Active Warriors

Labor Day Active Weekend

IMVoice — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:55:49 GMT

THEY TELL US LABOR DAY IS THE END OF SUMMER. DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT, STRETCH IT OUT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, HAVE A SUCCESSFUL WEEK. Mike

LIZ HARRELL says "It's just a hill, get over it!" - That was my mantra this weekend as I climbed my first set of hills (ever!) on my bicycle. 31 miles (including hills) on two (non-motorized) wheels and one very sore tooshie, that was my accomplishment this weekend. I am training to ride a "century", taking place this November. I've joined Team in Training to get me to my goal. They train me to ride and I raise money for a great cause. I still haven't decided which is more difficult, fundraising or training. OK - shameless plug coming...here's my website...check it out...http://pages.teamintraining.org/sd/tucson08/lharrell

Bonjour dear Mike,

LAURENT GAUTHIER European Managing Director reports Active is truly International and this weekend 3 of the French team gathered in Paris to race the Nike+ Human Race. LAURENT (sunglasses in pic) was supporting one of his friends along with ALEXIS TACQUARD (French account manager in the middle on the pic) who joined the team almost a year ago was doing his first running event ever and he was quite happy to cross the finish line in a little more than one hour. PIERRE DUVELLEROY (Executive account manager International - with his white cap on the left) did this race with his cousin who recently got kidney transplant so they both took the start with the only goal of finishing this race together and that's what they did 1h and 10 minutes later. It was a special experience for all of us. First running event ever for Alexis, first time live coaching for Laurent (next time, it will with Pierre on an Ironman but he doesn't know yet).
It was a very enjoyable 10K with very nice weather for this end Parisian summer with 4200 participants who all registered through Active!

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) ran the run portion of the Niles,MI Olympic Distance Traithlon with his brother Craig this past Saturday. Mayberry, USA is alive and well in MI where the gas is under $3 and the fresh peaches are as big as your head!

ALI TERRY Account Exec Swimming says ALOHA and practices what she sells! On Saturday, August 30th, I crewed for my husband who swam the Maui Channel(from Lanai to Maui) solo race in 3 hours 53 minutes. He was the 2nd solo swimmer out of 12 and was 14th overall including 45 relay teams(6 people)! I was extremely proud of him to say the least. He also raised thousands of dollars to support innercity drowning prevention programs! Today, Labor day, I swam the Maui 'Aumakua 2.4 Mile Swim. I was 2nd in my age group and not sure yet of my place overall. The swim was incredibly warm, clear and beautiful!

MICHELLE CREPEAU and the tennis group attended and worked the US Open then Michelle headed out to Lake Tahoe, CA for an end of summer trip with friends.

TOYA REAVIS, Implementation Analyst raced the famous (AND VERY TOUGH) Balboa 4 Mile Cross Country race this Saturday. I had trouble sleeping for the past 3 nights leading up to race day and did not know how I could race this challenging hilly course. I raced for a team so I could not back out. I raced on 4 hours of sleep! I ran tough - I ran 28:55, 23rd woman overall and won 1st in my age group. I still can't believe I ran. That was one of the toughest races in my life due to lack of sleep. Toya, Sleep is overrated! Mike

KEITH WILLIAMS, Account Exec in London, England raced a mountain bike enduro event on Saturday with around 300 other participants in Mid Wales. Here is the link to the event. The event was real good, and we had a sunny day! (very rare in Wales)
http://www.konaworld.uk.com/mash-up/

BROOKE KIRKPATRICK, Account Exec ActiveSports in Colorado GOT MARRIED! Her and new husband Jim tied the knot this last Saturday on top of Vail Mountain. The weather held out long enough for our ceremony overlooking Gamecreek Bowl followed by an awesome reception at the Gamecreek restaurant. Everything went perfect and we had the best time you could ever have! One year of planning for a 1 day event would make anyone build expectations, but when the day finally came, we could not have asked for anything better!

CHRIS INOUYE Implementation Thriva had a chance to run the Super Jock 'n Jill Half Marathon in Woodinville, WA. Perfect temperatures and a flat course helped me to PR with a time of 1:34:16. The best part: it ended at the Red Hook Brewery! I'm not sure what I was doing with my shirt when this picture was taken.

KRISTI DUBIEL, Implementation Analyst with Thriva. This weekend my kickball team traveled to Las Vegas, NV to represent Arizona in the Founder's Cup National Championship. Yes, this is the same kind of kickball that you probably played in your youth. There were 64 teams that qualified this year and we ended up tied for 5th. My team played so well and even though we didn't win, we played much better than we even knew we were capable of doing. We won 18-1, 12-0, 7-1, 12-0 and then lost to the eventual champs 0-1. After playing sports all throughout my childhood and college, it was definitely exciting to get the adrenaline pumping like that again. Who knew kickball could be sooooo much fun and competitive J (Attached is a picture of our team before the tourney started)

HECTOR SUAREZ in SD likes to bike, swim, and run for recreation as well as work out at my club. I also hike near my home in Mission Trails Regional Park.

MICHAEL READE spent the weekend with HIS wife hiking in the Eastern Sierra. The scenery was incredible and the weather was usually good. We got ambushed by thunderstorms and hail right after reaching Bishop Pass at 12,000 feet, but except for that a great time.

BILL BLIVEN Account Exec is working hard on his Mountain Bike getting ready for a MTB camp in Tahoe October 2nd

EDNA CASTANEDA, Client Services- NYC Active Office took part with 10,000 runners on Sunday at Randall's Island (in NY) for The Nike Human Race 10K. The race was born with the goal to celebrate runners and their sport, while uniting athletes through the world's largest running event ever organized in 26 cities world-wide. Each runner was able to pick from 3 charities that the race was benefiting: The UN Refugee Agency, WWF and the Lance Armstrong Foundation...Edna (obviously) chose to have her donation go towards LAF which empowers survivors to live life on their own terms and raises awareness for the cancer fight.

BURT REPINE, ANDY GEORGE and a friend summited The Grand Teton (13,770 ft.), in Teton National Park, Wyoming, via the Pownall-Gilkey (5.8) route --- in a single day. The originally planned 2-day climb was shortened to just a day to avoid an impending snow storm. The trip covered roughly 20 miles, gained just over 7,000 feet in elevation, and involved 3 technical rock-climbing pitches above 13,000 feet. It took us 14 1/2 hours round-trip, beginning at the beguiling hour of 2:45 am. This single day effort was both one of the coolest, and hardest, things either of us has ever done. The views to and from the summit are indescribable.

MATTHEW HENRY, Interactions Designer Foundations did a seven mile run with Team in Training on Saturday morning and then ran the Super Jock 'n Jill Half Marathon on Monday in approximately 2 hours!

ASHLEY ELLIS, Acct Exec Swimming adventured out to the Channel Islands off the So Cal coast. There are five islands about 19 miles from the coast of Ventura CA where I spent my day sea kayaking, hiking and snorkeling around Scorpion Anchoage, Smugglers Cove and Prisoners Harbor. I had the pleasure to see a 4 pound FOX and over 100 dolphins for a 40 minute boat ride show. It was absolutely inspiring and incredible. The clarity to the water was stunning and learning all about the history to these Islands was fantastic. My body was sore from a 4 hour kayak followed by a 3 mile hike. Then on Monday pushed myself again for a nice Mile swim in the La Jolla Cove...getting all geared up for the race this weekend.

MICHELLE SHAFFER, VP of Compliance in preparation for her trip to Mt. Whitney, I hiked the Twenty Lakes Basin Loop near Saddlebag Lake, located between Yosemite and Mono Lake. The scenery was breathtaking, and so were the 60-70 mph winds! Check out the pic attached.

America's Finest City (AFC) Weekend

IMVoice — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:59:04 GMT

SUMMERTIME, DON'T YOU LOVE IT? RUNNING IN SAN DIEGO, MTN BIKING IN COLORADO, HIKING IN SO CAL, ACTIVE TEAM DOES IT ALL! Mike

LAUREN PISCO, Implementation LeagueOne ran the America's Finest City (AFC) Half Marathon this weekend in San Diego. The beginning and middle of the course was great. The hill at the end was grueling, but I made it through in 1:51!

KEVIN BEATTY wants us to feel sorry for him. After a great vacation in the Punta Cana and almost having my flight cancelled in the Dominican Republic due to the tropical storm that tore through the island, I successfully landed in San Diego around 10 pm on Saturday night, all to wake up 4 hours after I got home to run the AFC Half. Definitely planning I don't recommend to anyone but it was worth it because I completed my first Triple Crown by running Carlsbad, La Jolla, and AFC Half Marathons. Way to get it done Kevin.

MIKE COLEMAN, Dir of Bus Dev ran another half marathon, competing in America's Finest City half marathon this weekend, completing this year's triple-crown series. I highly recommend training for races rather than Mike's strategy of "I just do races" without any training. This year races, next year training. HA HA Coleman real funny!

JIM DE LA CRUZ was able to successfully finish the AFC half marathon yesterday; I ran the race in 2:09, completing this event accomplished my goal of receiving the Triple Crown award for running the Carlsbad Half, and the La Jolla Half this year. No strollers allowed so I could not to push my son and double the work-out but my wife cheered for me after she finished the AFC 5K. Credit goes out to Ryan Drew for cheering me on throughout the race on his bike, thanks Ryan for the support! Great event looking forward to next year!

ANGIE TOWERY ran the AFC Half this weekend with her sister, Alicia. They ran this race together last year and definitely saw improvement in their time this year, but that hill at the end never seems to get easier!!! They celebrated their run afterwards at a friends Birthday BBQ Wig Party!!!

ARCH FUSTON and his wife Christy ran the AFC Half, the third race for the "Triple Crown". Had a great day, felt X strong. Was on the way to a half-marathon, post-Achilles PR when the Brown Family knocked at the door and we ended up having a 7+ minute visit at mile 4. I kicked them out and tried to chase Christy down, but missed her by 2 minutes. Great morning, nice and hot, and you can't beat having IM Voice bring you across the finish line. Awesome day!

MICHELLE ULRICH ran with her twin sister LARA and said it is always good Mike to hear your voice bringing me in to the finish! Yesterday was great running the AFC Half Marathon. I ran a 1:31:03 to finish second in my age group and 19th female overall.

TOYA REAVIS ran the AFC 5K in Balboa Park in SD. She ran a fast 20:23 good for 1st in her age group and 8th female overall. But the best part is she was interviewed live on the local FOX news station after the race!

MICHELLE NATION reports the Nation sisters (Michelle in Product Management & JANEAN in Team Sports Sales along with our sister Kristie who flew in from Salt Lake), did the AFC half marathon this weekend. We had a blast jogging the whole thing together in matching shirts and enjoying the beautiful views. When we reached mile 11, Janean was particularly glad to have practiced running the hill on Lusk! The day ended with a PR for Janean and big thanks due to Mike Reilly for an awesome welcome call at the finish line.

JUDY FLYNN, School Finance ran the AFC Half Marathon on Sunday. I ran slower than planned but had a great time!

CHRIS WHEELER, Account Exec Blue Bear got off land and competed at the US Rowing Masters National Championships this past Thursday-Sunday with San Diego Rowing Club. We were blessed with tons of sunshine (Duh San Diego) and lots of good racing with crews from all over North America. To cap off the weekend, we won a National Championship in the Men's A 4 w/coxswain. This was by far our best race of the regatta. There were some pretty decorated rowers in the field and it was a very closely contested, so although it really hurt, it was great crossing the finish line first.

Take a guess what PATTI ROSENTHAL did this weekend. Of course Mountain biking in Crested Butte, Colorado. Unseasonably cold weather this last weekend in Crested Butte - snow in the upper local mountains. Still was able to get out & ride up Gothic Road to one of the epic trails in Crested Butte, Trail 401. An 11-mile ride up Gothic Road to the trailhead which is at 10,707 feet. Then up from there to over 12,000 feet where there are an abundance of wild flowers. Crested Butte is known for the Wildflower Capitol of Colorado. Beautiful!!

BURT REPINE (3RD from left in photo) with 3 friends spent a windy night on the summit of San Gorgonio (11,499 --- highest peak in SoCal). Aside from the wind the weather was great and the night time views of the valleys below were fantastic.

NICOLAS REIS, Marketing International went out on Mission Bay in SD with some friends on a boat to go Wakeboarding and Waterskiing. Well, this was my first time out there and man do my arms hurt today...(scared of ActiveX today). While I really had to fight to get up on the board, I was able to stay up on the Ski's a couple of times (Proof attached J). Great times in sunny San Diego! Nico

So everyone in the SD office didn't run the � marathon. TOBY GUILLETTE & JESSE HAMMOND did a long swim this weekend. Inspired by that Phelps kid (and to train for the Gatorman open water swim I'm doing in September and the Silverman full-distance triathlon Toby is doing in November), we jumped in at La Jolla Cove Sunday morning. Our swim took us straight to Scripps Pier, and then we headed back to La Jolla Shores for about a 2.2-mile trek. It was a beautiful day with perfect water temps and clear visibility.

From last weekend MEGHAN SWIRSKI & LEAH PARDINI participated in the Seattle City Chase event on August 9, 2008. Among the day's challenges were Can-Can dancing with total strangers, tight-rope walking, kayaking on Lake Union, and lots, and lots of running...followed by the best beer ever tasted at the Finish Line.

Olympic Weekend Warriors

IMVoice — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:33:31 GMT

A lot of you must have been watching the Olympics instead of doing. Mike

How appropriate to hear first thing today from JEAN SU in our China office.

Our first Active basketball team won championship in Xian Software Park 2008 Basketball League.
The league started in the beginning of July and there were 32 teams and 8 groups that our team competed with for a month before we won our final game last week.
Here are our basketball team heroes:
Bill Zhang; Bruce Xu; David Qu; Dion Mo; Eric Sun; Gary Chen; Jacob Zhang; Joe Zhang; Lei Zhang; Michael Zhang; Nemo Ding; Ray Geng; Rui Zhang; Sean Guo;

Congratulations team!

SCARLETT DALGLEISH, Software Consultant participated in the Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon here in San Diego on Saturday.

MICHELLE ULRICH, AE Endurance was in San Francisco this weekend and biked over the Golden Gate into Sausalito and then back. It was a great ride, good exercise and beautiful views!

AMBER MARTIN and ANDREA RISHMAWI hiked Iron Mountain Saturday afternoon in east San Diego County. It was pretty hot out, and we only ran into about 5 or 6 other hikers the whole time!
Way to be out there girls!

JASON LO, Account Exec reports on Sunday afternoon in Burnaby, Canada The Active Assassins Roller Hockey Club came back from a 2 - 0 deficit to win 3 - 2 and became the BRASS II Vancouver Inline Hockey League CHAMPIONS! The Assassins got the most out of their season by coming back through the secondary playoff bracket in the double-elimination playoffs, eliminating every single team from the tier out of the playoffs. With a VIHL record 8 game playoff stretch necessary to take the title, the Assassins did so in style led by Playoff MVP Lou Douillard. The Assassins lost in round 1 to a score of 4 - 3, but came back with 5 straight victories including 3 shut-outs which is unheard of in Inline Hockey.

The final three game series for the Championship title started off with a 7 - 0 victory by Active, then followed by a 3 - 2 overtime loss, and with a 3 - 2 victory to end the season on top! The Active Assassins are going to proudly display somewhere in the office (location TBA) the championship cup and are looking forward to another season again next April. Thanks to all the team members who made this year a successful 26 game run including: Brian Choy, Matthew Cox, Inderpal Dhaliwal, Lou Douillard, Matthew Hoffman, Megan Hollstedt, Jimmy Lam, Justin Leung, Jason Lo, Ryan Lyster, Jarryd Pinto, and Anthony Wong.

ALISON TERRY, Account Exec Swimming on Friday and Saturday competed at the United States Lifeguard Nationals. More than 2,000 of the USA ocean lifeguards competed south of the pier in Manhattan Beach, CA which proved to be a great surf racing venue! Lifeguard Nationals includes events such as paddle boarding, surf ski, swimming, rescue races, surf dory boats and running events. Some of the best surf lifesavers around the country competed and it was once again a high level national competitive event. Competition was fierce yet friendly and at the end of the day, we all bond together, tell stories of the past, and discuss lifesaving ideas for the future.

AIREY BARINGER and TOBY GUILLETTE did a scenic 100-mile bike ride throughout San Diego county on Saturday morning.

Summertime Weekend

IMVoice — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:39:43 GMT

A PRETTY CALM WORKOUT WEEKEND BY THE ACTIVE TEAM. HAVE A GREAT AND PRODUCTIVE WEEK. Mike

PATTI ROSENTHAL had an awesome mtb ride from the top of Hotel Draw to Kennebec Pass on the Colorado Trail. An epic 7-hr day with 5 hrs of riding plus hike-a-bike. The wild flowers were plentiful with incredible views. We did have to ride in the rain for about an hour (afternoon storms are pretty common this time of year) but the rest of the ride was sunny & beautiful. Another must-do ride here in Durango, Colorado!

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) took race director Michael Epstein, Yahoo Sports Director Wayne Sieve and AMG's own Jessica Givens and friend on a VIP tour of the X Games this weekend in L.A. Thrills, spills and major heat were the theme of the successful 14th showing of these exciting games!

MICHAEL VALENTI I did his first 70.3 this weekend in Sonoma. JESSE HAMMOND did the aquabike after convincing his girlfriend and I to do Barb's Race. While Jesse racked his bike and kicked back his heels, Emmy and I headed out for the Half Marathon run in 98-degree heat. Emmy placed 3rd in her age group and Jesse placed 1st in his despite taking a wrong turn. Other than the heat, the course was beautiful and fun.

DAK JORDAN, ActiveEducate K-12 Division, and some friends hiked to the summit of South Sister Mountain (10,363 ft.) on Saturday. The weekend included a 24-mile backpacking adventure with the highlight being the summit of South Sister Mountain in the Three Sister's Wilderness near Bend, Oregon on Saturday.

RYAN DREW, Tennis Division raced XTerra Snow Valley yesterday (1000 yd. swim, 11 mile mtn. bike, 4 mile trail run). As it was my first Off-Road Triathlon, I was painfully surprised with a brutal race up and down the ski mountain at Snow Valley resort. The bike ride was pretty technical as the downhill portions were all sand and loose gravel which made for an interesting ride. On the first loop of the downhill portion I was cruising behind a guy who flew off the path and flipped over his handlebars. This was my initial warning that the rest of the day was going to be intense. I crashed on the second loop of the downhill portion, when my handlebars swept under me and I luckily clipped out in time to perform the ever amazing "superman" maneuver off of the bike, sliding 10 feet or so, skinng the right side of my body. I got up, pretended like nothing happened, got back on the bike and made my way to the bottom. The run was more of a hike as all the participants were huffing and puffing climbing up and down this mountain to make it to the finish. This was one of the harder races I have been apart of, and I was really happy to see the finish line. It was also very cool to see defending XTerra world champion Conrad Stoltz racing this course with us.

A TEAM Weekend to Remember

IMVoice — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:32:37 GMT

IT WAS A SPECIAL DAY IN SAN DIEGO WITH OVER 80 ACTIVE TEAM MEMBERS DOING THEIR FIRST EVER TRIATHLON AND DUATHLON! THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST ACTIVE TEAM EVENTS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, THE CAMARADERIE WAS INFECTIOUS! PLUS THEY ALL COMBINED TO RAISE OVER $57,000 FOR THE MONARCH SCHOOL. I NEVER SAW SO MANY SMILES AT A FINISH LINE; EVERYONE WAS HAVING A TON OF FUN!

FOR ONE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE SPORT OF TRIATHLON SINCE THE LATE 70'S IT WARMS THE HEART KNOWING THE FUTURE IS VERY BRIGHT WITH ALL OF YOU NEW TRIATHLETES! Mike

Team Captains making it all work for the Solana Beach Triathlon were ARCH FUSTON, ALLISON REUTTER & ALYSON TYSON. With their leadership and passion the dream for so many to complete a triathlon became a reality. Check out the group picture and the Captains looking fresh after the race.

In ARCH FUSTON'S (YOUR COACH EXTRAORDINAIRE) OWN WORDS:

There are events that happen in everyone's life that lifts the spirit to a new height. Sunday was one of those events. Starting on Saturday night, the ActiveX Charity Team began the final journey towards their goal. Nearly 40 of us gathered for our own pre-race carbo load in Pacific Beach, toasting, staying loose and warding off the nasty pre-race jitters. You could tell right then and there we would be a huge success, as everyone was sporting the right attitude and confidence.

Sunday morning came very, very early. But who were the first ones on site? ActiveX. We immediately filled the parking lot, laughing, checking out the water, bathrooms, and just keeping it loose. What a great start to the day.

And then it happened. Over and over again, more and more Active.com kits were showing up. Before you knew it, you couldn't look anywhere and NOT see one of OUR athletes! We DOMINATED the event with our new presence. We received loads of air time from the race announcer, congratulating us on our numbers, the bulk of which were first timers. Everyone took notice. Comments abound throughout, like "I wonder if they would sponsor me next year" to "I wonder if Active.com is hiring?" We made an impact.

So I've raced a lot over the last 10 years. But NEVER in my race career have I winded myself yelling words of encouragement on course. Everywhere you looked, there was an Active.com athlete. "Go Carrie", "Go Ryan", "Go Nahied", it was non stop! I was like being hooked up to an IV bag of liquid motivation, it just kept coming.

At the end of the day, all 80+ were successful in the quest, and it showed. Hugs, high fives, slaps on the butt (not really, HR) were shared, a massive tangle of Active.com tri kits. Photos were taken by the hundreds, and Allison and Alyson were able to present our check of FIFTY-SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to the Monarch School. The crowd went nuts! Active.com, if not already, was the hit of the event. What a day.

Next year, I predict, we double our participation numbers. Heck, that's what we're all about. Spread the tri gospel my friends, it is an amazing lifestyle. WHOOO HOOOO, GREAT WORK!!!

Oh, we also had a party that afternoon at the gracious Carson and Jared Hinkley's house. I'll let the stories speak for themselves. Not going there.

KEVIN BEATTY finished the Solana Beach Tri this weekend with a time of 1:06. Can't wait for the AFC � Marathon and Mission Bay Tri coming up!!!

HANNAH SANSONE was one of the MANY competing in the Solana Beach Triathlon. She placed 6th in her age group and REBECCA DAVITA placed 7th in her age group!

DEBRA URKA Application Specialist competed and finished her First Ever triathlon in 1:23:24 but who is counting! She can't wait to do her next one.
I finished the Solana Beach Tri (first ever!) in 1:23:24! It was great fun and I will be another one shortly!

NOLAN HANSEN was the big Actve Winner because he WON his age group!

Mike, Thank you for all the support yesterday. CHRIS WHEELER said it was great seeing you along with everyone else out there. Crossing the finish line with 80+ Active team members cheering me on was one of the best athletic experiences I've had thus far. Chris was 2nd in his age group!

STEPHANIE SNAMAN writes it was a great weekend!! What an amazing day, no matter where you looked Active was there! Luckily BETHANY DOMINICK and I were able to run the last leg together and help keep each other motivated. We crossed the line together and clocked in at 1:05.10 which put us tied for 11th in our age group! We can't wait for the next one!

A BIG thank you to RUDY NOVOTNY the great announcer of the Tri who called all the Active team members across the line and helped us with the check presentation.

NUNO COSTA said he was proud to be a part of the Active group yesterday - racing representing Active was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Knowing what a great cause we were helping and how much we had raised collectively gave me some inspiration to compete really hard and I finished 4th in my age group with a time of 52:52, which is my best tri finish ever. Nuno looked like he could have done another one!

ANDREA LEVINSON says what a great race that was! Everyone did so well and on top of that have such a Great day!!! I'm sure everyone has a lot of great pictures to share (I know I do) So, I thought it would be easiest to create an account on Snapfish for all of us to share our photos with each other. If you are interested just contact Andrea.

MARK WARBLE did the Solana Beach Duathlon yesterday morning. Had a great race finished 3rd in my age group with a time of 56:20. More importantly, I'm so happy everyone on the ActiveX Charity team finished with smiles on their faces. Congrats to you all! And a huge thanks to Arch for his amazing coaching skills. This was such a success for Active- we certainly made ourselves known at the race.

THERE WERE OTHERS IN THE COMPANY WHO WERE ALSO ACTIVE THIS WEEKEND.

Starting with TOM MCGORTY: Well Mike, as I've mentioned before, I don't do much more than umpire so not sure if I belong in the same crowd as the Weekend Warriors. But, I did umpire in the Little League Michigan State Tournament (11-12 year olds) where the winner, Bay City SW heads to the Central Region tournament. If they can win there, their next step would be the World Series in Williamsport.

I'm writing a blog which started with my District and then the State. I will be continuing with the Central Region tournament and then the WS. (http://community.active.com/blogs/behindtheplate)

STEVE HOOVER, ActiveNet Development Manager enjoyed a great day of hiking and fishing with family and friends in Lake Tahoe's Desolation Wilderness region.

BURT REPINE, Foundations Development was out in Colorado over the weekend with his Mom and friend in tow. On Saturday we ticked off Mt. Elbert (14,440 feet --- second highest in continental U.S. next to Mt. Whitney) and on Sunday we hiked up Gray's (14,270 ft.) and Torrey's (14,267 ft.) before flying back to the cozy comforts of sea level.

JARRYD PINTO, Inside Sales Health & Fitness reports the Active Assassins squeezed out another thriller in Sunday's 6-5 overtime victory advancing further in the VIHL playoffs. With the return of stars Lou Douillard, Jason Lo, and Brian Choy, the team pulled together negating 3 deficits leading them to victory in sudden death overtime. With two more knockout games remaining before the finals, the Assassins will need to bring their A-Game to beat the Burnaby Blues on Tuesday night. With anticipation of a full line-up, the Assassins look forward to sending yet another team packing.

Next game: Tuesday July 29th @ 1045pm at Bill Copeland Arena, Burnaby, BC.
The arena happens to be around the corner from the Burnaby office so any supporters in the area are encouraged to come out and help your Assassins through another conquest.

LEVI SMITH also participated in the Solana Beach Triathlon yesterday. It was my first time competing in a triathlon and I had so much fun. It definitely will not be my last! I was worried from the start about the swim. Once in the water, I started panicking and couldn't control my breathing. I saw some divers come out of the water and started feeling a little calmer. I continued my swim. About halfway through, I had to hold on to a life guards board for about 30 secs and then continued on. I am also very greatful for swim buddies, they were very encouraging! Coming out of the ocean I was puking and in shock that I had finished the swim. Once I heard the crowd cheering, I instantly started felling energized and began to run towards the transition.

The rest of the event was pretty smooth except the bike to run transition(T2); I almost ran out of there without my helmet on!

NICOLAS REIS, Intenational was not one of the Triathletes in Solana Beach, shame on me, I know. I went to Huntington Beach to see the US Open Surf Championship. Although I am not a big surfer (Well, I am big, just not a surfer:), it was amazing what those guys were able to do.

Nico is the tall guy with the hat on.

Active Weekend working out with John Mayer

IMVoice — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:14:07 GMT

ACTIVE TEAM MEMBERS WITH CELEBRITIES WILL ALWAYS MAKE THE REPORT! ENJOY YOUR WEEK. Mike

LAURENT GAUTHIER has 2 reports below and he says greetings from the very beautiful south of Austria where has taken place the IM Austria yesterday. NICO REIS German account manager & marketing – with myself Europe Manager were at Klagenfurth to meet Triangle Sports owner of IM Austria a good client of Active International. The race has been amazing and really fast, specially with two woman breaking the world record of Paula Newy Fraser.

Last week end LAURENT GAUTHIER – Europe Manager – gather a group of friend and client to ride l’Etape in the south French mountain called “Les Pyrenées”.
A nice and scenic bike ride of 169kms/106miles, as usual, morale was high this morning in Pau, where nearly 8 500 amateur cyclists were ready for the start of the latest edition of the MONDOVELO Etape du Tour. A fine rain over the race area that began around 5:30 am called for special precautions, and it took nearly half an hour for everyone to cross the starting line.
The ride has two main difficulties with the Tourmalet pass (Km 116,5 Col du Tourmalet Ascent of 23,4 km at a 7,5% gradient) & at Km 165 Hautacam Ascent of 15,2 km at a 7,2% gradient.
Despite the bad weather, the group manage to get to the finish line and have had lot of fun while this week end.
Special congratulations, for Nathalie Jouffret who finished in 8h40’ with her husband Christophe from Look Bicycles & some big congratulations to Peyo from AI for completing this very hard bike race in 8h18’ with only three months of bike training!!!!
Next year, Dave Alberga & Mike Reilly will be with us. J

From left to right: Christophe Reece ( Xerox), Georg Hochegger (Triangle – IM France), Christophe & Nathalie Jouffret from Look bicycles, Stephane Janssone (Compex), Laurent Gauthier (AI – Europe Manager), Peyo Duvelleroy 1er (AI – Account Executive), Ben Armengaud from TriOx!

JENNIFER SALTERS MAGNONE, Dir New Business Dev and EDNA CASTANEDA from the New York office had a different sort of ‘active’ week last week. They were lucky enough to see John Mayer’s performance in Times Square last Tuesday and MORE IMPORTANTLY meet John Mayer!!!

But EDNA CASTANEDA met John and also worked out! She completed a 63 mile bike ride yesterday for the American Cancer Society. The ride began at the Ben Franklin Bridge of Philadelphia and ended in south Jersey close to Atlantic City. She was accompanied by the rest of her “Dream Team 7/13” members as well as first time ride cyclist, her 13 year old goddaughter/cousin Danielle Gonzales who rode the first 25 miles and showed glimmers of Lance Armstrong throughout the tough hills. The day was beautiful, the ride was long but the event was inspirational to see thousands come together to fight cancer and remember those who have been lost. We did this one for Chila!

EMILY CHAN-NORRIS reports in that on Sunday, Active X’ers Ryan Drew, Andrea Rishmawi, Jenni Miller, Karen Hardy, and Emily Chan-Norris watched the Carlsbad Triathlon to cheer on Hannah Sansone and Jim Garfield. It was a great time! (Picture Attached)

AMBER MARTIN pulled a double with a wedding in the Bay Area with childhood friends dancing until 1am. Then the next morning did the Jungle Run half marathon which is a First Wave event one of our great clients. Exhausted I ran the half in 2hrs, but it was a fun local race, and it was great to meet one of the race directors I have worked with over the phone for 3 years.

STEVE MAZZA was back east competing in the Rhode Island 70.3 half Ironman. He swam 36 min. bike in 3:30 and ran in 2:54 for a total time of 6:44. He practically had his entire family waiting for him at the finish line. He said it was one of the most beautiful events he has ever been at.

JIM GARFIELD reports that Active X’ers Bethany Dominick, Ryan Drew, Jim Garfield, Carson Hinkley, Jared Hinkley, Mary Cecil, Kelly Schulte, Latane Mead, Arch Fuston, Rebecca DaVita, Mike DaVita ventured into La Jolla Cove Friday night for swim to the buoys in preparation for the July 27 Solana Beach Triathlon. First time “Cover’s” Latane Meade and Kelly Schulte high five each other in the middle of the swim!

MICHAEL FOX, ActiveEducate Account Exec spent the weekend biking, kayaking and hiking around Catalina Island. It was hot and humid, and our hotel was at the very top of the hill which made for a challenging climb at the end of the day, but upon arrival we were able to jump in the pool for some much needed respite. The following day was spent entirely at Descanso Bay. The snorkeling was awesome; there were a ton of Garibaldi (pictured below, although not my picture) and a lot of other as-yet-unidentified fish. Also awesome was the raft that I spent most of the day floating on!

CHRIS WHEELER, Account Exec Blue Bear raced in Long Beach, CA at the Southwestern Rowing Regional’s with San Diego Rowing Club. I competed in the Men’s Masters 8, finishing third, Men’s Open Double finishing second by 0.4 seconds to a couple of other SDRC guys, and Men’s Open 8, winning by open water. The Open 8 was an especially big win because there’s a pretty historic rivalry between us and the second place crew. They aren’t used to losing by that much, so it was really exciting for the whole program.

SHANNON FIACK writes about ALLY WARD. Ally and he partner DOMINATED at the World Beach Bocce Ball Championships that were held Saturday at Dog Beach, Del Mar. This is the second time in her 4 years of competition that Ally has been crowned champion and she’s a dead eye. After a neck-and-neck game in the quarterfinals, she faced her arch nemesis, Trudy, in the semi-finals and easily defeated Trudy’s team, amid the chanting and heckling of the crowd surrounding her court (the booze ban was lifted for this special event). The strength of Ally and her partner lies in their long range game – most other teams lost accuracy the further away the pelina (the small ball you aim for) was thrown. Mild-mannered Ally Ward becomes a fierce competitor when it comes to her bocce game and she showed her will to win by becoming the 2008 World Champions of Beach Bocce Ball! WAY TO GO ALLY!

KRISTEN ADELMAN, account manager and 3 of her best friends from 3rd grade, Kristi, Dina and Heather) participated in the 2 Day Avon walk for Brest Cancer up in San Francisco this past weekend, where both fun and success were achieved by all, 3.200 walkers raised over $7.3 million dollars. The 39.3 mile route included all the great sites of the city, including their well known hills and the Golden Gate Bridge. The finish line was awesome we were surprised by both Kristi and Dina’s moms (a 10 year breast cancer survivor) we almost signed up for next year’s event but we were unable to reach an unanimous decision, Boston or D.C?

TOYA REAVIS kicked some serious butt this weekend. She raced the Mile at the USATF West Region Masters Championships at Cal State San Marcos this Saturday. I had a quite a week leading up to the race. I was in Eugene OR for the US Track & Field Olympic Trials for 10 days and just returned on Monday. Due to the quick deadline my friend signed me up for “a track meet.” She did not tell me it was a regional championship. I was so exhausted all week from the trip and not sure that I could race on Saturday. It was around 88 degrees and very windy for the race. I was beyond nervous. This would be my first track race since returning from injuries. The guns goes off and I take the lead. The first lap was 84 (slow), I was leading the whole time and hitting a tough headwind on the backstretch each lap L - the girl behind me was on my heels and I could hear her coach yelling “stay on her to block the wind.” She tried to go ahead of me on the last lap and I decided to just go at that time as I was holding back waiting for 200 meters to go. I won in 5:39 – I put 8 seconds on her on the last lap. My last lap was 78 seconds. Now I am the West Regional Masters Mile champion. – pretty good considering my fatigue and lack of races. Toya, wish I could have seen that last lap!

HANNAH SANSONE, account exec Swimming was back at it after a 2-year hiatus, I competed in the Carlsbad Triathlon on Sunday along with fellow Active X-er Jim Garfield. I had a solid race (she finished 15 out of 48 in her division) and it was an absolutely beautiful day, so the event was tons of fun. It was made even better when I heard Andrea Rishmawi, Jenni Miller, Ryan Drew, Karen Hardy and Emily Chan-Norris cheering from the sidelines, and they were right there to welcome me across the finish line – what a way to dive right back into racing!

JASON LO and The Burnaby Active Assassins finished off their season this past Sunday with their final regular season game. The Assassins going into Sunday’s game was bumped to 3rd place in the division through the week and played the 2nd place team in the div to determine who would solidify 2nd position. The Assassins came through with a whopping 10 – 1 victory over the Burnaby Blues and have solidified a good spot and confidence going into the playoffs beginning this coming Friday Evening. Game Highlights : “Mr Hockey” RYAN LYSTER missing his slapshot as pictured in the bottom left, but taking out his anger afterwards and upending a Blues player on the boards right afterwards as evidenced by the dangling wheels in the air on the next picture.

Active Warriors Holiday

IMVoice — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:28:16 GMT

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEK AND WEEKEND. Mike

CAITLYN BARKER, Support Team Lead ran the Scripps Ranch Old Pros 10K in 52:39, a little warm and humid (we really shouldn't be allowed to say that here in San Diego) but fun as usual and doing the race help make room for the 60lbs of live lobster, steamers, steak tips and clam chowder that my relatives brought from Boston for the holiday. Fortunately I did not eat all of that but it was enough seafood to last me until their next trip!

LAUREN GUINN family of 4 with the visiting Magill family of 4 all ran in the Pacific Palisades 5K in LA. She said they all had a blast!

HANNAH SANSONE, ERIKA WINTER, CARRIE JAMES, LAUREN DACHILLE, JENNI MILLER, and ANDREA RISHMAWI ran the Coronado 5K the morning of 4th of July.
KEVIN BEATTY, LAUREN PISCO, and MICHELLE ULRICH ran the Coronado 15K – Michelle placed 2nd in her age division!!!

MICHELLE ULRICH did run the Coronado 15K on Friday, July 4th. She ran a PR of 1:04:25 and placed 10th Female Overall and 2nd in my age group (Kate Major placed first!). It was a great race!

KEVIN BEATTY Competed and finished the Coronado 15K with a PR time. Great way to kick off the festivities of the 4th!

KYLE PALANIUK with thrive went out wakeboarding and landed a back flip for the first time. Not sure if this is the sort of thing you are looking for, but it’s something Active that I did. You land anything Kyle after a back flip I’ll always post it!

JASON LO reports the Burnaby Active Assassins are nearing the end of their Inline Summer Hockey Season. Although suffering a 5 – 4 overtime loss on Saturday, is still currently sitting in 2nd place in the division with a record of 7-5-3. The Assassins are looking forward to a strong playoff push in the upcoming weeks. For those of you in the Burnaby office wishing to come out and support the team, the final game of the season is Sunday July 13th, 1:30pm @ Kensington Arena. Go Assassins!

Pictured - Top: Lou D, Inderpal D, Gary S, Ryan L, Brian C, Jarryd P / Bottom: Kevin P, Jimmy L, Justin L, Jason L
Missing – Matthew C, Anthony W, Megan H, Matthew H

KRISTI DUBIEL Thriva (Bothell office but remote out of Arizona J) I was able to attend the Diamondback v Padres game on Friday. It was a great game and I got plenty of dirty looks when cheering for the Padres J After the game was a really nice 4th of July Fireworks show. I also play on an indoor co-ed soccer league every Sunday. The new season just started and our team came out with a victory (11-2). There was only one minor causality; a guy on the other team broke his leg after a collision with our goalie. Unfortunately, I didn’t score even after having like 20,000 opportunities…clearly I am not bitter about that and hopefully next week I will be able to finish! Anyways, it is a great way to stay in shape out here since the temperature is now at a consistent 110 plus everyday. That makes it a little difficult to exercise outside!!

PATTI ROSENTHAL Epic 4th of July MTB Ride over Kennebec Pass in Colorado (11,600 feet) & out Junction Creek to Carver's for some ice cold beer & grub! It's a 35 mile loop full of beautiful vistas, wildflowers, waterfalls & fun single track. A good 5-6 hour ride with some great friends. A must do if you're in Durango Colorado!

EDDIE STRICKLER, Tier III Bothal, WA competed in the Righteous Richland Sprint Triathlon this weekend. The race was early Saturday morning (8:30) and was a lot of fun. This triathlon had a half mile swim, 12 mile mountain bike, and a 5k run. The mountain bike section is fun but I think it hurt me a little because I’m not one to go skidding around corners. I finished 17th overall in a time of 1:10:22.

KATHIE FOLEY and her family participated in the Scripps Ranch 4th of July, 12 mile Bike Ride. I had it easy; my husband hauled the extra 80 plus lbs. J

MIKE REILLY also rode the Scripps Ranch bike race (50 mile division) and hung with the lead pack for 23 miles until he was dropped heading up a climb like a bad habit! Still managed to ride in feeling strong in 2:30:41

BURT REPINE, Foundations Dev and ANDY GEORGE with another friend spent yesterday rock climbing on Tahquitz in Idyllwild, CA. Fortunately we got on the rock earlier enough to avoid the sweltering sun. The views were amazing!

KELLY D. BELL, AMG Senior Account Manager had a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend full of many activities including golfing, attending the Cherry Creeks Arts Festival to gardening and of course the highlight of sitting courtside at the women’s AVP (Pro Beach Volleyball) Crocs Slam Boulder Open at Folsom Field on Sunday. You can see the beautiful Flat Irons (mountains) behind the stadium as well as the swarm of spectators trying to get their picture and autograph from Olympic qualifiers Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh who won the championship match against Jenny Johnson-Jordan and Annette Davis for their 15th straight tournament title.

JULIE RAHILL went to Sequoia National Park with her family. They enjoyed a one day hike of about 10 miles round trip to Heather and Emerald Lake.

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!

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.