Steve has been busy designing some very slick race kits for our team to wear at upcoming triathlons and running events. While we all enjoy competing, none of us are elite athletes. Instead, it might be more appropriate to refer to us as "endurance citizens". We are part of the same community that we also work so hard to inspire. Without giving away too much, these race kits will embrace that notion.

On a separate note, I am an immigrant. So, before I can become a legitimate endurance citizen, I should probably become an American citizen first. Fortunately for me, I don't have to give up my Dutch citizenship entirely as I now have the ability to become a dual-citizen. I have been procrastinating for entirely too long, so here we go. Step 1, download the application, fill it out, and send it along with a large check. Then wait for potentially as long as a year. In the meantime, I'll keep racing with my greencard in my back pocket.

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Our twice-a-day trip to the Starbucks next door is always worthwhile, but it results in a pile of used coffee cups.  We're reminded of that when it comes time to take out the trash, when we find out that 90% of what we're throwing out consists of used java cups. 

Today Joe and I decided enough is enough.  We are now proud owners of reusable coffee mugs.  I tell ya, being "green" feels good! 

Check out this site that Joe pointed me to: http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/

 

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Wow, what a ride! 

It's May 1st and all of us here in the office are still catching our breath from an exhilarating month of April.  In the past few weeks we produced the Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival, Franklin 5000, and Tar Heel 10 Miler, and based on the feedback that we're getting I feel confident that we did a good job of it.  Of course, we had tremendous support from our key sponsors and benefactors, most notably Fleet Feet Carrboro, the Swim for Smiles Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA. 

The list of potential Thank You notes is very long, but by far I feel most indebted to the numerous hard-working volunteers (80 at the Carrboro Classic and 70 at the Franklin 5000 & Tar Heel 10 Miler!).  As all of you know, the success of any event hinges entirely on volunteer support.

By the way, we also officially rolled out our Race Without A Trace initiative, which worked beautifully.  The "ah-ha" moment for me was when I was cleaning up after the Franklin 5000 and Tar Heel 10 Miler and realized that our total actual trash amounted to just THREE bags.  That's for an event of nearly 600 people.  All cardboard, aluminum, paper, and food waste was either recycled of composted.  We even offset 40,000 pounds of CO2 emmisions through TerraPass.  

The last thing I'll mention before I shift the focus entirely to our amazing Ramblin' Rose Women-Only Triathlon Tour is that I feel extremely fortunate to work with such a great team here at Endurance Magazine.  Steve, Joe, and Justin are not only great guys, but also truly committed to ensuring a successful outcome with respect to every facet of our event operations.  Thanks guys!      

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For those of you who have not been following our environmental "makeover", we have rolled out the Race Without A Trace initiative to help make our events more environmentally-friendly.  Perhaps THE best way to start making a positive difference with respect to eliminating waste is to revamp the idea of a traditional goodie bag.  As you know, goodie bags, while sometimes fun, lead to a tremendous amount of paper and plastic waste, much of which doesn't make it to the recycling bin.

Steve had a great idea a few weeks ago which, if you know Steve, is not that unusual.  This idea, however, was especially great!  His idea was to send out all important race-related information along with important sponsor promotional items in the form of a Digital Goodie Bag.

Well, the first Carrboro Classic Digital Goodie Bag was born last night and she looks awesome! 

If you're racing in the Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival this weekend, you should have already seen it in your email, but if you want to get another look at this thing of beauty click here!

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The Carrboro Farmers Market has committed to coming out to this year's Carrboro Classic on April 6th!  I'm hopeful that this will be the start of a long-term association between the event and the Farmer's Market.

Fresh kale, collards, sweet potatoes, savoy cabbage, turnips, and other locally-grown treats will be provided by the ever-populated Stanley Hughes from the Pine Knot Farm.  Leslie Heinzeman from Sari Sari Sweets will be bringing her tasty home-baked goods, including oatmeal fig flaxseed treats, banana chocolate chip bread, apple turnovers, and many other treats that typically sell out at the weekly Saturday morning markets.

So make sure you bring some cash, a big appetite, and a bag along with you to race day.  We hope that the Carrboro Classic sponsors, participants, and spectators will all join us in supporting local farmers like Stanley and Leslie!     

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Whole Foods Market of Chapel Hill has just committed to providing about 500 organically-grown bananas for our Carrboro Classic and Franklin 5000/Tar Heel 10 Miler events.  That's a lot of bananas, so you can be sure that your potassium needs will be met on April 6th and April 26th. 

With only 3 weeks to go before the Carrboro Classic (4/6), things will likely be very busy around the office as we go down our pre-race checklist of things to do, including wrapping up volunteer recruitment.  The list can seem overwhelming at times, but we have an awesome production team and amazing volunteer captains, not to mention tremendous support from our event sponsors and charitable benefactors.  Besides, I like being busy!  My wife will tell you that sitting still (or even sleeping still) is nearly impossible for me.

Safe to say, it's truly time to go bananas!

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Our events are great for many reasons.  That's usually what I rant and rave about in these blogs.  One thing I should mention, however, is that NOTHING is as important to ensuring a successful race day outcome than volunteers.

Next month we're putting on two large events; the Carrboro Classic Endurance Sports Festival on April 6 and the Franklin 5000/Tar Heel 10 Miler April 26.  Thankfully, we receive tremendous volunteer support from our charitable benefactors, but there are still some critical gaps to fill.

We're looking for GREAT people like YOU!  Volunteering is fun, rewarding, and an awesome way to give back to your community.  Plus, if you have a friend or family member that is racing, why not support them by supporting the race as a whole.

A special request is being made for packet pick-up volunteers the day prior to the race as well as aid station volunteers for the Tar Heel 10 Miler.

Signing up to volunteer is easy.  Just [ click here ] to register online.  Obviously, it's free.  

If you have questions about volunteering, shoot us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

We hope to see you on race day!

 

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After a year of really dedicated training, my good friend and coaching client, Greg Mathe is taking on his first Ironman today! 

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The Town of Carrboro has approved the Tar Heel 10 Miler!  This is a big deal as it's now the longest distance running event on record approved for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro community! 

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This morning Steve and I met at the 1360 WCHL studio, in Chapel Hill.  WCHL is a proud sponsor of the Franklin5000 and they've agreed to conduct several radio interviews with our team to help us get the word out about Chapel Hill's Premier Running Experience.

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