I hope you all enjoy the Weekend Warriors report now being sent directly to you.  Mike

MICHELE CREPEAU did the Marine Corps Marathon 10k in Washington, DC yesterday, 56:09.  Best moment…last mile, slapping hands and thanking each of the 25+ Marines in uniform with their hands out, Natalie Merchant's Kind and Generous playing on ipod, wow I had a lump in my throat & wave of emotion that almost stopped me on my race. Thank you to all the marines and military for your service and for the inspiration. Special kudos to all the charities for raising over 7 million!!!!!

JIM GARFIELD, AMG joined Active Europe’s LAURENT GAUTHIER and ACTIVE co-founder MITCH THROWER in participating in this year Challenged Athlete’s Triathlon in La Jolla Cove.  This annual year event has raised over $21 M since 1994. As always the race was challenging and exciting. The CAF athletes are always inspiring!!!

ARCH FUSTON spent all day Sunday at the Challenged Athletes Foundation event in LaJolla. We accompanied a special guest of CAF and their "Operation Rebound" program for injured soldiers, a long-time family friend Lt.Col. Tim Karcher. Tim lost both legs above the knee in June in an attack in Iraq. In just 4 months, after 126 liters of blood, and countless surgeries, Tim and his family of 4 made it out to San Diego to "see what's possible". What they found is a world of opportunity. As CAF's special guest, Tim was presented with a brand new hand cycle to get him going on his road to recovery. I fully expect that this time next year, Tim will be a participant in the race. When you hear someone say "attitude is everything", Tim epitomizes that. Something we call can learn from.

I received a message from DAVID PAN in the China office saying that they had a football match (assuming soccer) that lasted 4 weeks and they failed to win.  WOW 4 weeks that must have been one heck of a shootout!

The Sports and Endurance teams in the San Diego office had another kickball game to determine bragging rights. Sports overtook Endurance by a score of 9 to 5 in a hard fought contest. Each have now won a game with the rubber match to be determined. DAVE ALBERGA also played but had to leave the game with a calf injury in the 2nd inning, we play tough!  MIKE REILLY was the referee and received no respect because of his controversial calls.  Fun was had by all (except Dave)!

KRISTIN HARTOS AND MAREA BLUE traveled to Boston over the weekend with our rugby team (the San Diego Surfers) for the USA Rugby Division 1 play-offs. As the #2 seed going into the 12-team play-off, we earned a bye on Saturday (lucky for us, since it was rainy and cold). We played the Valkyries out of Austin, Texas in the quarterfinal match on Sunday -- who had narrowly beaten our league rival Belmont Shore (Long Beach) 7 to 5 the day before to advance.
The weather was much better on Sunday with plenty of sun and a strong breeze -- and we were ready to play. We scored our first try just four minutes into the match to go up 5-0, and never looked back. We dominated in the rucks and were able to retain possession and get clear ball out to the back line to run in the open field. We won the match by a final score of 39-0.
We will travel to San Francisco to play for the National Championship on November 6th-8th. The semifinal match on Friday pits us against the Atlanta Harlequins. The Seattle Breakers and Northern Virginia (NoVa) face off in the other semifinal. For more information about our team and the upcoming games, please visit our website at: http://sdsurfersrugby.com.

RYAN WOOD participated in the Labor Day Pier Swim, a one-mile swim around the Oceanside Pier in Oceanside, CA. The water temperature was perfect and it was a great fundraiser for the Oceanside Swim Club. Over 500 participated.

JIM GARFIELD, Dir of Business Development.  From the land of peaches as big as your head and corn as long as your arm….Jim Garfield (AMG) raced the Niles, Michigan Super Sprint Triathlon finishing in 4th over all and 2nd in his age group.  36 minutes for a whole triathlon was definitely the fastest and shortest triathlon he has ever done. To fast to even stop at an aid station….Next up is the Nautica Malibu Triathlon with his colleagues from San Diego next weekend! 

MIKE MACDONALD, Web Developer & SEO expert drove 13 hours (each way) to Redding, CA to camp on Whiskeytown Lake with my girlfriend's family.  We rented a boat, tubed, swam, hiked around the dusty trails and generally had a good time...as did our puppy Jasmine (see attachment). Note to self: the "Patrolled by Aircraft" signs on Hwy 5 are legit, and a radar detector isn't going to help you when a plane catches you speeding. 

JAMIE WILLIAMS reports he and LIZ HARRELL did a 50 mile bike ride Sunday.  They took Amtrak from Solana Beach Train station to San Juan Capistrano and biked back ~50 miles.

The day was warm and beautiful.  The traffic along PCH mostly cooperated.  In our group of 9 we had 1 flat tire.  Stopped for pizza at Pizza Port in Solana Beach to

refuel after the ride.  Awesome day, awesome ride.  J

MAREA BLUE, Application Specialist reports finding the temperate San Diego climate a touch too chilly for their taste, the San Diego Surfers Women’s Rugby Club traveled east on Saturday to play the Tempe Women’s Rugby Club in Arizona heat that managed to be oppressive and unpleasant even in the midst of a hurricane. The Surfers struggled in the first half against an aggressive Tempe side whose large forward pack had a significant advantage on a smaller than regulation field that was more suited for say, lawn bowling than a rugby match.

After a stern, yet gentle chat with coaches Richie Walker and Tim O’Hara at the half, San Diego recommitted to their game plan, setting faster, cleaner rucks and increasing their kicking game to gain field position and get the ball moving forward.  Rookie hooker Becca Williams picked up the ball from the back of a ruck and dove it into the try zone to score the first points of the match early in the second half.  A score by 8-man Alyssa Barker following a breakaway by Kate “Too Much Equipment” Henne and a successful two-point conversion kick by Active’s own Kirstin Hartos sealed the 12 – 0 Surfer victory.

The Surfers’ second side went on to win the B-side match and San Diego’s solid boat race team soundly defeated the Tempe men’s squad at the social, making San Diego 3 for 3 on a fabulous rugby weekend.

The Surfers play their home opener against the Sacramento Amazons at Robb Field in Ocean Beach on Saturday at 11:00 AM, followed by a match against the Davis Doubledeckers at the same time on Sunday.  Come out and support the toughest and best looking rugby team in San Diego!  A full season schedule is available at www.SDSurfersRugby.com.

HAIL TO ALL THE MILITARY MEN AND WOMEN SERVING FOR THEIR COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD – THANK YOU!

GORDON BOISVERT, Burnaby spent Thursday Rock Climbing at Horne Lake on Vancouver Island. A new area for me.  Most of the climbs are in the Amphitheatre - a massive Limestone cave which is unusual since most of the rock around here is Granite.  Did a half dozen 12's all Steller quality.  Included a couple shots of Stormtrooper (12c).  The start is off a tree stump and the second shot is about a third of the way up.

Friday the wife took me up to Lytton and we spent the day river rafting from Spence's Bridge back to Lytton on the Thompson river with a company called Kumsheen.  This was in motorized pontoon boats.  The temperature was 35C (95F) which was great since the river was freezing.  25 kilometers of river with more than 25 rapids with cozy names like 'Jaws of Death', 'Witches Cauldron', 'Terminator'.  Most of them large enough to cover the boat soaking and tossing us around.

BROOKE KIRKPATRICK, Acct Exec in Denver and her husband Mike with yellow lab Aspen camped for 3 days in the Sangre De Cristo mountain range in Colorado to hike a few 14ers.  We attempted to climb Mt. Ellingwood and Mt. Blanca on Friday, but were forced to turn back once we reached the ridge due to bad weather and visibility.  On Saturday we summated Mt. Lindsay, which was a very fun and challenging 14er.  There was one sketchy area in a gully that would have been smart to have an ice axe.  Maybe next time we will take that suggestion!  I can’t think of a better way to spend 4th of July!

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) ran the 32 annual Pacific Palisades Will Rogers 10K with the new K-Swiss K-Ona flag shoes.  The mile long switch backs in the state park were incredibly challenging but the shoes had their own cheering fans that helped push me along.

CHRIS OCHS, Sales Manager-ActiveEvents OnDemand—Boulder, competed in the Superior Downhill Mile on July 4th and ran a 5:30 mile.  The next day, Chris hiked to the top of Mt. Bierstadt, one of Colorado’s legendary 14’ers—Mountains with a peak of 14,000 feet or higher.  This jaunt took a little longer, six hours from start to finish.

DEMIAN DORRANCE, SR Systems Engineer SD stayed local for some holiday weekend hiking while training for a Kilimanjaro climb this September.  Hiked the Torrey Pines preserve three times, and the summit of Mt. Woodson once.

TOBY GUILLETTE, online community specialist-San Diego, made the 9-hour drive to the Sierra Nevada mountains over the long weekend for some mountaineering. We originally set off to attempt the Palisades Traverse, a classic ridge traverse that includes climbing five 14,000' peaks but we got off route early and basically climbed the wrong first peak (13,775'). One of our guys wasn't doing well with the altitude and we weren't going to have enough time to adjust and keep going with the route so we decided to bail. With 2 hours of sleep, we still had a blast on our 16 hour, 22-mile excursion. It's the price one must pay to see beauty like this:

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SARI RUDY Account Exec. Tennis reports her 13 year old son Andrew won the US Kids Golf Teen Qualifier this weekend by 4 strokes, he’ll be heading to Pinehurst, NC end of July for the US Kids Teen Championship! Let’s hope he continues to kill it!

JENNI MILLER participated in the Iron Girl 10k for my third year in a row. This is such an awesome event as it is a women’s only run and everyone is incredibly supportive of each other. It was also really cute seeing all the dads on the sidewalk with strollers, cheering on their wives. I finished in 58:22 which is my best time yet for this race!

PATTI ROSENTHAL, Cycling Manager and her husband Mark did the Death Ride Tour 669 which started in Silverton, Colorado.  First day you ride to Telluride (74 miles); next day to Durango (104 miles); and then back to Silverton (50 miles).   Total of 228 miles with over 24,000 feet of climbing.   Beautiful loop made up of several highways in south western Colorado called the San Juan Skyway.  First 2 days we road our tandem bike & then the last day we jumped back on our single bikes which was quite a relief after riding the heavy beast over the big mtn passes.  Highly recommend this ride – one of the most beautiful loops in southwestern Colorado!

Jim De la Cruz, System admin in the San Diego office on Sunday went to Del Mar. CA fairgrounds to cheer on and support my wife and some other Active Network colleagues in the IronGirl 10k/5k event. Great event if you are just starting out or like take a run with about 3500 other women-only event.

MICHAEL WILSON, Sales Manager Eundurance just got back from my 545 mile, 7-day AIDS Lifecycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles this weekend.  This it the third year I have participated in ALC and it is one of the best weeks of the year.  In total, the event raised over $10.5 million to help HIV/AIDS patients that cannot afford care and medication as well as prevention programs in SF and LA.  It is a truly unique event that I love participating in and look forward to each year.  No injuries or soreness – and NO FLAT TIRES for the entire 545 miles!

TINA NOVAK, Software Consultant headed down near Buena Vista, CO this weekend and did a Full Moon Float down the Arizona River. Our friends are professional river guides and a group of about 30 of us got together and launched our rafts around 11pm and rafted through Class III rapids, path only lit by the full moon. It was beautiful, exhilarating, freezing, and epic all at the same time!

CHUAN HU from the China office reports It was a busy weekend.!  Day 1st Saturday was their Cycling day! Four of Chengdu ActiveXer, took the first trial ride of Active China Riding Club. Chuan transported his bike from Xi’an by train and LILY ZHANG, CRUSOE  XIA and PAUL LI just bought brand new mountain bikes. We decided to take a ride around Chengdu city just for some fun. Paul also brought his friend with us. That day she borrowed an old bike which hadn’t been touched in past 6 years! We kept riding as a group from the beginning to end. Still, we have a lot fun. Sometimes Paul was our leading rider with his friend’s ooooooooooooold bike.

From left to right: Paul, Chuan, Lily, YuHang , Crusoe.

Day 2nd (Sunday): Soccer day! Active.com vs. Zhaopin.com – one of the most famous hiring agencies in China. It wasn’t an easy game because their team was pretty strong. But we also got much, much stronger than before. The result was 5:5. This was ActiveX no. 7 passing two defenders using his right heel to kick the ball over their head.

We were so happy about the even result and so appreciated the hard work of our cheer team. Jean, GM of China office, also was there with us. Tom and Joey were our heroes. Tom scored 3 and made a penalty kick opportunity. Joey played as goal keeper in the last half of game and he saved at least 4!

ROBERT SUBKOW said the weekend that went to the dogs! In preparation for the 4th annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition in San Diego http://www.loewssurfdog.blogspot.com/  coming up on Saturday June 20th, much practice was put in to prepare the pooches for hanging 10.   To prepare for this competition we did a loop around Mission Bay on Saturday morning with the dogs in the Kayak’s for balance strengthening.  I paddled while my 90 pound Golden enjoyed the sights, GREAT WORKOUT!  Then it was off to Coronado to test the surfing on Sunday morning.  After 2 hours of working with the dogs, I think we may be in a position to repeat as champions as the Golden Surf’ers take the beach by PAW on the 20th of June.

DOUG WELLS, Data Analyst in AMG, ran the Camp Pendleton Mud Run for the first time on 12 hours notice as a last minute replacement for a team. It was one of my favorite runs I have ever done, and am definitely going to pre-plan next year’s race. It only took one full box of q-tips post race to clean my ears.

TOBY GUILLETTE volunteered at the San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run and helped hang glowsticks to mark the trail for the runners who were running through the night into the next day. I had a 12-mile section and had some great memories of last year when I did the race. Only 39 days until the Vermont 100 Endurance Run!

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Hope all you US people had a nice 3 day Holiday weekend and the rest took Monday off just because!  Stay Active everyone and create a great week! Mike

CHUAN HU from our Chengdu, China group reports they played a soccer game with a team from the Nokia Chengdu office. The weather was nice, as well as the condition of the field.

It was a hard match for us because Nokia team is a really strong team, but at our side, it was only the second time our team played together. We scored two, also lost numerous opportunities. It was nice that there were 5 girlfriends/wives joined in the cheer team. We had a lot of fun together!

HOW COOL IS THIS!  ANDY GEORGE & BURT REPINE tackled Mt. Shasta (14,179 ft.) where they summited via the West Face and then snowboarded back down. Summit day included an 8+ hours, 5000 foot crampon climb to the top and a snowboard descent of almost 6500 feet back to the parking lot at the Bunny Flat trailhead. A day that will be hard to top!  YOU GUYS ARE STUDS!

AMBER MARTIN & ANDREA RISHMAWI and friends hiked The Grandest of Canyons (that is the Grand Canyon)this weekend!  While numerous rangers warned against attempting to do the 16.5 mile down and back hike in one day, the girls scoffed at the idea of camping at the bottom.  While several canyon personnel told the girls to plan for at least 12 hours, they annihilated the 7 mile trek down in 3.5 hours, had an hour long lunch break, and powered through the 9.5 mile hike back up the beast in an astonishing 5 hours, bringing their total time to exactly 9.5 hours.  That canyon’s got nothing on us.  This first picture is of a sign saying “Do Not Attempt This Hike In One Day.”  YOU GIRLS ROCK!

Yours truly MIKE REILLY was on a pleasure trip over the Memorial Day weekend in St. Louis and a few triathletes heard I was in town.  Before I knew it I had a bike under my butt both Sat and Sun mornings and was discovering the Midwest on 2 wheels.  The group in the photo are all competing at Ironman Arizona in November.  Man is it humid back there! 

TOBY GUILLETTE joined BRYAN PAVIN for a 12-mile trail run on Saturday morning and we crossed trails with ELAINE BERGERON who was mountain biking at Daley Ranch in Escondido. Then I ran 20 more miles that night (with a headlamp) at Mission Trails for a 32-mile day. My training is right on track for the Vermont 100 in July!

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!

MICHAEL WILSON, Director of Sales in San Diego had a great 70.3 Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mi bike, 13.1 mile run) race in Oceanside, CA on Saturday with his family watching and cheering.  He was among the 2113 racers and wanted to break 6 hours which he did in fine fashion going 5:38:50, great effort Michael!  Your Mom & Dad are proud of you!

TOBY GUILLETTE was at CA 70.3 to support the Active folks who were racing and then on Sunday, kicked off training for the Vermont 100 Endurance Run in July. I raced the Carlsbad 5000 in 19:03 and then ran 26 miles along the coast from Carlsbad to Clairemont for a total of 29 on the day. Starting the day with an all-out effort and then going for distance too made for a very challenging day of running and I don't recommend it.

LIZ HARRELL & MICHELLE NATION got on their bikes and rode from the Solana Beach Train station up to Carlsbad.  13 mile ride up…a few miles tooling around the Carlsbad 5000 fun, then 13 miles back.  Got to see Mike in action announcing the runners coming down the chute.  It was an amazingly crazy beautiful day in San Diego.  

RYAN WOOD in the San Diego office ran the Carlsbad 5000 road race with his wife Lauren on a beautiful day by the beach! Though we were smoked by the high school kids in the 29-and-under race, we still had a blast and finished together in 27:42. We will knock a few minutes off when we run it next year!

JUSTIN LAKIN SD Office embarked on a 7.5 mile hybrid trail and street "urban" hike/walk from North La Jolla Shores (near Scripps Institute) to Downtown La Jolla ("The Village" area) and back.  The objective was to view full size cow sculptures that were set up as part of the Cow Parade.  Each cow is uniquely painted by truly amazing artists and they were well worth the trip.  The Cow Parade will go through June 15, 2009 and you can get more information here if you are interested: http://www.cowparadelajolla.com/.  Afterward Justin ran an additional 5.5 miles in preparation for the Rock 'n Roll Marathon at the end of next month (here in SD).  This is Justin's first marathon and although he is anxious, he has been sticking with a 16 week training program and has been using the Active Networks' vast online resources for guidance.

The Active Events Management Team went skiing at Whistler in Beautiful British Columbia.

It consisted of CHRIS OCHS, Sales Mgr RegOnline, ERIC OLSON, Sr. Director Active Events, ADAM TESAN, Dir. Wingate Web and TYLER DOUGLAS, Dir. Active Government.  A fun day was had by all.

JIM HINE took his family on a road trip over Spring Break - snowboarding in Tahoe, beach days in San Diego and hiking in Zion.  We stopped in Moab and rode a 15-mile out-and-back on the Klondike Bluffs trail over a mix of jeep trails, sand and slick rock.  At trail end we left the bikes for a short hike out to the bluffs with views of the La Sal Mountains in the distance.  The dozen dinosaur tracks were cool along the way, and I was really proud of my girls powering up the long climb, past the lumbering ORVs!  WAY TO WORK OUT THE KIDS JIM! 

AMBER MARTIN in the SD office ran the Carlsbad 5000 in a time of 23:04, which was better than anticipated after running my last hill training run from Del Mar to PB over Mount Soledad the day before.

DAVE ALBERGA our CEO with his daughters KATE & EMMA were out on Sunday at the Carlsbad 5000 to watch his wife run the race.  The girls had huge smiles on their faces when Mommy came thru the finish line.  Plus Kate and Emma participated in the Junior Carlsbad races on Saturday.

How about this for a tough way to prepare for a race?  LAURENT GAUTHIER who works for Active Europe is based in France.  He worked the Paris Marathon Expo for 2 days then jumped on a plane for 12 hours to head to the US.  With no food in the stomach and a 9 hour time difference he headed directly to the Carlsbad 5000 to run.  He ran with MITCH THROWER one of the founders of Active.com and said he had fun.

BURT REPINE had a true Work Out Family Affair this weekend!   His son raced in the Jr. Carlsbad and his Mom raced in the Ford Oceanside Ironman 70.3 (winning her age group and a spot in Kona) on Saturday.  Then he and his wife raced in the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday. Great job announcing by the way. And what a gorgeous San Diego weekend!

GARETH BRUNT spent the weekend in the terrain park at Big White Ski Resort with my two boys Lewis 7 and Owen 5 getting in training for the 2022 winter Olympics (we start them young up in the frozen north)  I’ve attached a couple of pics to show you how they are progressing. Go Team Canada!  OH MY GOSH GARETH WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THOSE 2 FLIERS OF YOURS IN THE GAMES!

JENNI MILLER, ANDREA LEVINSON & MICHELLE ULRICH all ran the Carlsbad 5000 race on Sunday. Between the heat and having not been running much lately Jenni said she was struggling toward the end and hearing my name called on the loud speaker was definitely that last push I needed. I started the race with Andrea Levinson, who was having a much better run day than me and took off around mile 1. Andrea ended up finishing just over 25 minutes and I finished in 29:22… not quite what I was hoping for but still happy with it. Michelle Ulrich also ran the 5000 yesterday and had a great race finishing in 19 minutes flat (just 2 seconds off of her PR from last year).

BRENDA SEIDNER REILLY, Director Online Media sales works out of the New York office came to San Diego and competed in the Carlsbad 5000 for the first time.  Since the northeast has been so cold, it was a shock to the system.  What a fun race.  Tracy Sundlin the VP of Elite Racing who produces the race used to coach Brenda and her Husband at Georgetown University.

TIM & KATIE MANION who both work in the SD office camped out in the Borrego Springs Desert this weekend and woke up Saturday morning to hike the 1.5 mile trail into the Palm Canyon Oasis.  It was a beautiful morning and the Oasis at the end was worth every rock-crawling on the lookout for rattle snakes step.  If you have never been on this short but awesome hike just 2 hours drive from SD we highly recommend it.    

NOLAN HANSEN, Accounting Specialist SD office had the fastest time from Active in the Oceanside 70.3 Half Ironman.  The race went well and I finished in a time of 4 hours and 42 minutes.  The best part of the race was hearing cheers from all the Active people who came out to watch.  They seemed to be all over the run course providing extra encouragement.

CHRIS WHEELER Senior Account Exec also raced the Oceanside 70.3.  He finished his first Half Ironman but it proved to be a challenging task.  I crossed the finish line in a painful 5:17.  Thanks to everyone who came out to cheer us on.  You guys definitely carried us through the last couple miles.  

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) channeled his inner Mike Reilly in announcing the Nautica South Beach Triathlon in Miami this weekend.  Over 1,500 athletes, from over 40 states and 11 countries braved the hot 85’ temp and 85% humidity to complete the Olympic course.  The athletes, including noted triathletes and celebrities including, Anna Kournicova and Dave Scott raised over $139,000 for St.Judes Children’s Hospital.  

BILL KENNEDY, Account Mgr Multi Sports said Michael Wilson put him to shame but had a great time racing in my first 70.3 at Ironman California in Oceanside.  As I zig-zagged the swim course it became painfully apparent to me that I was no longer in my clean, clear, chlorinated pool following my black strip and should have spent more time training in the open water!  The bike was a unique opportunity to ride along the beautiful Pacific Coast and through the pristine, untainted land of Camp Pendleton.  The best part about the run was hearing Mike Reilly’s voice from across the beach and knowing the suffering was almost over!  The rest of the run was a blur, but I am told I finished and the next morning I woke up with a medal around my neck!  It was a great reminder to me of what my clients and their athletes experience every weekend!

Last but not least yours truly had a Blast this weekend calling 2 of the best events in the Country.  The Oceanside,CA Half Ironman on Saturday and the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday.  The best part was calling in all the Active team members across the line!

If you haven't already be sure to join the ActiveX Charity Challenge.

BURT REPINE SD office said all his ActiveX workouts of just the right mix (shameless plug) I finished 4th overall and 2nd in my age group at the Xterra Black Mountain 5K Trail Run on Sunday.

STEPHEN BRANSTETTER, GM of Camps Bothell caught "the stair climbers cough" this weekend participating in the Big Climb for Leukemia (69 floor stair climb) in Seattle. Beating his goal time of 9:19 he completed the 1311 steps in 8 minutes and 58 seconds good for 13th place out of 2918 racers. He sends a special thanks out to Robbie Rech (Foundations) and Jake Cooney (Marketing) for help training.

EDNA CASTANEDA (Active NYC=Account Manager-Account Management & Operations) was accompanied by her consistent cheering team and of course the top cheerleader Guapo (pictured in photo) on Sunday for Nestle Beverages St. Paddy’s 10 Miler Race. The course was all hills and the weather was great!

DAK JORDAN, Account Executive in Educate, and his brother Derek went fly fishing on the Yakima River in Central Washington.  We landed 12 rainbow trout on our trip and released all of them...even the record setting fish we didn't get a picture of.

TRACY ROJAS SAYS What a difference a day makes! I saw it all in Mammoth this weekend.  From beautiful, sunny spring conditions in the 50's on Friday, to snowy conditions on 16 inches of fresh powder on Sunday. It was an epic weekend of snowboarding.

KICKBALL - Friday afternoon there was a showdown on the kickball field between Team Endurance (Jenni Miller, Lauren Dachille, Michelle Ulrich, Jennifer Romine, Jason Chicoine, Jeff Fallis, Michael Wilson, Josie Donnelly, Scott Evans, Shannon Turner, Ally Terry and Jamie Wells) Versus Team Sports (Amanda Bourquin, Tim Manion, Ally Ward, Elaine Bergeron, Bret Harris, Nick Mowbray, Melissa Magat, Todd Alloway, Kathleen Gendron, Janean Nation, Nahied Rahimi, Laura Hilts, James Satchell, Greg Lopez)

Team Sports came out strong in the beginning and took an early lead.  This is a competitive group willing to run over anyone that stands in their path (Bret Harris slamming into Jen Romine at 1st, and Todd Alloway taking down Michelle Ulrich at 2nd).  Team Endurance came back and showed they were not a group to be messed with (Amanda Bourquin was pegged in the head with the ball running to first, and later in the back running to home).  Both teams made some incredible plays (Josie deflecting the ball flying at her head to Jeff Fallis who makes the catch, and James Satchell covering the entire outfield from Right to Left making plays).

Team Endurance was able to keep their stamina throughout the game and although they were down a few players, ended up with a 20-11 victory! 

It was a fun afternoon and a great team bonding experience.  Since we played a team sport for this competition, next time shall we try an endurance event maybe a relay race?

JASON KARLS ran the Mercer Island, WA 1/2 marathon.  Despite the threat of rain and lack of anything waterproof, this was a fantastic half-marathon for me. After one mile, the rain blew over and my gamble paid off - no need to worry about extra clothing or over heating!

Having last run it in 2002, this event has grown significantly. The course is relatively the same - a loop around the island and the vibe from the runners is really positive. Even the locals come out and cheer with sincerity. The course is absolutely beautiful with rolling hills along a two lane forested road. The hills are not that bad and you can make it up them with adrenaline and an easy recovery on the down side. The one exception is at mile post 11 with a 100' hill that can def take some steam out of you. But really - if you've made it this far, there's no turning back now!

I was shooting for a pace of 9:00/mi and expecting 10:00/mi w/ the way my training has been going. I was surprised with a finishing pace of 8:40/mi and how strong I felt.

A side note for cyclists - this is one of the must rides to do on your way out to zoo hill   For SD active-ites give me a shout if you're in the NW for some serious hills!