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!

PATTI ROSENTHAL, Cycling Account Manager, Durango, CO. Another great backcountry trip up in the San Juan Mountains.  This time to the Wolf Creek area to a spot called Lobo Lookout.  Wolf Creek had just gotten 12 inches of fresh powpow.  Well over a 1,000 feet of climbing up with skins on our skis but the fresh powder runs down was well worth it.  Skiing with great friends on a sunny blue bird day!

JULIUS DAGOT and the [Burnaby office Social Committee |

http://intractive.active.com/Teams/social_committee.html] organized Saturday’s Snow Day—involving 40 employees, family, and friends. The participants skied, snowboarded, and snowtubed at Cypress Mountain. The event was a huge success, and the participants enjoyed a day of fun with the snow, in true Canadian style.

ADNAN ZAIDI played the “Al Mills Memorial Championships”, a USTA sanctioned tournament, in the Men’s 35 Singles. I played well but ended up losing to the #1 seed in the finals. Here is a link to the tournament’s home page (no results have been updated yet):

STEPHEN MATSUBA (Foundations) took part in the 2nd Annual British Columbia Kendo Federation Kendo Tournament as a member of the Vancouver Kendo Club.  The competition hosted participants from B.C. as well as a team from Washington State.  I competed in the individual shodan (1st black belt) division and was a member of the Vancouver Kendo Club’s B Team.  While our team did not make it into the medal round, our club’s A Team came in second.

NICO REIS, Active International, Munich, Germany, went to see the Harlem Globetrotters on the World tour in Germany! Now clearly this is one of the Basketball teams, every fan or Player should see at least once in their life. Amazing ball handling, ridiculous dunks, alley oops, etc. but foremost: Great entertainment. Needless to say they won their game against the Washington Generals (whom the Globetrotters defeated in the past 50 years, by the way).

JIM GARFIELD (AMG) was a victim of the State of California budget woes.  He hit a major pothole on PCH in Malibu while riding up to Ventura. This time it was really only the bike that broke and not his shoulder.  He also discovered that although very cool, the Active riding kit was not road rash resistant.  Hey Arnold…how about throwing some $ towards road repair!!!!

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TOBY GUILLETTE ran 26 miles on the Noble Canyon trail on Saturday morning and then joined up with AIREY BARINGER and JESSE HAMMOND on Sunday for a mellow bike ride through OB, Point Loma, Harbor Island and Little Italy. 

EPIC SAN DIEGO SPORTS DAY YESTERDAY WITH THE AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA LAST STAGE!  ESTIMATED OVER 300,000 PEOPLE ON THE 96 MILE COURSE INCLUDING OF COURSE ACTIVE-ITES.  Mike

SCOTT EVANS, VP Sales rode part way up Mt. Palomar to watch lance and the boys come by.  He said he was so jazzed after seeing the riders he rode back to his car like he was in the race!

PATTIE ROSENTHAL, Cycling Account Mgr drove 13 1/2 hours with her husband from Durango, CO to San Diego on Friday to watch the Tour of California.  Brought our bikes to get in a couple of rides in & reunite with some old racing buds.  The last stage of the TOC was a scene & well worth the long drive.  Saw a lot of friends & the racing was incredible - over 300,000 racing fans!   Went to the start & got a few photos of some of the racers (Chris Horner from Astana - my favorite all time US racer).  Then headed to the finish to watch the race on the big screen & saw Frank Schleck beat Nibali in the sprint. 

ARCH & CHRISTY FUSTON along with two friends from Boulder, CO, watched the Tour of California time trial in Solvang, CA on Friday.

What you don’t see is how hard these guys warm up before starting their TT. They are on the trainers for :30 to an hour, working up a huge sweat and getting their heart rates up. By the time they get into the chute, they are very ready for a hard effort, and don’t have to fight that immediate lactate build up. Keep this in mind next time you do a sprint triathlon or 5K.

We got to meet “helmet head” the guy that either wears longhorns or elk horns, depending on who he is supporting (longhorns = Lance, UT, elk horns = Levi, Montana). The crowds were amazing. Really suggest making the trek to Solvang next year, it is well worth it!

MIKE REILLY along with a couple of buddies Bernard Mougel (owns Bernardo’s restaurant in RB) and Todd Smith rode to the top of Palomar Sunday morning to watch the race.  Todd took a fully stocked car up there the night before and parked.  So when we arrived we had plenty of food, wine and Champagne!  Coming down the hill was a challenge with a full belly.  It was one of my most Epic sports days of my life and that might be saying a lot!

JULIE RAHILL, QA Tech. cross country skied to Panther Gap in Sequoia National Park Saturday night with a small group led by the SNHA (Sequoia Natural History Association). Camped out and skied to Panther Peak the next morning, learning some basic mountaineering skills (ice axe techniques, climbing, basic avalanche awareness) and then skied out. We caught a nice Sierra storm in the middle of the night, making things that much more beautiful! This was my first "backpack" on skis trip, but definitely not my last

JACQUELINE BERRY and LEVI SMITH participated in the 1st Annual SDMPI in San Diego. Give Your Heart to Monarch 5K on Saturday. The weather was perfect and the energy was great. It was also nice seeing Jim De La Cruz and his wife and son there as well.  Sunday Levi ran 9 miles for the first time ever. He is training for his first marathon through the “Who Wants to Get Active” program so be sure to follow his training progress and leave comments of encouragement!

http://community.active.com/blogs/get-active-first-marathon     

JIM DE LA CRUZ and his wife ERIKA pushed his 6-year old son JOSH in the SDMPI Give Your Heart To Monarch 5K Run/Walk at Mission Bay this past Saturday. Great weather, flat course that ran along the water, and small crowd. It was a great way to show support for The Monarch School by running with some of the students and teachers. I recommend this event next year for any first timers plus you can run or walk with your dog in the event.

JIM GARFIELD, AMG & JESSE HAMMOND(Active) cheered on the Tour of California this weekend at the Rose Bowl.  Jim was so inspired by his picture of Lance and of the fans that he did his own Tour of California and rode the next day to Oxnard…a lot slower then the racers.

LEAVE IT TO JIM TO HAVE A PIC WITH A BUNCH OF PRETTIES!

REBECCA DIVITA & NOLAN HANSEN raced in the Tritonman Sprint Triathlon on Saturday morning IN San Diego and Ryan Drew and Chris Wheeler came out to cheer. Despite the cold and foamy water, the course on Fiesta Island was great! After the race, Ryan, Nolan, and I biked to Pizza Port to celebrate with a few pitchers…making the ride home up Torrey Pines slightly more difficult. Nolan Hansen, Ryan Drew, Chris Wheeler and I finished the weekend on Sunday at the VIP tent (always in style) at the Amgen Tour of California.

TOBY GUILLETTE ran the Orange Curtain 50K (31 miles) in Long Beach and finished 5th overall in 4:27. This time is a new personal record by over an hour and fifteen minutes and was my third marathon+ distance race in less than a month. On Sunday, I was out in Escondido at the ATOC finish line to see the action. 

MICHELE CREPEAU had a great weekend, went up to Tahoe with family and worked on teaching my niece and nephew how to ski.  Too funny revisiting the rope tows and bunny slopes.  Have to confess did sneak in some real runs later in the day.  Shorts weather, beautiful spring days and fresh snow…

It's the second week of February  and here's your Weekend Warrior Report.

I'm pinch-hitting for Mike Reilly this week--but fear not! Mike will be back next week for your regularly scheduled awesomeness.

CHRIS BOHNERT ran the San Dieguito Half Marathon in 1:54:00... there were a lot more hills than I expected

MICHELE CREPEAU - Ran the Bronx Half Marathon Grand Prix in 2:05:15. Training run for upcoming Boston Marathon. Great day, 56 degrees in New York!! Felt almost like San Diego weather.

JESSICA WEXLER participated in the Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5k run.(See photo below) It is an annual family tradition to do this race together and continue running straight to the restaurant for Dim Sum.

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BROOKE KIRKPATRICK and her husband ran the 5k snowshoe shuffle in Beaver Creek, CO. yesterday. We actually signed up for the 10k which turned out to be a lofty goal considering they had not run in snowshoes and did not look at the map to see how much elevation we climbed! It was fun to do something out of our ordinary!!

AIREY BARINGER ran the San Dieguito Half Marathon in 1:46:49. I had a blast and feel solid about my performance, especially since it was my first sanctioned half-marathon distance run.

AMBER MARTIN ran the San Dieguito half Marathon. It was my third year running it, and every year I forget how hilly it is. I got my PR for that course, 1:52:10

TOBY GUILLETTE ran the beautiful Sedona Marathon in 3:39 for 22nd place overall and 4th in my age group but still finished 2 minutes behind my older brother--he went 21st and 4th in his age group too. The trip was great and 2 marathons in 2 weeks has been a nice challenge

ACTIVE’S NEW MOTTO SHOULD BE “BUILD AN EVENT AND ACTIVE WILL COME” A big Running weekend but let’s start with Hockey, MTB and Snow.  Have a great week. Mike

MEGAN HOLLSTEDT, Designer plays on a female hockey team here in Burnaby called the “Kung Fu Pickles” (don’t ask, I have no idea where the name came from). We played a tough game on Sunday and came out with a 5-0 win placing us second in our division. We’ve had a solid year so far, I get my practice time in on Friday lunch hours with some fellow active co-workers at the Burnaby office. I LOVE HOCKEY!!!!  MEGAN WHERE DID “KUNG FU PICKLES” COME FROM  

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PATTI ROSENTHAL resident bike Guru did back-country skiing out of Silverton, Colorado.   Started climbing at 9900 feet up to over 11,500 feet.  Did 2 laps so total of 3,000 feet of skinning up the mountain for some nice, fresh powder turns.  I personally am a "resort" girl & see nothing wrong with taking a chair lift up the slopes but you can't beat the scenery & its one heck of a workout!  Another great day of skiing with friends in Durango!

JIM “HOLLYWOOD” GARFIELD, JESSICA GIVENS with AMG & TINA NOVAK, Parks & Rec checked out the X Games in Aspen this weekend. Word has it that Jessi and Tina were even included in ESPN’s coverage of the event.  Check out your local listing for their debut!

KEITH WILLIAMS, London office here in the US racing the Southridge USA Downhill MTB Winter Race in Fontana, CA.  He flew across the Atlantic to San Diego for International Team Summit from the UK. Decided to spend some time on the mountain bike before the weeks rammed packed meetings.  Hired a Jam Jar (car) for the weekend, to cruise north for the Southridge, Fontana Winter Race Rnd1. USA motorways are so complicated and big, but I completed the 100 mile trip witnessing many a strange sight and getting lost once. One fatal mistake on the US motorways could mean life or death, starving or eating with multi diner options that cover the worlds tastebuds. I was late for the registration deadline, but one smooth swoop of the cockney shakespeare tongue, got me registered by just confusing the event director!. 

The way the downhill event works is that we get one practice run and 1 race run. First practice run started by loading my borrowed lightweight Cross country bike on the truck. Other riders looked at me rather strangely with not being equipped with the latest monster downhill bike and being ENGLISH! I got the feeling they thought I was a nutty Brit.  The riders follow the fully loaded truck in a cruiser, and taken to the top of the mountain to start the downhill track. The race track itself was dusty and loose, offering no support for grip which is not good when there are so many rocks and boulders to avoid. At one point I did hit a rock, which smashed my aggressively pinned pedal into my shin, opening my leg up in 3 places. Luckily for me there were medics at the bottom to close it up and finished by placing the biggest plasters in the world on my very hairy legs (you can see in one of the pictures).

Race run went ok, but rather than focus on the track my mind went back to not thinking about hitting my shin again, would definitely hurt and cause nausea!  Finished a great days racing 15th  position in experts. The event had a great ‘Chilled’ but ‘Race’ atmosphere, with a superb track and organization (except registration is still on paper!). I did try to make a sale too get event director online with Active! One to chase. www.southridgeusa.com

A big thanks to top guy Eric at Zumwalt's Bicycle Center, 6425 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92115, (619)582-6440, www.zcbikes.com lending me his own personal bike. Zumwalts is a great bike shop for all riders, check him out.

Please follow this link for all reviews of the Carlsbad ½ Marathon

ARCH & CHRISTY FUSTON hosted the ActiveXers with a carbo loading party at their house Saturday night. Not sure if it was the food (probably the beer), but everyone had races beyond their expectations!

JOSIE DONNELLY, SD office ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon with her sister in 2:18:49.  I had a bum knee so was just glad to finish the half marathon this year.  You can’t really complain when you’re running along the ocean in perfect weather and the rest of the US is covered in snow!

BETHANY DOMINICK, Account Mgr SD ran her first half marathon this Sunday in Carlsbad, CA alongside all of her Active friends who had been training together for the past couple of months.  After hearing JOE TERRY speak at the sales launch a couple of weeks ago who made a point of encouraging us to write down our goals, I set mine to complete the race in less than 2 hours.  I set my watch to time my race but realized it was a bit off as I set it to start before our actual wave did.  On the last few miles I had a vague idea of where I would finish, but realized I would have to pick up the pace quite substantially if I wanted to accomplish this goal.  When I finished the race in 1 hour 59 minutes and 45 seconds, I realized how powerful his message was. Great job to everyone who competed on Sunday!!  WOW impressive BETHANY!

CASEY DIETZ, Account Exec. Active Educate did her first half yesterday at Carlsbad! It was awesome but definitely a struggle. I managed to come in just under my goal of 2 hours in 1:59:45! A big thank you to Bethany Dominick for picking me up in the last mile and pushing me through the finish line! It was so great to see all the friendly faces in the crowd as well. Thank you for all the support, I look forward to my next one!

MARC VILLANUEVA ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon yesterday which was my first half marathon in a time of 2:06:56.  I survived and am actually looking forward to running one again (and I hate running!).  Yes Marc it’s a Love/Hate thing.

ALISON INGLESE battled blisters in her training runs preparing for her first ½ marathon at Carlsbad Half this last weekend. She had a blister on each foot swell up the last 3 miles of the race but kicked butt running 2:10:32.

KEVIN BEATTY had a great run yesterday at the Carlsbad ½ Marathon beating his PR by about 7 minutes running a 7:45 pace per mile to come in at 1:41:35.  Great way to start off the year! 

MIKE DE LA CRUZ ran with my wife and pushed my 6-year old son Josh, we came in at 2:56. The Bob strollers Rock! It was a great race, great weather, great to see some of my co-workers running in it; I'll be back next year!

KAREN HARDY also ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon yesterday in 2:06:38, it was my 1st half marathon and I had a blast!  We had perfect running weather and the event was very well organized.  It was great to see so many other Active team members out on the course!  Don’t forget to review this event and share your experience with others: http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1547677&assetId=36d559e4-1b08-44a6-8e16-eb7db6415428&tab=review

MICHAEL READE ran the Carlsbad half. He had a goal of 1:50 to 2:00 finish time, and finished at 1:51:42. Way to set your goal Michael!

TRACY TOM ran the Carlsbad Half as Silvio Frison this weekend (thanks Silvio!).  Finished in a time of 1:42:08.  Tons of fun and look forward to running the La Jolla Half in April….this time under my own name!  Nice run Silvio keep up the good work!

TAMMI SCHMIDT ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon yesterday in 2:30:10, which was my second time ever running a half marathon! Getting out of the parking lot after the race was crazy but the course and weather were beautiful!

CHRIS WHEELER, Senior Account Exec ran the Carlsbad half yesterday and recorded a new Personal Record of  1:34.29!

TRACY SCHUSTER tackled the Carlsbad Half this weekend. I managed to pull off a decent finish coming in at 2:10:24 with almost no training. I had a great time out there as I ran into at least a dozen Active folks either watching or running and got to keep pace with Liz Allen for a bit as she completed her first ever half marathon! It was a great day for a run and now it’s time for Triple Crown prep – La Jolla half here we come!

LIZ ALLEN ran the Carlsbad Half yesterday.  After 4 years of working at Active I finally broke down and did my first race.  It was great through mile 10, and then really painful for the last 3.1.  My goal was to finish in 2:10, but I crossed at 2:16:53 – for my first race I’ll take it.  It was great to see so many friendly Active faces at the finish line!  STICK AROUND THIS PLACE LONG ENOUGH LIZ AND IT GETS YOU!

JUDY FLYNN, Account Exec K-12 also ran the Carlsbad Half in 2:17:19 and had a lot of fun!  It was such a perfect day for it!

ASHLEY PASCHALL, Consulting Project Coordinator ran in her first half marathon in Carlsbad with a time of 1:40. It was great to be out there with so many people from Active!

TAWNYA BORDALO, AMP ran her first half marathon in Carlsbad this weekend.  What an amazing experience!  I want to shout out a HUGE thanks to CAEHLE ROMANO & BETHANY DOMINICK.  I was fading around mile 10 and all of a sudden my fellow Active Xers came running past, cheering me on!  That extra encouragement gave me my second wind as I picked up speed and ran towards the finish line!  I met my goal of not stopping and got a better time than I anticipated. Thanks to the Active team members that came out to cheer us on.  It was a great event and I was glad to share it will everyone that was there!

BILL BLIVEN did NOT run Carlsbad he went Motocross riding in Otay Mesa near the US/Mexico Border on Saturday and did a 40 mile bike ride up to the Cabrillo National Monument in Pt. Loma Sunday.

MARK WARBLE- Desktop Support, SD office competed in the Carlsbad ½ marathon on Sunday (along with numerous other Active employees) and had a great time.  This was my first ½ and it went smoothly- finishing in 1:43:01.  The course had a great coastal view with a few gradual hills and the weather was perfect.  Couldn’t have asked for a better experience.  Great job to all the Active folks that participated!

Leave it up to our TOBY GUILLETTE to run the Diamond Valley Lake Marathon in Hemet, CA on Saturday. It rained the night before and morning of the race so the dirt fire roads were soft enough to be real easy on the body but didn't get muddy at all. I recognized and chatted with some fellow SoCal ultra runners (one of which ran Carlsbad 26.2 yesterday too) and really just enjoyed the scenery as I cruised around the reservoir at a comfortable pace. I ran 3:29:40 which is an 8-minute/mile average pace--good enough for 20th place overall.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE, MAY YOU HAVE A HEALTHY WORKOUT YEAR! Mike

JESSICA WEXLER went mountain biking up in Ojai, CA and finally learned how to ride through a stream without falling! But falling Jessica is the fun part!

SARI RUDY, Account Exec in Tennis is also a proud golf MOM!  Her son Andrew Rudy placed first in the San Diego Amateur golf tourney winning by 6 strokes.  He earned an exemption to play in Junior World this summer. He shot 3 over in two rounds (74, 73) in a field of 36 kids age 13-14.  A future Tiger, you never know.

ADNAN ZAIDI, Tennis Division played in two tennis tournaments over the past two weekends. The results aren’t there yet but I am coming back from a long hiatus and am officially out of retirement! The matches I played were tough, both times three sets and the one yesterday I played while having the flu! The two tournaments were the “New Years Kick Off at Pompano” and the “40th Annual Dade County Open”.  Come on Adnan we don’t listen to excuses at Active!

MEAGAN JOHNSTON, Corporate Recruiter and MATT SYLVESTER, Application Specialist took a road trip to Utah in search of fresh powder!  Success!! They carved up Snowbasin, Solitude, and ended the trip with 12 inches of new snow at Brighton.  

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WOW - BURT REPINE just returned last week from a climbing expedition to the Argentinean Andes where he summit the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, Mt. Aconcagua (22,841 ft). Our climb took 13 days roundtrip, including a long 13.5 hour summit day, and 4 straight days of snowstorms high on the mountain. Out of 7 members from our expedition party I was fortunate to be one of 3 to make the summit. Not too shabby for a flatlander from San Diego, huh? Definitely an adventure of a lifetime! I have to add a big Thank You to ARCH FUSTON and his ActiveX workouts. They definitely went a long way in helping with my training. Here’s a pic of me during a break on the way to the summit and another standing at the tallest spot in the Americas.

MARC KOZAI, Online Advertising Manager was in Tahoe recently and despite the fact that it had not snowed in over a week we were able to find some secret stashes of power at Kirkwood.

NATHAN PHILLIPS (pictured) and GT GIORA TAMIR from the Foundations team climbed the Great Wall in Badaling, Beijing, China. The air was freezing and the temperature so low, Nathan’s ears fell off and had to be surgically reattached.

ANDREA RISHMAWI and MATT HAYNES along with 8 other friends spenT the weekend at Mammoth Mountain in CA.  Though Matt hadn’t been skiing in years, he managed to navigate some serious moguls.  Andrea, on the other hand, spent more time on her rear than on her board, and is nursing some serious bruising…OUCH!

REBECCA DIVITA, Account Manager in SD Saturday participated with 80 others in the RunJunk Triathlon Club of San Diego Duathlon and placed 2nd. The course at Black Mountain was fast, windy, and hilly…but with lots of food and great people, it was a wonderful early morning race!

Chuan Hu We went to Leshan city to see the highest Buddha statue in the world – Leshan Grand Buddha. It was carved out of a cliff and 71 meters (233 feet) tall. We climbed up the top of mountain than stepped down from through the stairs beside the Grand Buddha 3 times. It was a great exercise!

It can easily accommodate a hundred people on each of its feet. We are so tiny in front of it and I have to lie down on the ground to take this picture.

Around the Leshan Grand Buddha, there is a beautiful temple. It has a nice frontispiece with a beautiful horse rilievo.

Winter is upon us, workout and embrace it.  Get your shopping done! Mike

MICHELLE CREPEAU out of NY office did the Annual NY Road Runners Club Holiday 4 miler in Central Park with friends was a bit rough going from the warm temps of San Diego to 27 degrees, but festive run with all the Santa costumes

PATTI ROSENTHAL, Cycling Mgr Skiing at our local Durango Mountain Resort (Purgatory Mountain or we call it Powder Mesa).  The storms are finally coming in & we got 17 inches over the weekend.   They only have the one high-speed chair (aka the flying sofa) open now but they should be opening more chairs as we get more storms this week. Nothing like skiing through fresh powder with your friends.  

PAUL MCLURE, Account Manager from Education: On Sunday I did my second Triathlon (with no real training), The Tinsel Town Triathlon in Hemet, CA.  I finished in 1:34:48, I am just glad I finished and had the support of my cheerleaders, my wife and two daughters. WAY TO GO PAUL IRONMAN IS NEXT!

JESSICA WEXLER camped in Joshua Tree National Forest in So Cal this weekend and hiked the 49 Palm Oasis trail (braving 30 mph winds).

EDNA CASTANEDA (Account Manager, Account Management & Operations from the NYC office) was extremely excited to join one of our DDSMART sponsored athlete teams that ran the Rutgers Big Chill 5K. Although a little cold the event was AWESOME for several reasons! 1) Rutgers University is the best school in the nation J 2) As part of the account team (along with Brian Law and Jordan Katz) for the Dunkin’ Donuts/DDSMART running program, it was great to see these people in person who had dedicated themselves to get healthier and complete their first 5K through an 8 week Active training program. The Big Chill race was their goal and the completion of their 8 week journey. 3) The Rutgers Big Chill was a race benefiting the less fortunate children of the area. The entry fee for this charity race is not money but a new, unwrapped toy worth $5 or more. (If you see the stage behind the second photo, the event was able to acquire over 3000 toys!) Ironically enough our running numbers were sponsored be Runner’s World which in their recent edition also featured Active’s DDSMART team, check it out!!

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STEVE MAZZA recovering from the SD Holiday party had another edition of epic fall mountain biking at Mission Trails after the Charger’s victory. Decided to hike-a-bike up South Fortuna Mountain. It was windy and chilly at the summit, but the views were phenomenal.