is a renowned author and this article is about ready to run on Ironman.com. His wife Cherie is a many time age group world Champion at Ironman. It is a short read and very inspirational. http://ironman.com/columns/gruenfeld/lee-gruenfeld-provides-a-much-more-serious-column-for-us-to-enjoy-this-month

Caitlyn Barker hit up Imperial Beach on Saturday where my friend Teevan judged the 3rd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition. I brought my dog but he preferred to catch some rays versus waves this weekend. I got a few pictures by my favorite is this picture of Tillman the bulldog who made a guest appearance on his skim board. For more fun pictures click here: http://www.loewssurfdog.blogspot.com/

35 athletes sweated in the sand with Suffer-Rama Sunday, an ActiveX charity workout for the Monarch School. We raised $436 for the school, and introduced a few new people to the beauty of burpess and handstands.

Toby Guillette, Online Community Specialist for Endurance Sports, met Jim Garfield, Arch and Christy Fuston, Jesse Hammond and Jana Stewart at La Jolla Cove for an open water swim and he brought his underwater camera along for the ride. Check out the video:

On Sunday, I rode my bike downtown to watch the San Diego International Triathlon and saw Airey Baringer during the run portion of his very first triathlon and also ran into Vicky Eydelberg taking photos at the event.

Later that day, I joined the ActiveX crew for the Monarch School Charity workout on Mission Beach. Another Active weekend!

JAKE COONEY did the Seafair Half Marathon in Seattle. The highlight of the race was running across the 520 bridge which they partly shut down. I shaved off 1 minute from my half marathon a month ago for a time of 1:54. I wanted to do better but I’m blaming it on the unexpected heat and hills. J

Summer Solstice Weekend: 6/21 � 6/22

Active Toby — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:24:08 GMT

Renu Bhushan, ran 5K yesterday!! My fellow 'Diva's' and I participated in the Scotiabank Marathon over the weekend. It was a beautiful (and easy!) course, with lots of stunning views of our BC mountains and ocean. It has only been 6 weeks since I joined Active Burnaby and I am already running marathons! !

Paul Cheung, from LeagueOne dev team, completed Scotiabank Half-marathon on Sunday with a time 2 hr 02 min, knocking down my last year record by 28 minutes.

Arch Fuston and The ActiveX Charity Team completed a mock triathlon on Saturday at Glorietta Bay Park on Coronado. Nearly 30 came out to charge the 500m swim, 15-mile bike, and 3-mile run. It was a great event made even greater with a visit from Jessi Stensland, providing a transition clinic for the team.

Carrie James, Account Executive, Education. I did the triathlon workout with the ActiveX Charity training team on Saturday in Coronado. It was fun to put all three aspects of the race into action and actually finish a full “triathlon” on Saturday morning! Sunday I finished my FIRST 10K EVER in 71 minutes. Not bad for my first, I guess. It was HOT out and took everything I had mentally to finish, but thanks to some awesome encouragement from Karen Hardy and the other Active ladies at the race I made it to the end! It feels incredible to cross that milestone for myself. I barely notice the pain in my legs. HA

Jenni Miller, Janean Nation, Sari Rudy, Caitlyn Barker, Laura Hilts, Emily Chan-Norris, Hannah Sansone, Erika Winter, Melissa Cohen, Carrie James, Amy Sutton, Karen Hardy, Amber Martin, Caitlyn Barker, Tawnya Bordalo, and Andrea Rishmawi all ran in the Iron Girl 10K this weekend!

This year’s race was a new course, starting and ending in the Del Mar Fair grounds. The race as a whole was great, however the combination of starting and finishing on the soft dirt of the horse track and the grueling heat, definitely took its toll on the 3,000 women running the streets of Del Mar. The Active girls that ran the race met up afterwards – here is a picture attached.

Francis Dupuis and his wife (Faye Dupuis) competed in the International Dragon Boat festival this weekend in vancouver, and her team finished third in their division.

http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/local/article/72280

(She’s in the second row obscured by the arm)

My older son D'Alton competed in an indoor Roller Hockey tournament (6-9 year olds) this weekend to finish off their roller hockey season. They finished second, and had a great time.

Tina Wilmott in the Public Relations department. Headed up to Ventura this weekend to visit a close friend, and on a whim we decided to compete in a Splash & Dash. We came in second and third and I won my age category. But I much confess, this was the first time they’ve held this particular race so there weren’t many participants. In fact, there were only eight women in the short course which we did (400m swim and 2K), but who’s counting! It was followed up by some great horseback riding in the hills.

Jim Hine, Director Database Sales, rode the Cycle Idaho Mountain Bike Tour from Boise to Idaho City this weekend. We had a group of four riders that did about 102 miles and +12,000 feet of elevation over two days. We camped overnight in Idaho City and drained a few kegs of New Belgium with the small group of 85 riders, then tenting it with light rain around a big campfire. We detoured on Day 2 in search of extra single-track and added 10 miles of pines to the ride.

Marea Blue and Kirstin Hartos (Implementation Analyst, LeagueOne) played in the Las Vegas Midnight Sevens Rugby tournament on Saturday. Sevens is a variant of rugby where teams of seven compete for seven minute halves on a full size pitch. Basically it’s fourteen minutes of sprinting (harder than it sounds) per game. We started our games at 5:00 pm in 104 degree weather and finished around 1:00 am. We held the first two teams we played scoreless and defeated our league rivals in our third game to finish as the top seed going into the finals. We won our semifinal match against a motley San Diego team and then lost in the championship to a Canadian team that frankly just seemed less tired. As usual, we went on to win the party, making us undefeated in social wins this year. J

Jim Garfield, proudly swam with Toby Guillette and Rebecca Divita (who had a PR of longest swim) in La Jolla Cove. I also waved the Active banner high training with the HerSports magazine team with a two hour costal ride on Saturday!!

Jesse Hammond and Jesse’s girlfriend Emmy went on a three-hour, hot, hilly bike ride through North County (San Diego) Sunday morning and joined up with Toby Guillette along the way. The ultimate goal was the Golden Spoon frozen yogurt store in Del Mar. However, when they got there at 9:30 a.m., they discovered it didn’t open for another hour and a half. If anyone knows where they can get frozen yogurt that early in the morning, they would be much obliged.

Weekend Father's Day

IMVoice — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:41:47 GMT

SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE STAYED HOME ON FATHER’S DAY. HOPE ALL YOU DAD’S HAD A GREAT DAY! Mike

TRACY VEZINA HR manager did the TRAC Father's day walk/run for Prostate Cancer. We participated in a 5k walk with our 3-year-old and a team of 6 this weekend, through Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. Our daughter ran her first race as well, the toddler race that was held before our walk started. I think she was more excited about her team shirt and number than the running, but she held her own!

We clocked one hour and 13 minutes for the walk - pulling Vida in a wagon behind us.

ARCH FUSTON reports:
ActiveX Charity team banged out a 15mile bike/3 mile run on Coronado Island. The team did great, and got a good feel of what it is like to run after thumping the quads and hammies for 15 miles. 20+ showed up, all made it through the workout, a great day. The session was followed up with food and a well deserved beer at Coronado Brewery. We’re back at it again this Saturday, again on Coronado Island, but doing all three. Should be an epic day for the group!

KRISTI DUBIEL with 7 of her friends hiked 11 miles down to Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon. It is an awesome hike with absolutely amazing scenery. The hike down and the majority of hike up weren’t too difficult, but the climb back up the side of the canyon wall was quite challenging. The last mile or so literally feels like you are doing consecutive squats with a 50 pound bar bell on your back thanks to all of your camping gear! On Saturday, we did an 8 mile ‘day’ hike and found fun cliffs/rocks to jump from. The first picture is of Havasu Falls…this is the very first image you see after hiking for 11 miles through sand and rocks at the base of the canyon and it is spectacular…this picture doesn’t do it justice. The next picture is me in front of Mooney Falls…to get to this waterfall you have to scale a 100 ft cliff using basically chains as your only support. All in all a great hiking/camping experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a weekend getaway…with a little workout Just be sure to bring LOTS of water!

MAREA BLUE & KIRSTIN HARTOS (Implementation, League One) went to Pittsburgh, PA this weekend to compete in the National All-Star Rugby Championships with our select side Southern California regional team. We played the Midwest in the first round of the tournament (imagine 15 corn-fed girls Kirstin’s size or larger) and lost 20-8 in a hard fought game. Three of our points came from Kirstin’s penalty field goal early in the first half. In the second half I picked up a loose ball and spun it wide to Kirstin who passed it to our outside center for a corner try. The score remained close until late in the game when the Midwest broke it open with two breakaway tries. On Sunday we played very well against the Pacific Coast Grizzlies – a team stacked with national team players – but ended up losing 32 to 0. The losses were disappointing but our region has historically been the underdog at this tournament and we received many compliments from the regional and national team coaches about our performance. This was our first year competing in the top tier of the tournament and I think we did very well. We were also able to redeem ourselves by “winning the party” and beating the Midwest in several games of flip cup at the social so I still feel like we came home victorious.

Weekend with TOBY doing his 100

IMVoice — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:46:17 GMT

WHAT A WEEKEND HAD BY ALL WITH TOBY LEADING THE WAY! CREATE A SUCCESSFUL WEEK FOR YOURSELF EVERYONE! Mike

YOU’VE HEARD OF THE AMERICAN IDOL WELL TOBY GUILLETTE IS BETTER THAN THAT HE IS OUR ACTIVE IDOL!

He took on the San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run this weekend. There were 82 runners to start and only 43 finished because it was a hot day and the course has 12,000 feet of elevation gain/loss. All of my training and planning had me more ready for this event than we realized. I started conservative and maintained a steady pace during the heat of the day and through the night (my second 50 miles was 45 minutes slower than my first 50). This strategy proved itself as I began to make my way from the back of the pack, passing runners who went out too fast. I finished the race in 24 hours and 32 minutes in 13th place overall. It was an amazing experience and I had such a strong team in my corner making sure I stayed on point. I’ll have more posted this week but thanks to Arch, Jesse, Airey and Mike for coming out to support me. Check out what Arch posted: http://community.active.com/blogs/ActiveX/2008/06/08/my-view-of-tobys-sd-100

JESSE HAMMOND reports about the 100 miler he with AIREY BARINGER & ARCH FUSTON went to Cuyamaca State Park in SD County to cheer on Toby Guillette during his San Diego 100. Along with his support crew, we met him at an aid station 62+ miles into the race. Toby looked strong, happy and ready to keep going when he cruised into the checkpoint. He downed some root beer, got some fuel and off he went.

On Sunday, AIREY & JESSE did the 3rd Avenue Grand Prix criterium in Chula Vista. It was my first crit, but definitely won’t be my last. Even though I got dropped from the pack, I managed to stay close enough to finish the entire race. My legs were sore, but I had a ton of fun and learned a lot about bike racing. Airey, racing Category 4, had an awesome race and placed fifth overall.

JULIE ORR, Manager Professional Services participated in the Marines Camp Pendleton mud run on Sunday. 10K in mud with obstacles including hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb. I did it with a 5 person team and had a blast. We placed 14th out of 62 all women’s teams.

RICH NEHER had a super fun Saturday, playing Beach Tennis at Ocean Beach. Beach Tennis San Diego had 7 courts set up and lots of booths for sponsors and tournament management, as well as live music entertainment. The event featured approx. 80 players of all levels who had more fun and more competitive tennis than “legally allowed”. Although my partner and I didn’t make it into the finals, we think we came out a winner, because vigorous, competitive tennis in the sand is a tremendous workout and the good time we had is just simply “priceless”! We’ll be back for some more (and even more competitive) Beach Tennis at Hermosa Beach June 28, a huge event 5 times the San Diego size and possibly five times the fun! I promise to also bring some photos from this tournament back with me.

SHANNON IBERGER, Acct Mgr Ops participated in the AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention) Overnight Out of the Darkness Walk on Saturday night. It was a 20-mile walk through Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge and all around Manhattan. Each walker had to raise a minimum of $1,000 for the cause and there were about 1,000 walkers. Was a great experience and can’t wait to get out there to San Diego to participate in more weekend races/activities!

ELAINE BERGERON, Acct Mgr did a 15 mile trail run/race in Big Bear, CA on Sunday. The weather was awesome, and the course was very challenging. The first 2 miles were a straight climb, but fortunately the last 2 miles were a descent. There were lots of rocks and some single track to make things really interesting. I kept thinking I was glad I was not Toby at this point (doing 100 miles), b/c the 15 miles were really tough. If anyone wants to do trail runs in the future…email me at elaine.bergeron@active.com.
I am hosting a fundraiser for the Monarch School at the La Jolla Brewhouse on Friday, June 13 at 7 pm. There should be a good turnout from what I hear so far. I hope some Active folks can make it. It will be a mixed crowd and a good time!

More ELAINE from ALLY WARD. Elaine is too embarrassed to add the following to her race notes from this weekend up in Big Bear. She placed FIRST in her age group this weekend in her 15 mile trail race! She got a phenomenal trophy on a piece of a tree with a little bear sculpture on it – coolest thing I’ve ever seen!

As I reported last week MICHAEL WILSON Endurance Acct Mgr was doing the AIDS ride so here is his report. I just got back from my 545 mile, 7 day AIDS Lifecycle from SF to LA. We left last Sunday, June 1 out of the Cow Palace in SF and pedaled into LA this past Saturday, June 7. Being my second year riding, it was even more inspiring, rewarding and fun. I rode every mile, with no injuries and not one flat! The event raised over $11.6 million!!! It is an event that has once again changed my life. There were 2,500 riders and over 500 roadies (volunteers) that travel in this community over the entire week. I am extremely proud to be a part of such a wonderful group of people. I am already excited for next year and plan on registering this week for ALC 8!

ERIKA WINTER ran in the Coronado Stride and Ride on the hard packed sand beach along the strand. It was 8.2 miles and finished in an hour.

FUN IN TAHOE – REBECCA DIVITA, MIKE GARFIELD, MIKE CARRAN, KIRK JENSEN, AMBER MARTIN, RYAN DREW, SILVIO FRISON, ANDREW COLE & FERNANDO CADORE went up to Reno, NV to compete in the Reno-Tahoe Odyssey Relay Race Adventure. This was an amazing race and it turns out “adventure” was a pretty accurate description of the whole experience. It was a 178 mile relay race with legs ranging from “easy” flats to Trail of Tear quality climbs for seemingly never ending mileage. The course wound its way around Lake Tahoe and through the Eastern Sierras starting in Reno and ending in Reno, the Biggest Little City in the World. The scenery was unbelievable and we ran into some wildlife. One of our runners saw a bear, another, a coyote. Thirty degree night time temperatures, sleep deprivation, and altitudes ranging from 4000-7500 feet made this a challenging race. All of our runners were all-stars completing some ridiculous feet at some point during the 24 hours. Killer climbs, knee pounding downhills, and having your “easy run” be a 6 miler with rolling hills at 7500 feet and 3 a.m. made this an event that none of us will soon forget. We finished 5th place out of 12 in the Corporate Men’s event, and feel pretty good about this, as we were one of two teams that came from sea level. The rest were Reno Natives. Overall, we finished 24th of 99 teams, completing the course in 24 hours 29 minutes. Today we’re all pretty sore, but feel fulfilled, satisfied, and pretty darn accomplished. I think this all really sunk in when we were driving home down Hwy 395, gazing off at the Sierras and realized that we ran up, down, over, and around them.

We’d also like to say congratulations to Toby. After running 22 miles up in the mountains this weekend and facing the challenges of calculating appropriate nutrition, sleep deprivation, altitude, and cold, his accomplishment is something astounding. Toby, simply setting 100 miles as your goal, let alone accomplishing such a feet is something to be proud of that truly sets you apart from the pack. Congratulations buddy. You’re amazing.

EDDIE STRICKLER ran the 800m in the Oregon Track Club Qualifier Meet before the Prefontaine Classic on Sunday. It was great to run in a high caliber meet and rub shoulders with some of the greatest track and field athletes in the world. I ran my fastest time of the year at 1:52.84. Though the best part was that I got to warm up while Kenenisa Bekele was cooling down after he finished running the 4th fastest 10k ever run in the world and the fastest 10k ever run on American soil (26 min 25 sec). I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the Pre Classic which had so many amazing performances which included a new American record in the Pole Vault, the farthest hammer throw on American soil, a mile where all 9 athletes broke 4 minutes, Maria Mottola winning the 800 for 16th year in a row, and many more.

MIKE REILLY last Friday had the pleasure of attending the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot Boot Camp graduating class Alpha Company. EDGAR OROZCO from Palm Desert, CA graduated with honors at Private First Class. Edgar is a member of the Exceeding Expectations group formed by Ironman Age Group champion Cherie Gruenfeld. It guides and helps youth in Southern California to find their way that live in a disadvantage situation. Edgar proved you can become a man without being a member of a gang. He has attended Ironmans and thru Cherie’s effort realized there is more to life. If you ever get a chance to see MCRD’s graduating ceremony do it, it is an uplifting experience.

The picture with Edgar is my brother Don on far left, Edgar (who lost 15 lbs in camp), Kevin Kelly friend and former Marine and me.

LAUREN ELDER While on a Mediterranean cruise recently, we climbed the volcano at Santorini and felt the hot earth and smelled the sulphur. Besides being hot from the climb in the Greecian sun, walking past the steaming volcanic rock was something else.

Rock 'n' Roll Weekend

IMVoice — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:44:20 GMT

IT WAS A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MARATHON WEEKEND IN SD WITH ABOUT 18,000 RUNNING AND A FEW ACTIVE WARRIORS DOING THE 26.2 MILES OR 42.2 KM

STACEY JOHNSON Account Manager ran the RNR Marathon yesterday. I remember hearing you Mike tell everyone at the start of the race that it all boils down to that last 10k… I knew all too well from experience that this was true and once again, I thought I was going to die those last 6 miles. I had a great race through 20- perfect weather, feeling good, and then at about 21 my legs turned to lead- they just did not want to go. I was still happy with my finish of 4:09:14.

AMBER MARTIN also ran the Rock n’ Roll…you turned away right as I finished…bummed I couldn’t get your attention. SORRY GIRL! Anyways, I ran a 4:28:22, which is a half hour slower than I usually do, but with concentrating on triathlons lately, I didn’t get the miles under my belt that I had hoped. I have decided to put triathlons on hold until I qualify for Boston Marathon, as that is my main goal. I will be spending the coming months concentrating on getting under the 3:40:00 mark at the Philadelphia Marathon.

ARCH FUSTON and his weekend report: Rock and Roll Marathon:
After spraining my colon waiting in the porta john line for 45 MINUTES, my Rock and Roll Marathon experience finally started. Great course, great weather, great bands. A must race for any endurance athlete. My race...a challenging day. But, we finished, stayed out of the medical tent, and was greeted by Christy who raced to a PR. In all, a great experience, a great day!

ActiveX Charity Team Training:
We had a group of twenty or so show up for the ride and swim on Saturday morning! After a few hot laps around Fiesta Island, the crew headed over to La Jolla Shores for an open water swim. We were greeted by “larger than last time” surf, which made for some fun entries and exits. The group did AWESOME. We learned to dolphin dive through the surf until we got past the break, swam a few lengths, then worked out way back in, catching the swell and riding it in. It was more fun than scary, the comfort level of being in the ocean, learning how to dolphin dive in and out of the water made for a great morning!

LORRAINE RYGLEWICZ ran her very first Marathon yesterday finishing Rock N Roll. She said she wasn’t proud of her time of 6:55:33 but Lorraine you should be VERY PROUD because you are a Marathoner and no one can ever take that away from you!

HANNAH SANSONE, Acct Exec Swimming had a great time running the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon finishing in 4:08:07. She loved seeing all the Elvis impersonators! There were 150 of them running!

Yours truly had a blast announcing the RnR for the 11th year in a row. I worked with John “The Penguin” Bingham and Kim Williams from Sugoi Clothing Co. Sorry we missed some Active people finishing, 18,000 finishers sure is a lot to look at and spot!

NISHAN RUDRAKUMAR, Graphic Designer in the Burnaby office for the marketing team. This weekend I went on a hike for the first time in years, at "The Chief" in Squamish. It's about 700 vertical meters (I have no idea what that is in feet), and the weather was absolutely perfect. Unfortunately I ignored the "Adequate Fitness Needed" line under the "Items You Will Need" on the Park's Welcome/Warning sign. I was huffing and puffing at the beginning but towards the end it was fine, and the view definitely made the hike worthwhile.

NOW THIS IS INSANE – ROB KLINGENSMITH VP in his continued attempt to get back in cycling shape rode in San Diego county up Mt Palomar – twice – on Saturday, and Torrey Pines – six times – on Sunday. In all that was worth about 14,000’ of climbing and permission to eat a couple bags of Pepperidge Farm cookies. Wait… oh yeah… I’m trying to lose weight… Or as some of think trying to lose his MIND!

CHRIS CARVER GM Education and ROMY SMALLER and his friend plus 4 other friends ventured up to the Yosemite in CA and climbed Half Dome. Although we were all exhausted after the long hike, we all agree it is one of the most amazing places in the world.

JAMES ROJAS Web Developer and BRAD LAMOTTE, JOHN RAMOS & DOUG WELLS sent in a “Non-bicycling, non-swimming, some-running” section report. Last Saturday they went to Velocity Paintball Park in lovely Ramona in SD County to play some paintball. It was a close-to-perfect day to crawl through brush, weeds and trees, shooting our opponents before they shot us. We hope to make this a regular event (maybe monthly) so we welcome anyone interested in joining us.

KELLY D. BELL, AMG Senior Account Manager had the chance to participate in the Inaugural Mile High Mile race sponsored by PUSH Fitness and the Greenway Foundation this weekend in Denver. This is the first mile run of its kind in Colorado which attracted over 500 kids, parents, adults and elite runners which started and finished at the Capital Building in downtown Denver. Some highlights from the race included the fastest male teen with a time of 4:50, the elite male winner with a time of 4:15, fastest female elite runner with a time of approximately 5:44 and then me, with a time of 7:36. Okay, so I was a few minutes behind the best of the best, but not a bad race overall finishing 5th out of my age group!

MAREA BLUE & KRISTIN HARTOS Implementation Analysts Endurance attended the final try-out camp in San Diego for the Southern California (SCRFU) women’s select side rugby team. Each of the seven territories in the US will put a select side team together to play in the USA Rugby National All-Star Championships (NASC) Tournament on June 13-15th in Pittsburgh, PA. Almost 8 hours of practice on Saturday (fitness testing, tackling, rucking and running through our plays), and then we won the scrimmage on Sunday against our region’s Under-23 women’s team. It was Marea’s first rugby weekend back since her foot surgery on February 21st, but she didn’t miss a beat. We are both pretty sore and extremely sunburned, and we will be sure to report back and let you know how we fare at the national tournament in two weeks. Way to go Girls!

LACEY SHAW Online Ad Account Coordinator AMG didn't participate but she gets huge points for being a volunteer at the AIDs Lifecycle in San Francisco this weekend. Over 3,000 cyclists are biking from SF to LA this week. The participants raised over $11 million dollars to fight AIDs. Our very own MICHAEL WILSON in the SD office is doing the ride.

TYLER CAIRNS watched this weekend. He watched his future Brother in Law who is just 16 years old play some great baseball. First a little history on how the league works, they play 4 games a weekend because he is on the travel team from Kamloops (roughly 3 hours north east of Vancouver). Pitchers can only pitch 14 innings in a weekend and if you pitch 7 in one day you are done for the weekend.

So Colin started the first game of the weekend pitching and pitched 6 innings. The amazing part was his stat line: 6 IP, 101 Pitches, 15 K, 4 BB, and 0 ER. He also had a fielded put out as well for a total of 16 outs of the possible 18 for the innings he was on the mound. The rest of the weekend he played 3rd Base and topped off his weekend with a Home Run!

You all know I am a softie for any Baseball stories! Have a Successfu$ week everyone. Mike

Active Weekend Warriors Here Comes Summer

IMVoice — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:26:08 GMT

THE OFFICIAL START OF SUMMER, LONG DAYS AND FUN WORKOUTS! Mike

JAKE COONEY Online Marketing Manager ran the Coeur d'Alene half marathon which was my first half marathon and my furthest distance yet. My time was 1:55.

CLAY SPIEGEL, Accounting REPORTS this weekend went backpacking near Warner Springs on the Pacific Crest Trail. It was my wife's first time ever, so I was nervous that any future trip depended on this experience. We were supposed to go up on Saturday but there were flash flood and lightning warnings, so we waited until Sunday. We went in about 7 miles, camped for the night, and came back out. The trail was beautiful and challenging and the night was very cold. We are all very sore, but it well. Hopefully there will be more to come.

RAND RAGUSA Group Director Media Sales reports that he and STEVE LAYNE, LUKE SMITH, SHANE BOHAN, & the LAXPower.com content team attended the LAXPower Fan Awards on Sunday. The LAXPower Fan Awards featured three Division I senior men's finalists who were nominated for each position and three others for the Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards. Fans then voted online for their favorites.

On Memorial Day we traveled to the NCAA Championship game - where the Syracuse men's team (16-2) claimed its record 10th national championship with a 13-10 victory against Johns Hopkins (11-6) in front of an NCAA final and outdoor title game record 48,970 fans at Gillette Stadium.

The LAXPower team did an amazing job on game day, hosting a huge event marketing effort outside the stadium featuring the FootballPower.tv bus - conducting video interviews with LAXPower.com fans & distributing LAX-Active.com co-branded T-shirts & stickers.

Game Photos - http://www.laxpower.com/laxnews/news.php?story=11220
Videos - http://www.laxpower.com/media/media.php
Fan Awards - http://www.laxpower.com/laxnews/news.php?story=11213

ANDREA RISHMAWI Account Exec and ANDREW COLE sucked wind all the way up Iron Mountain in San Diego County this past Sunday morning.

PATTI ROSENTHAL Did the 37th Iron Horse Bicycle Classic which is a stage race consisting of a road race, criterium & time trial. For the first time in its history they cancelled the road race - a foot of snow fell in Silverton Friday night. Received 2nd in the Criterium the following day, 5th in the Time Trial on Monday & 2nd overall in the Omnium (Wmn's Blue Hair Division 40-49). It was my first race back after a hundred years so I was pretty nervous. Looking forward to getting back on the mtn bike & playing this summer!

LAURENT GAUTHIER from Europe reports that last Saturday he went to Super Lioran in the French mountain called Massif Central right in the middle of France.
He was invited by ASO (company who owns the Tour de France, Paris Marathon & Half Marathon, l'Etape du Tour, etc...) to participated of a new trail running of 37km (23 miles). The distance were not too long but the weather were just apocalyptic with heavy rains, strong wind, fog, etc... I've finally finished in 4h45, ranked top 20. Guess what, today I still walk like a pinging.

Inspired by this weekend’s most exciting adventure movie (and an upcoming Mt. Whitney attempt) BRET HARRIS, MIKE DOBRANSKY and CHRIS BOHNERT set off in search of hiking, caves, treasure and adventure. Going off several clues from another adventurer STEVE MAZZA, the guys set off in search of the elusive Lawson Peak and Gaskill Peak in Jamul County. In what started out to be a weekend stroll in the hills turned into an all day epic adventure with bouldering, bushwhacking, an encounter with John Wayne’s brother (maybe) and the eventual conquering of two summits. If interested, let Bret Harris know and he will give you the set of clues. It’s worth it but wear jeans!

Perilous

jspitzberg — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:51:09 GMT

Medical personnel stabilize Ogden Standard-Examiner photographer Ryan McGeeney's leg after he was pierced by a javelin directly below his right knee while covering the Utah state high school track championships at Brigham Young University's Clarence Robison track stadium in Provo, Utah. McGeeney was transported by ambulence to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where the javelin was removed. He received 13 stitches, but suffered no serious damage to any ligaments or tendons. McGeeney took the photo himself.

(AP Photo/Ryan McGeeney)

Weekend Warrior Fun

IMVoice — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:57:01 GMT

SUCH A FUN TEAM WE ALL WORK WITH! Mike

KELLY BELL AMG Senior Account Manager - The weather was so beautiful in Colorado this weekend with temps in the upper 80's that the activities were never ending. I spent Saturday at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs for 'Family Day' playing volleyball, softball and just hanging out with the family and fellow soldiers as one of my nieces (tall blond in the middle next to me) is being deployed to Iraq this Thursday. Then on Saturday night, the weather continued to be perfect for the Colorado Rockies vs. Minnesota Twins baseball game. GO ROCKS...they won 3-2...so it was close, but at least they won! Sunday I went on a hike in Morrison and planted a garden

PIERRE DUVELLEROY Senior Account Executive from Active International was invited by one of our event directors on the French Riviera where the Provence Half marathon was being held on Sunday. On a warm and very wet Sunday morning, I took the start despite a serious tendinitis on my left knee and ended up finishing in 1h44 which was not great at all but I couldn’t do more. Good atmosphere on the race and very well organized race!

For anyone who wants to experience the French Riviera, the event director and a local wine maker organize a tour the day before the race so you can learn how they make wine in this part of France and of course…you can have a taste….This is where I screwed up I think…I should have taken that Tour. It would have helped me so much for the race; I wouldn’t have felt the pain.

CAROL TASHIRO Tournament & Event Sales Coordinator Click4TeeTimes & Active Golf did the 8K Sycamore Trail run in Malibu, CA! It was Hot Hot Hot!!!

EMILY CHAN-NORRIS Account Manager ran the Navy’s Bay Bridge 4-Miler on Sunday morning. It was HOT out, but a lot of fun and pretty cool to be able to go across the Coronado Bay Bridge on foot.

Yours truly had fun weekend in Fargo, North Dakota at their Marathon and Half. They are a great client of Active and I did a guest speaker thing with Sarah Reinersten & Dave McGillivray at the pasta dinner. Sarah is the first female leg amputee to finish an Ironman and Dave is the race director (among many other feats) of the Boston Marathon. Sarah & Dave ran the Half and I played at the finish line bringing 13,000 runners in. It was a very unique finish running inside the 20,000 seat Fargo Dome. I must have been having a bad hair day since the photographer cut off my top.

JIM DE LA CRUZ and his wife ran the Palos Verdes ½ Marathon this past Saturday, because it was so close to the coast line we had a nice forgiving breeze graced us during the race along the beautiful coast line helped as a positive distraction. The routed also goes past Donald Trump’s golf course. There time was 3:15.

TRISH OBERHAUS, Online Community Specialist for Team Sports, jumped in a kayak with a friend of hers and went on a 2.5-hour paddle of the Chicago River downtown on Saturday. The weather was beautiful but it was still early enough in boating season around here that we had the river to ourselves for the most part. Here is a cool photo we shot from the water: Hey Trish isn’t that river GREEN on St. Patrick’s Day?

TOBY GUILLETTE, Online Community Specialist for Endurance Sports met up with a group of ultra runners in Cuyamaca State Park on Saturday for a 31-mile trail run in the heat. It was great running with these guys who really know their stuff but they are fast! I was only able to stay with them because no one else knew the route, so they were looking to me for navigation. Sunday morning, I met JESSE HAMMOND, LUKE SMITH and ASHLEY ELLIS at La Jolla Shores for a refreshing 1.5-mile swim.

JIM GARFIELD did the HOT Encinitas Sprint Triathlon! It was great, but not as great has having fellow Active X’s CHRIS WHEELER and REBECCA DIVITA there to cheer. They were checking out their first triathlon in preparation for the Solana Beach Triathlon July 27th that is a fundraiser for the Monarch School. Hope you showed them how it is done Jim.

NUNO COSTA also competed in the Encinitas Sprint Triathlon – my first tri race of the season, and it was a good one J. I finished 32nd overall – I believe there were over 600 people competing, 8th in my age group 30- 34. Total time was 1:11:52 for 750 meter swim, 20K bike and 5K run. There were a few Active groupies out there cheering us on and that was really encouraging – I really appreciated the support.

LAUREN DACHILLE ran yesterday in the Navy’s 22nd Annual Bay Bridge Run/Walk across to Coronado Bay Bridge. It was a great course over the water and there were over 8,000 runners. Participants even got to take Ferry across the water back to downtown where the race started! Such a fun event!

LAURA HILTS biked 15-miles on Saturday and ran the Coronado Bay Bridge Run on Sunday with some friends. We got there late and missed the runner’s heat, so we had to run (push) our way through the herd of walkers. Even though we had a ‘challenging’ start, we finished strong and had a fantastic time! The views were amazing from on top of the bridge!

ARCH FUSTON reports that the ActiveX Charity Team got after it Saturday morning with a bike workout at Fiesta Island. Said one Xer, “I haven’t been on a bike since I was 10 years old”. Blasphemy! An open water swim at La Jolla Shores followed. With “Shark Fears” quickly subsiding, great instruction from Aly Terry, and one heck of a workout, everyone left feeling much more confident about being in the ocean. Although the workouts were great, The Cheese Shop afterwards was even better.

This Saturday, the Edison Cyclers (a team of 14) took our bikes to ride 52 miles in the “Coast the Coast” MS Bike Ride. This is the 5th year that I ride to help raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis. It was a fantastic ride, for a great cause and the weather was amazing. We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

SCOTT ROBINSON reports:

The U17 BC Cup concluded in Mission with Team Maple Leafs winning the BC Cup. The 2008 BC Cup competition, hosted by the Mission Leisure Centre from April 30-May 4, was a tremendous success in which BC's top 120 players born in 1992 showcased their talent to program evaluators and spectators from across the province.

In the championship game, Team Maple Leafs defeated Team Bruins 6-4. Team Maple Leafs finished the competition undefeated with a 4-0 record. The Maple Leafs were lead by the Greater Vancouver staff including: Head Coach DONEAU MENARD (Port Coquitlam), Assistant Coach RYAN WEBER (Richmond), Manager SCOTT ROBINSON (Richmond), Trainer TERESA KERR (Delta) and Coach Mentor MATT HUGHES (Salmon Arm, Salmon Arm Silverbacks).

The BC Cup represents the second stage in the talent identification and training of players born in 1992 for the BC Hockey High Performance U17 Program. In a few weeks, the names of the top 46 players will be announced for the U17 Provincial Camp held in Nanaimo, BC July 20-26. Eighteen players will be short listed from the summer camp for potential participation representing Team Pacific at the 2008 World Under 17 Hockey Challenge. Of the 18 short listed players 11 players will be selected and announced in mid November to join 11 selected players from Alberta to form Team Pacific 2008.

The Regional U17 Hockey Program is the first stage in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. The objective of this program is to introduce players and coaches to world international style competition and IIHF playing rules. This program assists with the identification and training of players and coaches for the National Under 18 Team, National Junior Team and the Canadian Olympic Team.

Mom's Day/Shark Active Weekend

IMVoice — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:05:18 GMT

NOTHING LIKE HAVING A TEAM MEETING ON A SATURDAY! HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY YESTERDAY TO OUR ACTIVE MOMS. PLUS I DON'T KNOW IF I AM EVER GOING IN THE WATER AGAIN! Mike

ARCH FUSTON reports Blue skies and perfect temperatures welcomed over 50 AXers at the first ActiveX Charity Team workout this past Saturday at Mission Bay Park! The group did a 4 mile out-and-back run, followed by a menacing 3 rounds of medicine ball chucking, bear crawling, lunging, dumbbell swinging, scissor kicking goodness. Check out the photos and the video!

http://picasaweb.google.com/afuston/ActiveXCharityTeamWorkout1

http://www.active.com/video/play.htm?assetid=1d82cd1d-2aad-4bdd-b90a-67587e5f795c

SHAWN BOOM Director of Sales Communities had a long weekend. He ran a solo 50 mile trail race on Saturday in a beautiful cloud covered 60 degrees on the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. He rolled his ankle at mile 12 but walked off the pain for a mile and trotted along to finish in 9 hrs, 58 minutes with a Wisconsin beer brat (beer boiled sausage) and ice for the injury waiting for him at the finish line. WOW!

ROB KLINGENSMITH VP AMG says “In my quest to lose 10 lbs of ugly fat, I’ve been spending more time on the bike. I took the original Crash Loop (made famous in ’02 when Reilly shouldered me off the road during a high speed descent, which was immediately followed by my 4-week holiday in the Escondido Hospital), and tacked on an extension up Old Castle Road. Richard Bryne and I put it all together on Saturday for a 75 mile ride with just enough climbing to make it interesting. Check out the route here: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ca/encinitas/319347917

THIS IS SCARY! JAKE GONZALES PR Communications wrote. Yes, they are out there and they are hungry! On Saturday I went fishing with a couple of friends and we landed this Thresher Shark out of Oceanside Harbor. It was 350 LBS, 15 feet long, and it took 3.5 hours to land the fish. We hooked it about 3 miles outside of the Carlsbad Power Plant and landed in just outside Oceanside Harbor (approximately 10 miles). It was a fight that I will never forget. Once we had it on shore it took us 4 hours to fillet. A good portion of the fish has been donated.

CAITLYN BARKER Support Team Lead in SD ran the Wondergirl 5k for Girls on the Run in Balboa Park on Sunday. I came to run as a “Running Buddy” for one of the girls completing her first 5K but so many people signed up I ended up running alongside my dog Bosco who I am proud to say, came in as the lead dog in 28 minutes.

From the SACRAMENTO office, HEATHER LEVINE, MARY MEAGHER and JESSICA WALSH-KRENICKI ran the 2008 Komen Sacramento Race for the Cure 5K. It was a beautiful day, and everyone had a great time. More than 25,000 people participated. There was live music, food, and lots of people cheering us on. It was great supporting this charity and having fun at the same time.

CHRIS WHEELER School Finance Consultant went for a 5 mile run yesterday while at a conference in VA Beach. A 40 MPH headwind paired with some heavy rain on the way out made for a pretty good quad workout. In turning around, Mother Nature gave me a bit of a break. Apparently the tornado warnings were the reason I didn't see anyone else outside exercising. Next time Chris turn on the Weather Channel before you go out!

MICHELLE ULRICH Account Exec. Endurance spent the weekend in Joshua Tree here in So Cal (made famous by U2) camping and hiking. She did an amazing and challenging 10 mile hike on Saturday. It was a nice active weekend!

BRET HARRIS & MIKE DOBRANSKY kicked off training for Mt. Whitney (40 days left) by attacking the summit of a much smaller much more local mountain - TWICE. Cowell’s Mountain, San Diego, California. It’s a steep climb for about 1.5 miles with lots of rocks to step over and many people on the trail. Total elevation at the summit is 1500 feet above see level, 1/10th of Mt. Whitney. Bret and Mike noted that training was going well when they passed a troupe of highly skilled girl scouts on a birthday party adventure to the top.

TOBY GUILLETTE, Online Community Specialist for Endurance Sports, ran all weekend again but this time he didn’t sleep. His peak training session for the SD100 began Friday after running 16 miles and he purposely stayed up all night to simulate race-day conditions and began a 39-mile trail run at 3AM Saturday. I ran 13 miles alone in Penasquitos Canyon which was really spooky and every little sound from the woods made me run faster! I was joined by CARRIE SMITH for my second 13-mile loop from 6AM -9AM and AIREY BARINGER joined me 9AM-Noon for another 13 miles. Needless to say, I slept well Saturday night. Sunday I met JESSE HAMMOND at Mission Trails and we ran 7-mile loop together and after he left, I ran another 14 miles. It was great having these guys come out to support. And I called my mom after each loop on Sunday, haha. Total weekend mileage, 60.

STEVE MAZZA and MIKE COLEMAN (you guys are spening WAY too much time together) headed north to Santa Ynez valley to support the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon. A great race day on Saturday, rolling hills, horse farms and vineyards. Mazza PR in 1:45 and 2 bottles of wine after!

KIRSTIN HARTOS, Implementation Analyst. This weekend I attended the second try-out camp in Los Angeles for the Southern California (SCRFU) women’s select side rugby team. Each of the seven territories in the US will put a select side team together to play in the USA Rugby National All-Star Championships (NASC) Tournament in June in Pittsburgh, PA. We did lots of drills, ran through plays in our units, and did a bit of tackling on Saturday, followed by an intra-squad scrimmage in the afternoon. We scrimmaged against the Grizzlies (select side team from the Pacific Coast territory, including many internationally ‘capped’ players) on Sunday afternoon and lost. After that, the coaching staff split us into two squads for another 30-minute intra-squad scrimmage to end the weekend, and my side won 14-0. I’m including a photo from the first try-out camp in San Francisco in April, and have been selected to play center or fly-half at the NASC in June.

Cycling is sexy!

jspitzberg — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:18:36 GMT

Or so the Deputy Minister for Cycling of the Hungarian Ministry of Economics and Transport would have you believe.

More on this, including translation from the Hungarian, here

h/t Ezra

WILD WEEKEND 5/3/08

IMVoice — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:05:47 GMT

CAN YOU BELIEVE MAY IS HERE ALREADY? NO EXCUSES, LONG WARM SUMMER DAYS TO GET AND STAY FIT BUT HAVE FUN DOING IT. Mike

First report today is from Europe and LAURENT GAUTHIER European Managing Director. As he was visiting the ING Europe Marathon in Luxemburg this weekend he did the hilly night Half Marathon Saturday evening. Among 4500 participants, I’ve manage to cruise and get to the finish line at the 232e with a finish time of 1h36. This race is very well organized and growing fast, we are hoping to work with them next year. We will hold you to that Laurent!

EDNA CASTANEDA Account Manager, Client Services in NYC wrote a great weekend report. OK When I began at Active almost a year ago, from the beginning I was completely impressed by the athleticism that the entire organization consistently has. As I further got to know my fellow Active coworkers, especially my Client Service team (yah!) I was extremely impressed by everyone’s accomplishments: Kristin’s triathlons, Megan running the NYC marathon in spite of all the challenges she had due to the San Diego fires and Ms. Kelly running Chicago (her first marathon) in the hottest of all days. I recall sitting in the stands at the NYC marathon both cheering and then witnessing a younger gentleman who had wheeled his way through entire course. At the last 300 yards he got up and with his walker, crossed the finish line. It was that day that I decided; ok running will be my challenge.

Yesterday, I completed the Long Branch (NJ) Half Marathon. This course is a USAT&F certified course and used as a Boston qualifier. The day was great, the run fantastic and the event was unforgettable.

I want to send a heart felt THANK YOU to my CS Team (love ya ladies), to the entire Active Trainer team (couldn’t have done it without my plan) and to my NYC mentors (Brenda Seidner Reilly and Michelle Crepeau). Along with everyone else that sent me their best wishes along the training process. Today is a rest day!

A WILD BUNCH at WILDFLOWER Triathlon near Paso Robles, CA. Team members (as pictured left to right) MICHELLE VELENTI, LUKE SMITH, JIM GARFIELD, JESSE HAMMOND & MARK WARBLE did the Olympic distance triathlon on Sunday. MARK WARBLE Systems Admin in SD office knocked 19 minutes off his time from last year and was part of the Team in Training, he and 25 other teammates raised $106,000 for LLS. JESSE HAMMOND had a goal to beat LIKE SMITH by 1 second and he did by 3 minutes going 2:40:42. He would like to thank his sponsors ActiveX, Team Active Employees Who Commute to Work by Bike and bagel Fridays—for all their support. Thanking sponsors? JESSE you’re not that good!

NOLAN HANSEN Accounts Receivable also did Wildflower this past weekend. He competed in the 2008 Wildflower Long Course Triathlon (1.2 mile S, 56 mile B, 13.1 mile R) located at San Antonio Lake in Monterey County California. The course was hilly, challenging, and painful, which definitely contributed to a great race experience. He just broke 5 hours going 4:59.

JAKE COONEY Online Marketing Manager in Bothell, WA did his very first running race this weekend. One of the world’s largest road races the Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, WA. The race features the famed Doomsday hill at 5 miles and they call it “Mount Doom”. Jake ran 1:04 and has already signed up for more races, kept up Jake!

ADNAN ZAIDI Technical Account Manager for Tennis in San Diego played in the Men’s open division of the Miccosukee Adult Tennis Championship. I came up short in the first round and had to retire in the third set due to a hamstring injury. Unfortunately this is the second week in a row I have had to retire with an injury in tournament play but I am feeling better about my tennis progress every day. Good Luck Adnan!

STEPHANIE SNAMAN & her MOM did their first ever triathlon yesterday in SD at the Spring Sprint. We were nervous about the swim as we were novice swimmers but we prevailed and had a fantastic time. My mom placed in her category and I came in middle of the pack in my age group. Not too shabby for first timers! Can't wait for the next one!

AMBER MARTIN also completed her first triathlon, the Mission Bay Triathlon this weekend in SD. It went really well, I finished towards the front of my age group and it took me about an hour. Still waiting for results to be posted so I can get a better idea. Since it started in waves the clock time was for the wave in front of me not me.

TOBY GUILLETTE, Online Community Specialist for Endurance Sports run more miles a week than most of us drive! He logged another weekend of trail running with 30 mountain miles on Saturday and 18 miles on Sunday to close out an 80-mile week. The next 2 weekends mark the peak of my training for the San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run on June 7-8. It’s starting to get exciting because the month countdown is about to begin and I’m confident I’ll be ready.

ARCH FUSTON says there’s no place like home. I have to post this even though he wasn’t in an event. Anyone that goes home to help the parents cut down 8 trees, haul 40 truck loads of branches, build a 50 foot rock path and then mow 5 acres on a John Deere is a Weekend Warrior! Dude it would have been easier doing an Ironman!

And I have to do a proud Dad update. My son ANDY REILLY was chosen on his College All League team this weekend and was given his team’s MVP for the 2nd year. Now on to the playoffs and the Major League draft June 5 & 6!

Andy Reilly senior third baseman hit a Point Loma Nazarene University high .375, collecting 66 hits in 176 at bats. He scored 30 runs, belting 18 doubles (fourth best in the GSAC), two triples and four homeruns. Reilly knocked in 36 runs and swiped nine bags in 10 attempts. In the field he contributed 124 putouts with 37 assists.

2008 Baseball All-GSAC Team
POS. ATHLETE SCHOOL YEAR HOMETOWN
C Tyler Diamond The Master's Junior Simi Valley, CA
C Josh Jackson Fresno Pacific Junior Antelope Valley, CA
1B Brice Cutspec Azusa Pacific Sophomore Westminster, CA
2B Hawkins Gebbers Biola Junior Brewster, WA
3B Andy Reilly Point Loma Nazarene Senior Poway, CA
SS Nick Rotkowitz Biola Junior Westminster, CA
SS Matt Venegas Azusa Pacific Senior La Verne, CA
IF/UTL Steve Goins Cal Baptist Senior Riverside, CA
DH Stephen Kohatsu Azusa Pacific Senior Covina, CA
OF Kaohi Downing Point Loma Nazarene Junior Honolulu, HI
OF Justin Keeney Fresno Pacific Junior Lancaster, CA
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis Azusa Pacific Junior Highlands Ranch, CO
OF David West Biola Junior Coronado, CA
P Lance Janke San Diego Christian Senior El Cajon, CA
P Enrique Lechuga Concordia Senior Seeley, CA
P Chris Schwinden Fresno Pacific Senior Visalia, CA
P Tim Woodward The Master's Junior Chatsworth, CA
P Joe Zeller The Master's Sophomore Mission Viejo, CA
RP Daniel Brodie Fresno Pacific Junior Oakdale, CA

Stupid is as stupid does

jspitzberg — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:36:20 GMT

via Slate.com

Fashion, on a bicycle

jspitzberg — Thu, 01 May 2008 22:22:22 GMT

Vélocouture is not bicycle fashion. Vélocouture is fashion, on a bicycle.

Therefore "cycling clothes" like jerseys, bike shorts, etc are not the point of this group. Wearing stylish, practical, non-cycling specific clothes — and cycling — is the point.

Hat-tip to Kottke

ACTIVE WARRIORS "HOT" LA JOLLA & CLASSIC BOTHELL 4/27/08

IMVoice — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:04:29 GMT

IT WAS A VERY HOT WEEKEND IN SO. CAL. WITH THE TEMP HITTING 95 DEGREES AT THE BEACH. THIS ALONG WITH THE HILLS MADE IT A TOUGH LA JOLLA ½ MARATHON. MUST BE WHY NO ONE SENT IN LA JOLLA PICS, NOT HAPPY WITH HOW THEY LOOKED.

AND NO ONE FROM ACTIVE WAS AN “IMPOSTER” LIKE THEY DISCOVERED THE WINNER WAS AFTER HE FINISHED.

BOTHELL SENDS IN A "CLASSIC" THIS WEEK.
Mike

CHRIS BONHERT said he ran slower in La Jolla than he wanted at 1:58 but on this day just finishing was a great accomplishment.

STEPHANY CAVATONI Dir. Business Solutions with her family the Cardenas’s - Juan, Stella and Lucas were out in full force standing and cheering the Active runners at mile 5 in the La Jolla ½. They had their “Cow Bells” clanging as the runners came by.

MICHELLE CREPEAU came out from NY to work in the SD office and run the La Jolla ½. She said “how about that heat and HILLS, this Cali girl forgot how big those hills were”. She ran a great time of 2:19:42 then took the ‘red eye” back to NY. It would have been a classic seeing Michelle get off the plane this morning!

CHRISTINE ALBERGA smiled all the way in 2:24 and ran down the finish with her daughter Kate in her flip flops!

ELAINE BERGERON ran the ½ and tells me she doesn’t remember her time but then she came out of her fog, she ran a great 2:02.

CAITLYN BARKER was spent when I saw her at the finish but sooooo happy it was over. She worked hard on the tough La Jolla ½ course for 2:40.

MICHAEL WILSON in SD was another one who sent a Lo Jolla ½ report in with no time. I pulled it out of him and he ran a 1:49:20. Breaking 2:00 on a day like yesterday is huge!

THIS IS A CLASSIC AS REPORTED BY STEPHEN BRANSTETTER!
Now for JOEL WERDELL of the Bothell office, made his not-so-professional debut in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). Coming out of retirement for the fight was the legendary Ultimate Fighter Ken Shamrock. While Joel’s youthful energy and exuberance propelled him to an early lead in the first 4 seconds of the bout, the action of the fifth second proved devastating both mentally and physically to Joel’s pursuit of a career in MMA and his face (photo attached). Ken’s 5th second maneuver resembled the legendary “Pamchenko” made famous by the 1992 ice skating blockbuster “The Cutting Edge.” The maneuver promptly ended the bout and resulted in a shattered upper face (that’s a technical term) for Werdell. In a post facial surgery interview Joel vowed to return to the octagon immediately and boldly challenged the resurgent Chuck Liddell for what he has dubbed the “rubble in the bubble” (I don’t know what that is supposed to mean but he was heavily drugged at the time).

All of us at Active wish Joel the best in his recovery and his continued MMA success.

*Note: The above story is 99% fabrication. It is meant to mask the embarrassing fact that Joel ran into his own teammate while playing flag football resulting in said injury. It is also meant to promulgate and promote the legend of Joel Werdell – a man worthy of legendary status but lacking in publicly recorded and witnessed athletic accomplishments necessary to gain such a reputation.

JIM GARFIELD Dir. Business Development AMG ran a Personal Record which is impressive on a very HOT day in La Jolla. He ran 1:40 and was no worse for the wear at the finish.

LAUREN DACHILLE ran a great LJ ½ in a time of 2:16 and loved it.

BROOKE KIRKPATRICK Team Sports AE ran the ½ in 2:07.

HANNAH SANSONE AE Swimming along with some friends said she ran the miserable La Jolla ½ Marathon. Didn’t PR. Finished in 1:51. It was great to see so many Active people there.

LAUREN PISCO Implementation Analyst for LeagueOne also ran a half BUT it wasn’t La Jolla. She traveled to Nashville, TN for the County Music ½ Marathon. She has been rehabbing knee tendonitis the past few months and didn’t expect much. So she was very happy with a time of 1:52 and the Nashville course is very challenging with tons of spectators.

The Active Hiking Group hit up Mt Woodsen this weekend in the ridiculous heat. ANDREA RISHMAWI, ANDREW COLE, DANNY ROA, DEANNA OREGERON, and some of their friends hike the 6.6 mile trail Saturday morning. It was a great hike, and we’ll definitely be doing this mountain again! Afterwards, some of us headed to Shore Club where we met up with some other Active-ites to do a little light lifting!

WIL FLUEWELLING Staff Accountant camped in Julian, CA and squeezed in 15 miles of hiking with his girl and 2 dogs. Charlie his 2-year old mixed mutt scouting all the way. Really nice to see the re-growth from the 2003 Cedar Fires and a lot of color from wildflowers in spring bloom.

ANGIE TOWERY and JAMIE CAMERON reported in from the beautiful BIG SUR Marathon and 10.6 mile. They both ran the 10.6 miler in great weather and awesome views along the California central coastline. Angie said Jamie felt so motivated that she is now ready to start training for her first Ironman but only if Reilly is at the finish. Girl make sure you get it done before I’m 70 so I can “see” you finish!

ALLISON REUTTER is blaming her slowest 1/2 marathon time ever in La Jolla on the heat, she ran a 2:12:36. Hey Allison there was about 2500 people behind you.

JIM DE LA CRUZ ran the La Jolla ½ with his wife and they finished together in a time of 2:58:38. We are glad she stayed with you the entire way Jim!

MICHELLE NATION was the “Smart” Active team member in So Cal escaping the heat by heading up to Idyllwild at 6000’ for only a high of 75 degrees. Hiking and having a good time with some friends

KEVIN BEATTY completed the La Jolla ½ battling some minor dehydration issues and finished under 2 hours in 1:54.

JASON LO AE Burnaby reports The Burnaby ‘ACTIVE ASSASSINS’ Inline Roller Hockey team skated away with a 4 – 3 victory over ‘The Manthers’ late Sunday Evening. With this being our first regular season game, and first year together as a team, it was a tough fought battle to hold onto the 4 – 3 victory. Jarryd Pinto, Jimmy Lam, Brian Choy, Lou Douillard, Megan Hollstedt, Matthew Cox, Jason Lo, Ryan Lyster, Matthew Hoffman, Anthony Wong, and Inderpal Dhaliwal were all part of the victory this evening. Game Highlight : Active scored a goal with 0.8 seconds left in the first period to tie up the game before intermission.

ALYSON TYSON ran a great 1:59:32 in La Jolla and had the "Best Smile at the finish. Or maybe that was a pain grin!

TOBY GUILLETTE, Online Community Specialist for Endurance Sports ran 37 miles in Cuyamaca State Park in SD County on Saturday. Despite temperatures over 90 degrees, the run was great and made more exciting when we crossed paths with a 4-foot rattlesnake. Overall, it was another solid training session and one step closer to the big race in June.

VICKY EYDELBERG, Director of Product Strategy for Consumer Media hosted a pre-party the night before the race then ran the La Jolla 1/2 in a great time of 2:04:11.

MIKE COLEMAN gets the "Atta Boy" award this week for running the Boston Marathon last Monday and then doing the La Jolla 1/2 6 days later. Or maybe he should just go get a check up now!

EDWARD STRICKLER Bothell office went to Eugene, OR this weekend to race the 800 at the historic Hayward Field track. He ran 1:55.33 and finished 4th in my heat. It was a fun to run in such a great venue and against good competition.

It couldn't be any plainer

jspitzberg — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:03:37 GMT

Couch-potato culture may cut our lives short

[W]e as a nation are doing ourselves in with our couch-potato culture of eating way too much and exercising far too little. Some health professionals even raise the controversial notion that today's generation of kids like Justin — about a third of whom are overweight or obese — may be the first to live shorter lives than thei parents...

"All of the signs are pointing in the wrong direction," says Dr. Jennifer Shu, an Atlanta pediatrician and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Young kids are getting what have traditionally been adult-type diseases — type 2 diabetes and heart disease," she says. "It's like advanced aging."

"These kids are headed for real trouble," agrees S. Jay Olshansky, a professor of public health and a researcher at the Center on Aging at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Their parents may not be faring so well, either, he says. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese.

There's no better introduction to CoolRunning's Couch-to-5K Running Plan is there?