IT WAS A SEATTLE ROCK N ROLL PARTY!

CHRIS OCHS, Sales Mgr Active Events competed in the Great Urban Race, a scavenger hunt, (www.greaturbanrace.com) on Saturday.  The hunt involved finding and photographing various landmarks around downtown Denver.  The team with the fasted time wins the event and qualifies for the National Championship in New Orleans—He and his partner Kevin Davis (left) were not the fastest, but they had the most fun!  On Sunday Chris ran the Lyons River 5K in Lyons, CO.  His 5K time of 23:00 was more than six minutes slower than the winner.  How do those high school kids get so fast?!?!

JAKE COONEY, Online Marketing Manager in Bothell set a PR at the Seattle Rock ‘n Roll Marathon.  It was a great day and a beautiful course.  My previous 2 marathons were right at 3:40 so my goal was 3:30-3:35 and somehow managed to knock out a 3:12.  I’m a little disappointed I didn’t shave a couple extra minutes off and qualify for Boston but I’m not too upset because I wasn’t trying and I did much better than expected.  Gross photos are always a fun part of the weekend report so I included my shoe after the race.  I’d like to note that this is only the blood that reached the outside of the shoe after my thick wool socks became fully saturated.  In the next couple weeks I expect to pull my foot out of my sock with 1 fewer toenails than it went in with but it’s all worth it.

Another RnR Roller CHRIS INOUYE (Implementation Analyst in Bothell, WA) PR'd in the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon this weekend with a time of 1:29:36!  Also raised money for Peak7 Adventures.  I need 10 more people to donate $10.  Help a kid get ACTIVE this summer: http://www.active.com/donate/teambothell/Chris4PEAK7.

NICHOLAS BATTAGLIA Implementation Analyst in Bothell, WA ran the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon on Saturday. Nicholas didn’t give a time but I hope he liked what he ran!

ANDY BUCHANAN, Technical Sales Engineer - Bothell, WA On Saturday with his Church softball team from Overlake Christian Church played in the Owen B. Shackett Softball Tournament in Kent, WA.  SHANE WHITEHURST (Implementation Analyst) is also a member of the team, and RYAN MCDONALD (Account Executive, University Camp Sales) filled in for this tournament.  We started off the day at 10:20 a.m. and promptly lost our first game (barely).  Not yet recovered from our first lost, we dropped our second game immediately after in extra innings.  Luckily this tournament was a three game minimum (normally losing twice would mean an early exit) so we got another chance.  With nothing left to lose we played our 3rd game and won, convincingly (10 run rule enforced).  We rolled that into our next game which happened to be against the first team we lost to.  We again won with the 10 run rule enforced and moved on.  The next game was against the second team we lost to, and again won by the 10 run rule.  So we moved on to another team and rolled through them.  Somehow we know find ourselves in the championship playing against the top team and need to beat them twice in a row to win the tournament from the loser’s bracket.  In the first Championship game we scored a bunch early and held them off late.  So we forced a second championship game and only one win away from taking the whole tournament.  The second game proved uneventful until the bottom of the fourth (we were the visiting team).  We were up 3-1 before their offense woke up and scored a few to put them up 5-3.  Heading into the top of the 5th we knew we had to score some runs.  I came up with the bases loaded and proceeded to launch one (well) over the left center fence to put us up 7-5 and we ended the inning up 10 -5.  Just as we felt the game was under control and had them beat, they rallied for a huge inning putting them up 14-10.  We only got one run in our half of the 6th inning and then in the bottom they just ran away with it and enforcing the 10 run rule on us.  All in all we played 8 games and spanned 10 hours in the 80-90 degree weather leaving us all sore and sun burnt.  Yet we will do it all again gladly at the next tournament for another championship game!

SIJEN OLTHOF, Thrive Implementation Analyst Bothell had a wonderful weekend here in Seattle, WA.  The weather was perfect for the Seattle RnR race.  Ten people from the Bothell Office participated with the Active Team. 2 people, (Jake Cooney and Brian Cronrath) ran the full marathon, while the rest of the team ran the half marathon (Chris Inouye, Jason Karls, Joe Benoit, Matthew Wanamaker, Nicholas Battaglia, Nicole Pelley, Sijen Olthof, and Stephen Branstetter). Congratulations to everyone who ran the race.  Thanks for participating in all the training and fundraising leading up to the event.  Here is the photo I got at the race.  People in the photo left to right (Chris Inouye, Nicholas Battaglia, Sijen Olthof).

For me the race is the first event after having a baby last fall.  My goal was to run a 10 min mile and I completed the race at 2 hrs and 14 min. Great day, Great Race, Great Accomplishment.  YES IT WAS SIJEN CONGRATULATIONS!

BRIAN CRONRATH, Thriva Application Support Bothell ran his first marathon.  It was really fun but also ended in disaster.  I started out fine, was hitting about 6 minute pace give or take a few depending on if the mile was an uphill or downhill.  I was feeling great throughout the whole race really – I never felt overly exhausted, it was more of a fight against my legs cooperating with me.  I had to stop soooo many times during the race it war ridiculous.  I had to stop at least 3 times (as far as I can remember) to apply Vaseline to blisters on my feet.  The nike Lunar road racers definitely didn’t treat me too well.  Despite the blister setbacks, I was still doing pretty well for the whole race.  It was amazing to me how even though there were 25,000 so people racing, it seemed that I was completely alone for 95 percent of the race.  It was crazy when people would be so far ahead of me that I could barely even see them, and later in the race I would reel them in. 

I believe I was like 1:18 at the halfway point, and feeling great.  Things were going very well until about mile 23.  I believe a large blood blister on my right foot was causing me to favor one side of the foot slightly, and it just caught up with me at that point.  The pain was only mild at mile 23, but it was enough to cause me to slow up a bit.  I had had many various aches and pains throughout the race, but usually just backing off for a bit would allow them to go away after a little while.  Unfortunately, the pain in my fight foot just kept getting worse and worse.  To the point where I was hobbling the last two miles.  My mentality went from away from trying to get a  good place, to now I was just telling myself to “finish the race and not care about time or place”.  To give a little insight about how slow I finished, a friend (of a friend) of mine passed me during the last mile, and he finished in I believe 2:41, and I finished in 2:46.  The last mile I swear felt longer than the entire race before it, I couldn’t believe how long it took me to finish the last mile.  I had to walk a lot of it.  Surprisingly I think I only got passed by around only 8 o 9 people during my problems with my foot.  After I finished the race, I went straight to the med tent and got all my blood blisters lanced, and got ice packs immediately applied to my foot.  I could hardly walk, so I had to have my dad (who was spectating) drive around through traffic and pick me up behind the med tent.  Since traffic was so bad, this took around 40-50 minutes, I’m not gonna lie it was kind of miserable… haha!!  This whole weekend I basically just stayed off of the foot, it hurts immensely to put any pressure on it.  Originally I thought my foot may have been broken, but now I just think it’s a really bad strain.  I’m going into a doctor later to get a proper diagnosis.

!Brian_1086.JPG! 

MEGAN HOLLSTEDT Web Designer Burnaby reports. Thanks so much for continuing to do such a stellar job with the weekend warrior report. Here's the goods for what went down here in Burnaby, BC this weekend:

ActiveX Team Burnaby made their inaugural appearance this weekend at the Scotia Bank Half Marathon and 5k. Together the group has raised $4052 so far for KidSports, a Canadian non-profit  that provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport. A big thank-you out to Janette Kim for leading the way in organizing the crew and running with a hang-over at the same time.

Team Site (go ActiveGiving.com!!): http://www.active.com/donate/teamburnaby

Half-marathon runners:

Jamie Haaf - best time: 2:11:30

Jason Slusarchuk

Darren Jensen

Lorna Jensen

Matt Hoffman

Paul Hiller

Stanley Ulmer

5k runners:

Mathew Cox - best time: 25 min 30 sec

Janette Kim

Jennifer Saalfeld

Tamara Lee

Megan Hollstedt

Top Fundraiser goes out to Jason Slusarchuk  $930.00 and change. Way to go Jason!!

Some team members thoughts on the day: From Matt Hoffman "Ran with Darren and his wife, Lorna, the entire way and had an absolute blast chatting away with Lorna J."

From Stanley: "This was my first attempt at that distance."

Janette & Jason: Ran with injuries!

Paul Hiller: New dad as of a few days before the half marathon, probably ran without much sleep!

Janette's comments "Absolutely loved the vibe of the run and having done this as a team. Next year will be even better."

Megan's comments: "My time would've been better is I wasn't tweeting the whole way."

Way to go team Burnaby!

JASON SLUSARCHUCK Acct Mgr Burnaby did the Scotia bank Half Marathon in

2:46:39 in Vancouver, BC.

JIM HINE Mountain Biking in Ketchum, ID. On Saturday the family road the 'Rip and Tear' loop near the Galena Lodge 25 miles North of Ketchum.  Our dog Lewis was on point the whole time on a trail that serves double-duty to xc skiers and snowshoers in winter.  We had great views of the Sawtooths, checked out a couple of the rental yurts, and returned to the lodge for 'adult' grill-cheese sandwiches.  http://www.galenalodge.com/  On the way back to Sun Valley I got 'dropped off' at the trailhead for Oregon Gulch.  I rode the lower Oregon Gulch loop and connected to Fox Creek.  Trails around Sun Valley right now have high-run off so some of the creek crossings can be deep and I had to climb over a half-dozen downed trees.  But the 13 mile ride was 100% single track and the descent was fast and smooth.

MICHAEL WILSON, Sales Mgr Endurance & Giving and Brandon did the SD International Tri this weekend…beautiful day and great course!  I finished in just over 2 hours and felt great.  Saw some other Active-ites out there as well as some Active spectators.  Beautiful day for a triathlon in San Diego!

MIKE DOBRANSKY (Team Lead, LeagueOne – San Diego) participated in the San Diego International Triathlon this weekend in sunny San Diego.  There were a handful of Active folks out there and we had way too much fun.

Yours truly MIKE REILLY finished up 3 event weekends in a row with the Buffalo Springs 70.3 Triathlon in Lubbock, TX.  It was there 20th anniversary.  The event directors Marti and Mike Greer are among the best in the Country and produce a world class event.  In the picture with me are Jamie Whyte top NZ triathlete, Cameron Brown 8x winner of Ironman New Zealand and Mike Greer race director and youngest 70 year old I know!

Scott Friesen, Business Analyst at the Burnaby office, travelled south to participate in the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Half Marathon on Saturday.  He had a great time being apart of the largest running event in Washington State history.  He also enjoyed bumping into several members of the Bothell team along the route and at the finish line.  Scott ran his first half marathon in a time of 1:47:26.

ARCH FUSTON reports The ActiveX Endurance Camp at Warner Springs was a huge success! Over 70 athletes took part in the two-day event, which started with a very cool, windy, and hilly ride, followed by a transition clinic on steroids and a swim clinic. The day wrapped up with a massive group dinner featuring homemade jambalaya and adult beverages, and a night of debauchery at the Butterfield’s Cantina. Sunday morning brought a yoga session, followed by a beautiful trail run. An amazing weekend was had by all, and a new ActiveX tradition has been born.

MIKE MCDONALD, Web Developer on a whim yesterday ventured out on my new Schwinn road bike (thanks Arch!) and ended up riding 24 miles ride between downtown and Sorrento Valley.  I ended up being on the bike for nearly 2.5 hours. Big thanks to the sun for finally coming back and motivating me to get out there!

JIM DE LA CRUZ in the San Diego office on Saturday with his wife participated in the Manhattan Beach 5k on the beach nice out-and-back route on the beach. Next my 6-year old son Joshua participated in the same event for the kids 400 meter out-and-back route on the beach, both events were very mellow non-competitive. I was happy for both of them doing this event. Josh is wearing bib 5091 in the picture. On Sunday, I participated in the Redondo Beach Sprint Triathlon, it was a great event, the water was nice and the course was nice a flat, and the post-event booths had hot breakfast burritos, and small French toast bites Yummy! I’m pictured with my friend Marvin after the event.

JIM GARFIELD joined two thousand other athletes for the 2009 Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in San Francisco this weekend.  He was cheered on by Active alum Janna Stewart and pre-road the course with pro Michellie Jones and crew.  Even though it was a stunning day with favorable conditions, only a 4 knot current!!...it is hard to believe any prisoners of Alcatraz could have made that swim without a wetsuit!!!!!!

!janna and jim.jpg! 

CHRIS OCHS completed the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon on Sunday with a finishing time that did not make him feel like he needed to think about quitting his day job as Sales Manager for the Active Events OnDemand (Boulder Office) Team.

LEIGH-ANNE FRANKLIN from the activeworks tech. doc. team protected her family from a marauding band of pirates (no small feat for a “word nerd”!).

MARK LISTER (Documentation – Burnaby) ran his first trail race on Saturday, the 5 Peaks Simon Fraser University. I ran the Enduro course (9.8 km) and finished 5th overall, 2nd in my age category (20-29), in a time of 48:08. I had an awesome time flying down the single track dirt trails, getting airborne over rocks and logs, and racing across the wooden bicycle bridges. There was a good mix of downhill and uphill sections, although the final hill was brutal, with 250m of elevation gain over 1.5km of distance!

Link to results: http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2009/run/5PeaksSFUEnduro2009.html

JIME HINE road in the Tour De Hood.  Temps in the low 40's at the Mt Hood ski lodge starting point, but climbed to mid- 70's by the finish. 5 hrs, 30 min later.  We were the first group to finish (5 riders), averaging 16.2 mph over 92 miles with 10,500 elevation with a time of 5 hrs 30 min.  Three feed stops of great food and killer views of Mt Hood, small towns and beautiful farmland.  We watched the pros come in on their 3rd stage of the Hood Classic, and were surprised to beat them to the finish (we had a 3 hour head start!) http://www.tourdehoodride.com/

We bagged on the 2nd day of the tour on the road and instead did a 25 mile mountain bike ride on Surveyors ridge.  We have a bout 4.5k of elevation gain with 22 of the 25 miles being pure single track.  The descent included 37 switchbacks with some pretty rocky turns.  One of the best trails I've ever ridden.  Both days included stops to Full Sail Brewery for replenishment and recovery.

NO ONE FORGETS THEIR FIRST TIME! Rock n Roll Weekend in SD for 12th year!

ANUSHEH CHAVEZ ran her FIRST marathon at Rock n Roll.  She trained hard for the race but had no idea that the last 4 miles would be so hard!  She finished in 5:03 and wished she hadn’t taken that last pottie break cause she would have broken 5:00!  Here is a pic with ALISON HARGRAVE INGLESE on her left.

ALISON HARGRAVE INGLESE, Application Specialist NFL was another FIRST timer at RnR.  She wanted to break 5:00 hours.  I ran the Rock N Roll Marathon with my dad. This was my 1st marathon and his 12th. My goal was under 5 hours and I came in at 4:59:22, barely made it! Such a great event and the support from everyone who came out to watch was amazing! It was so much fun and it was so great to share the experience with my dad.

JEN ROMINE reports on the RnR Marathon “We Be Runnin’” the Rock and Roll Marathon Relay!

LAUREN DACHILLE started us off in the first leg of the relay, 18 minutes after the gun went off as she hit the snooze one too many times on her alarm J.  “It was packed with high energy from all the fans at the start, the drag queen cheerleaders in Hillcrest and the huge turn of fans lining the course cheering! Running wise, I had a great section that included a nice downhill into the city around Petco Park and then ending on Broadway. I felt like it was over way too soon!”

AMANDA BOURQUIN ran the 2nd leg “I was quite nervous waiting for Lauren to run through the relay transition line on Broadway, but without fail she came flying through screaming “Mandy, Mandy??”.  The baton handoff was perfect and I was off!  I ran up Broadway and onto the scenic, yet uphill and deserted 163!  Thank goodness there was a gorgeous downhill descent into Mission Valley and onto Friars Road with many fans and bands cheering me to the mile 13.5 relay hand off. JENNI MILLER ran the 3rd and longest leg of the marathon around Mission Bay.  “Running through PB was by far the best part of my run. There were a ton of supporters including some awesome Active folks who came out to cheer (thanks guys!). Looking back at this race, what I will remember most is the continuous compliments I received for my socks…. Seriously, never running another race without them (ha-ha)!”

JEN ROMINE ran the final leg of the marathon.  “I had so much fun running the race, especially coming into the MCRD with everyone cheering and Mike Reilly announcing was incredible, it inspired me to sign up for a ½ marathon and hopefully complete a full at some point.  Thanks to everyone that came out to cheer us on, and all of the volunteers that helped make the race possible!”

Our Team finished in 4:11:09

LEVI SMITH, Tech Support Analyst this weekend competed in his FIRST ever marathon and was able to complete it!!!!!! The feeling is incredible and I never could have done it without all of the help I received through my training program and encouragement from team members but most importantly, I had MIKE DE LA CRUZ as a running buddy and that truly made all of the difference. I hit a major wall at mile 16 and had to walk the rest. Jim walked it with me even though he could have run the rest and received a better time. Without Jim I am sure I would have quit! By mile 23 I was crying from the pain and then I happened to notice several signs from the spectators. One said “Pain is only temporary, but the feeling of finishing will last forever” and another one said “pain is the body’s way of releasing weakness”. I must have had a lot of weakness in me because I sure was in a lot of pain ;  ) I would have to say that hearing the voice of Ironman (Mike Reilly) bring us across the finish line was the icing on the cake! I can’t wait to hear that same voice when I complete my first Ironman!!!!!!! What a weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JIM DE LA CRUZ, Sys Admin from San Diego finished the San Diego RNR marathon yesterday with Levi Smith. FIRST of many more full marathons. It was a great event and recommend it to anybody that likes to get past the 13.1 distance on to the 26.1. Thanks to Arch and ActiveX for getting my physical and mental mindset comfortable for this event! I also ran into some other folks from Active in the event as well as cheering us on for support which is an added plus.

In addition, the experience to taken to another level to have and see Mike Reilly calling out the names at the finish line, truly an outstanding voice to hear especially at the end of an event.

GISELLE DOMDOM was one of the many Active Rock 'n' Rollers yesterday. It was such a great experience for my FIRST marathon! The chance to run through my hometown made it extra special. Big thanks to my Content Team members for their support--and to all the familiar Active faces along the course! Very motivating! Attached is a post-race picture with two more Active first-time marathoners, Jim De La Cruz and Levi Smith. Yay for conquering 26.2!

AMBER MARTIN, SD office  finished the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon in her worst marathon time EVER. After acquiring  tendonitis at the Boston marathon only 5 weeks ago, I still decided to attempt the race, because I have never dropped out of a race I registered for. The hill up the 163 killed my Achilles and I contemplated dropping out between mile 10-14. My stubbornness kept me in the race, and I limped across the finish line in excruciating pain with a time of 4hr 48 minutes. This morning I can barely walk due to increased Achilles tendinitis and bone growth on my right heel at the connection point of my tendon, and a left knee full of fluid, an injury probably caused by favoring my right ankle. After 11 marathons in 3.5 years I will be finally listening to my body and not running another marathon this year. I hope to get back in 3:45 marathon condition by the Pittsburgh Marathon 2010.

MICHELLE ULRICH, Account Exec Running & Justin Rock, Account executive- Active Educate participated with 2 other team members in the Rock and Roll Relay yesterday.  The FUNtastic Four (our team name) finished 5th overall in the co-ed division and 9th out of 350 teams overall.  Our finishing time was a 3:09:53.  What a fun day!

MARK WARBLE, IT/Desktop Management, SD office.  This was my FIRST full marathon and it was incredible.  Tons of energy and cheers throughout the entire course.  I felt good for the first half, but keeping a decent pace seem to get incredibly more difficult for the second half.  The last six miles were the longest I’ve ever felt.  I finished 4:20:42 and am very happy with that time.  Had a great experience…the pain I’m feeling today, however, is a different story.  =)

ERIC RAMOS cramped up the last 6 miles of the SD RnR Mrathon but finished in 4:55.  It was his FIRST RnR marathon but 3rd overall in his young career.

MICHELLE NATION in SD office ran the Rock and Roll marathon yesterday with my big sister Kristie.  Loved the perfect weather and all the support from friends and family.   I didn't make my goal time but I did get a new PR so all in all an awesome day!   Thanks to Mike and his voice for getting us off to a great start.

TOBY GUILLETTE also ran the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon this weekend and I am inspired by all the first timers who did amazingly well. I ran with video camera and got some fun footage to edit and share so stay tuned for a video later this week. Thanks to all for making it such a fun locals event!

BOB SHAFERWERE AND FRIENDS Were in Mammoth May 14-16 and skied all the Chutes on top (Gondola/Chair 23): Hangman’s, MJB, Climax, Dave’s Run and the Wipe Out Chutes (3 total)!

Standing left: Scott Willingham; 1979 World Free Style Ski champion, 2003 Legends of The Free Style Ski Champion, featured in 4 Warren Miller Films & Starred in Dick Barrymore's "Vagabond Skiers"

Standing Right: Bob Shafer-Business Development Advisor, Active Sports

Below left: Jim Martinson; Ski Hall Of Fame Member, 1981 Winner Boston Marathon, 1992 Para Olympic Gold Medal, Downhill Val D'isere

Below Right: Brad Parks; A founder of Wheelchair Tennis now an international sport, 3 time winner US Open of Wheelchair Tennis, 1992 Para Olympic Gold Medal Tennis Barcelona, 1980 Para Olympic 2 Gold, 2 Silver Medals Track & field Moscow

PAUL CHEUNG of LeagueOne (Active Sports) in Burnaby office completed his first marathon on Sunday in Vancouver International Marathon with the time of 4 hr 35. His legs feel like **** but he feels like a million bucks.

FAST MAN MARK LISTER (Documentation, Burnaby) also ran his first marathon at the Vancouver Marathon on Sunday. Conditions were ideal; partly cloudy with very little wind.

After starting a bit quickly, I settled into my race pace and work with a small pack. I hit the dreaded “Wall” full-on around 30km, but thanks to the energetic spectators, I pulled it together soon after, even managing to catch a few runners in the last few kilometres. I finished in 2:50:07 (19th overall, 3rd in my age category 25-29) and I’m very happy with my result. Mike Comment – “You better be happy with a FIRST MARATHON TIME OF 2:50 buddy, you make us all jealous”! THIS IS THE FASTEST ACTIVE TEAM MEMBER MARATHON TIME THIS YEAR, WONDER IF ANYONE WILL BEAT IT?

David Detar (ActiveOutdoors – Campgrounds) and his nephew (Dan Price) ran the half marathon in Pittsburgh on May 3. The marathon / half-marathon returned after a 5 year absence to Pittsburgh and set an attendance record with 10,500 participants. It was the first half marathon run by either of us. Having never completed this distance in a race, we both set a goal of 2 hours & 30 minutes. With the weather cooperating (temps were in the 50s with no wind), we were able to exceed our expectations. After running together for the first nine miles, I pulled ahead slightly at the end to finish in a time of 2:06:35. Dan was just a few minutes behind at 2:09:57. I’m anxious to compete at this distance again and now want to break the 2 hour barrier. Here is a picture of my nephew (on the left) and me after our run.

PS: Active’s own Mike Reilly was in Pittsburgh to announce the event!!!!

!David_2347.jpg! (david pic)

MICHAEL WILSON & MIKE REILLY did work the Pittsburgh Marathon and ½. It was a great day and the race after a 5 year hiatus came back in full force with over 10,000 runners.

GISELLE DOMDOM ran the Orange County, CA Half Marathon. It was the first year on the new course--beautiful and a lot of fun! I would recommend it and will probably be back again next year.

TOBY GUILLETTE (AMP) our resident Ultra Man is preparing for the Vermont 100 Endurance Run in July. Racing back-to-back this weekend was great training. Saturday did the Sun Strides Black Mountain 7K Summit run, finishing 5th overall and 1st in my age group with 28:31. Later that day, drove to OC Marathon expo where I ran into Active Alumni Marques Charbonnet.

Sunday: the new OC Marathon course, finishing top 70 overall and 5th in my age group with 3:29. Solid training weekend in the books

ARCH FUSTON reports the ActiveX Charity Challenge group in San Diego did their workout at the La Jolla cove on Saturday morning. After a beautiful 4 mile coastal run, the group completed a 4-stage ActiveX workout, much to the delight of German and Japanese tourists.

Our photos can be scene at: http://picasaweb.google.com/afuston/ActiveXCharityChallengeTraining2#

Active X’s RYAN DREW, REBECCA DIVITA & JIM GARFIELD were among the 1,000’s of athlete’s and other Active employees racing the Wildflower Triathlon weekend in the hinterlands of Paso Robles, CA. Chill’s (rain), Spills (Jim crashed) Thrill’s (great course) were had by all. Of course the camping experience would not be complete without the edition of Rebecca’s cappuccino machine which despite her best efforts sucked to much juice out of the Prius to be used!

NOLAN HANSEN, Account Specialist also participated in the festivities of the Wildflower Triathlon this past weekend. The race weekend consisted of over 7500 athletes and nearly 30,000 spectators in all. I raced in the Half Ironman Long Course Triathlon and finished in a time of 4:47.

ALEYNA PERSZYK-DORR Yesterday, we had a beautiful day for a hike in the San Gabriels. My father, my boyfriend and I completed a 9.2 mile hike on Mt. Baldy. We approached from the South from Manker Flats via the Baldy Bowl Trail. After the first mile on the paved San Antonio Falls Road, a single-track trail climbs steeply up the west wall of upper San Antonio Canyon to the Sierra Club Ski Hut, across the base of Baldy Bowl to the south ridge, then ascends the ridge directly to the summit. The hike was challenging and the scenery was stunning!

STEPHANIE SNAMAN reports on Sunday did the Spring Sprint Triathlon in San Diego which marks my one year anniversary of triathlons! HANNAH SANSONE was also out there racing and we had CARRIE JAMES, EMILY CHAN-NORRIS AND KAREN HARDY for support! I had a great race and was able to shave nearly 9 minutes off of my previous time. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store!

The Active X’ers had a great Saturday morning 46 mile hilly ride in San Diego thru the Elfin Forest.  ANDREA LEVINSON was there and completed her longest ride ever.  She said I got my but kicked and was basically left in the dust by all of you hard core cyclists, got a flat and fell in the street,  I made it 46 miles (longest I have ever ridden) and up a ton of hills! I was almost going to quit after the fall but Arch and Sarah picked me up and said “you are going all the way with us” So glad I kept going and finished!  That was tough physically and mentally but I did it J

JULIE RAHILL, QA Technician Active Community Solutions spent Spring break in Yosemite – snow, rain and sun all rolled up in one. On the rare sunny days, I hiked to Upper Yosemite Falls, Nevada and Vernal falls. Most of the other “longer” trails were closed due to snow and ice… still the amazing changes in weather were fantastic as were the views!

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) had an opportunity to sit on the floor in the land of the giants at this Saturday’s Clippers/Portland game. For all the Active X’ers out there it was good to see that even giants need to stretch and warm-up before exercise. 

LAURENT GAUTHIER – European managing Director – was in San Diego for few days last week and had the chance to enjoy the great Easter weather by doing a long bike ride along the magnificent Pacific Coast.  Pic of Laurent, going up the Torrey Pines hill from the La Jolla Shores.

TOBY GUILLETTE (AMP) camped out at the top of Mt. Laguna for a 20-mile trail run on the Pacific Crest Trail Sunday.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG, GET OUT THERE AND GET ACTIVE!

JB LEEP and CAROL MARTIN with Blue Bear in Poway, CA office hiked through the flooded Amazonian rain forest just outside of Iquitos, Peru.  We are back in Lima today (Saturday) after completing a week long cruise adventure that included visiting people who live in villages along the river and numerous wildlife sighting trips.  Tomorrow we leave for Machu Picchu and explorations in the Andes.  What a wonderful country! 

How Diverse are our Team Members From the AMAZON Rain Forest to COLORADO Snow!

PATTI ROSNETHAL Cycling Durango, CO. Snowcat skiing in the San Juan Mountains with the San Juan Snow Cat Company.  Rented the snowcat & went skiing with 10 of our local Durango friends.  At close to 12,000 feet the views were incredible & the powder was awesome.  A great blue bird day with about 11 runs of great skiing.  Our photographer (& my husband) took some great photos & video clips of us including him crashing into a tree where he ended up breaking his collarbone on the 3rd run.  He still skiied the rest of the day but his ski season is now over.  Besides the collarbone mishap it was a great day!  PATTI WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO, COLLECT ON LIFE INSURANCE ON THE GUY?

LARRY GOLDEN AND DAVE NEFF, InfoSpherix in our Frostburg, MD location completed their first 5K of the season with a time of 29 minutes.  Larry & Dave we have to get you some ACTIVE gear to wear!

This was an incredible weekend for me! This Saturday I ran 14 miles training for my first marathon! I am a member of team “First Time Marathon Runners” through the “Who Wants to Get Active 2009” program and you can see video and updates of my training progress as I attempt to run my first marathon on May 31st, which will be the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon!

LEVI SMITH, Tech Support SD office competed in his first mud run! It was really amazing seeing everyone completely covered in mud and having a good time! Here is a link to my blog; and video of the run will be up soon:

http://community.active.com/blogs/get-active-first-marathon/2009/03/30/half-marathon-

BRAIN BERGEY, Reg OnLine in our London office completed his first half marathon!  He decided to make it a destination and travelled from London to Northern Ireland for a long weekend.  I spent a couple days exploring the beautiful area and rugged coastline, and then ran the Larne Half Marathon on Saturday the 28th of March.  Despite gale force winds along the beautiful coastal route, I managed to finish in 1:49:23.  Not bad for my first try, but definitely room for improvement!

ALYSON TYSON, SD office ran the inaugural Pacific Half Marathon (Part of the Great Race of Agoura Hills). It started in Paramount Ranch in Malibu and ended at my old high school in Agoura, CA. It was a hilly but beautiful race. I ended up taking 7th in my age group with a 1:55 finish. Feels good to be back running!

GISELLE DOMDOM ran the Valley of Gold Half Marathon in Oro Valley, AZ near Tucson. I feel great having my first half under my belt. It's just a checkpoint for the bigger goal--running the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon on May 31st.!

MEGAN FERRI, Account Mgr Active Community Solutions and 3 of her girlfriends ran in the 5k San Diego Mud Run yesterday in La Mesa.  I’ve never laughed so much on a run, we had a great time!  “SUCH DIRTY GIRLS”!

KELLY SHULTE SD Office braved the costal fog and met JIM GARFIELD (AMG) for a 20 mile training ride in Malibu over the weekend in preparation for the Solana Beach triathlon. Kelly had her game face on as she borrowed Jim’s gloves, put on her yellow hoody, blue sunglasses and charged up and down the hills of PCH.  Truly a fashion maverick! Of course we were both proudly wearing our Active Tri Kits as well!

ERIN LANG, HR Assistant spent the weekend up at North Lake Tahoe with her family.  Got in a couple of good days snowboarding, the snow wasn’t great but the weather was beautiful (the picture attached is overlooking Donner Lake from Sugar Bowl) and it was fun to get up to Tahoe before the season is over.

TOBY GUILLETTE, Community Development Specialist, organized a run with two members from the Active.com Online Community on Saturday morning. The three of us met "offline" at Mission Trails for a 5-mile run. On Sunday, I cheered on the triathletes competing in the Superfrog and Superseal Triathlons on Coronado Island.

HAPPY ST PATRICK’S DAY MARCH 17TH!

SCOTT EVANS, BEN CRUISE AND KEVIN JONES caught some big ones while down in Cancun Mexico.

LAUREN DACHILLE & AMANDA BOURQUIN celebrated St. Patrick’s Day early running in the St Patty's Day Run on Misson Bay in San Diego on Saturday. We finished strong a little over 56 minutes! Great course and even better beer garden

CHRIS OCHS Sales Manager for Reg Online did the “Runnin’ of the Green” in downtown Denver yesterday. It was a 7 Km run that he did in a fast 36 min.

STACI RIEDER Account Manager with Reg Online ran at the lake for 45 minutes on Saturday, and worked out at the gym (cycling, elliptical and lifted weights) on Sunday

DEBRA URKA Application Specialist in SD hit the water this weekend and went diving. The water was a bit chilly (55 degrees) event with my am wetsuit but it was well worth it. I saw my first back sea bass, a 150 pound fish. He came right up to us and swam with us for a while, truly amazing!

BRET HARRIS (one “T”) & MIKE DOBRANSKY made sure everyone had FUN at the St. Paddy’s day 10k!  They had to close the beer garden after they went in for fear of running out!

ASHLEY ELLIS while in Cancun climbed a rock in the middle of the ocean taking this amazing hand stand photo. Later in the day my friend Jene and I went Zip Lining in the Jungle then we went on an off road bike ride to this pond where I flipped from 15 feet in the air. As the natives said my new nickname is “Chica Loca”. 

MICHELLE ULRICH participated in the Mission Bay St. Patrick’s Day 10k on Saturday with a finish time of 39:57.  I was 7th Female overall and 3rd in my age group.  It was a great race!

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) channeled the spirit of colleague Toby Guillette and took a 1:45 hr trail run through the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu. He was amazed at the amount of wildlife he saw in that short time..parrots…dolphins..hawks…rattlesnakes…oh yea..and a BOBCAT!!! Just a reminder might not be a bad idea to not run on mountain trails ALONE!