Skirt Chaser 5k - Denver, CO

As I mentioned in my Friday post, Skirt Sports Skirt Chaser 5k series was in Denver at Cherry Creek this weekend and Family Fan Club was lucky enough to participate in the festivities. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and there was literally an army of Skirts buzzing around setting up displays, banners, point of sale displays, stage, food and everything you'd need to put on a 5k race. We unloaded our gear and setup in the middle of the action, a great location for maximum exposure and foot traffic. We finished setup approximately 2 hours for the race, plenty of time for interacting with Skirts and Skirt Chasers at packet pickup and leading up to the race at 5. The premise of the SkirtChaser5k is to give the ladies (Skirts) a 3 minute head start and if the guys (Skirt Chasers) can catch them. The first person to cross the finish line gets $500.

Leading up to the race Kim was busy giving away FREE Run Like a Girl temporary tattoos, which were a big for both the Skirts and Skirt Chasers. We had several hundred visitors to our booth and tattoo'd most of them! It was a great feeling to see so many people wearing our design on their cheeks, arms, and calfs. Aside from the product we sold, it was great opportunity to introduce athletes, family and friends to FamilyFanClub.net how everyone can be involved on running, swimming, biking and triathlon race day.

After the race, things really picked up as most people were focused on the race before the race (duh). We had a chance to meet several hundred more visitors to discuss our business and mission. It's always nice to have your vision validated with the excitement of others!

Overall we had a great time, meet a bunch of new people and got the word out about race day support running, cycling, tri-shirts, stickers, magnets and gifts. Nicole was excited at the number of people she saw with our tattoos and I think there will definitely be additional opportunities to work with Skirt Sports in the future. If you're in Austin, TX or Culver City, CA I'd recommend checking out the SkirtChaser5k, it's a blast!

Skirt Chaser Kids Race

The family headed down to Boulder tonight for the Skirt Chaser Kids Race, one of the events leading up to the Skirt Chaser 5k in Boulder this Saturday. The race was being held at the local middle school behind Fleet Feet Boulder, which also gave us a chance to see our Family Fan Club t-shirts in the store. We got signed up, Connor & Griffin got their race numbers and waited impatiently for the race to begin. Luckily, there was a toy store next to Fleet Feet that was a nice diversion for at least 5 minutes!

Finally we headed over the middle school and the kids were drawn to an old football tackling sled like moths to a flame. They jumped and hung & speculated what this pseudo jungle gym's original purpose was. When were able to draw the kids away from the football sled, we tried to get the kids to do some stretching. As I was tickling Connor and Griffin, Tim DeBoom (2 time Ironman World Champion) and I joked that pre-race tickling was the key to his Ironman championships, as it loosens all the muscles in the body. So, for aspiring Ironman out there find someone to tickle you before your next race, perhaps that will be the key for a PR. Connor and Griffin also like to be hung and swung upside down as part of their pre-race stretching.

Tim and Nicole DeBoom gathered the kids and led the kids in a triathlon of stretching exercises. After everyone was stretched out the kids were broken down into three groups by age. Connor was with the 5 & 6 year olds, while Griffin went with the 3 & 4 year olds. For some reason and from some unknown source Connor is incredibly fast. I don't know where he gets it, but it's certainly not from me or Kim. Griffin on the other hand, we know exactly where his running talents come from. Not only does he look exactly like me, but he also has my body type and running abilities (read: SLOW).

After the race, Nicole complimented me on my "I need more cowbell" shirt and I told her about Family Fan Club, my shirt, the kids shirts and she loved it, great message. I saw that as an opening and suggested that we partner! She loved that idea too and I was on a roll! Nicole invited Family Fan Club to participate as a vendor at the SkirtChaser 5k race, it was like she was reading my mind at this point. Needless to say, we're very excited to be part of this race and building a relationship with Nicole and Skirt Sports. Check back next week for our expo report.

Checkout the attached photos and movies that recap our fun night with Skirt Sports. We had a blast, the boys had a blast! Thanks Tim and Nicole!

Here's a video recap of the race and associated activities (3.51):

5430 Boulder Peak Old Stage vs Me - Rnd 2

On the two week anniversary until the 2008 Boulder Peak race I tackled Old Stage for round 2. This week I decided that after conquering "just" Old Stage that I'd add the full 5430 Boulder Peak bike course in for a training ride. My neighbor Chris decided to join me this week, as she's been battling through some injuries this season and testing the water as to whether she'll be able to do the Boulder Peak this year. The plan was to start at the base of Old Stage, ride the entire Boulder Peak course and then do Old Stage again at the end.

We arrived in Boulder at a open space trail head on Lee Hill road, about a mile from the base of Old Stage. Mounted up, quick loop around the neighborhood to get the blood flowing and we were off to Old Stage. It was just as I remember it from last week, the beginning is slow and annoying. It doesn't look like much, but I was already feeling it. Much like last week I was in granny gear in no time keeping a steady 10 mph until I hit the intersection of Lee Hill Road and Old Stage, which is where the fun starts. My pace was quickly cut in half, down to about 5 mph but still moving steady, keep the pedals moving.

Once you get past the steepest part of the hill, it's still uphill, but it's all downhill so to speak. There's still some climbing to be done, but the worst is behind once you make it over the first peak. There's actually a relatively flat spot after the first climb that I've fumbled my water bottle both times. Can't seem to get the bottle back in the cage. Another thing I'll say about both climbs so far, my butt has not left the seat one time. I think before getting some pointers on the attacking old stage, I would have thought that I would need to stand up, out of the saddle to make it. I've been told that burns a lot of unnecessary energy and that I can get up just as fast in the saddle as out and to my surprise I can definitely make it sitting down.

Chris was right behind me the entire ride and for someone who's been on the shelf with injury, she kicked some butt. The ride down the backside of the hill was fast and fun. I tried to keep it around 35 mph, but did notice I crept up to about 39 mph a couple of times. It was a nice reward after a steep climb up. In fact, one of these days I'll probably have to ride the opposite direction. It's not as steep, but it's a longer climb. Pretty much from there on out it was a relatively flat, with some rolling hills back to the open space trail, however by this time it was starting to rain and weather was moving in on the mountains pretty quick. That was fine with me because I was tired, wasn't really motivated to do Old Stage again.

Chris and I had planned to do a short 10 minute run after getting off the bikes to get our legs and we stuck to the plan. The legs were a bit wobbly, but after 5 minutes or so, no lingering affects. On the way back to the car we ran into Nicole and Tim DeBoom, which was AWESOME. Chris works for SkirtSports, so we got to stop and chat. The great thing about living in Boulder is that you never know who or where you'll run into. Maybe you'll run into arguably the Michael Jordan of Triathlon (2x Triathlon World Champion - Tim), IronMan Wisconsin winner (Nicole) and owner of arguably the most chic, often imitated by never duplicated Skirt Sports skirts. That was really cool.

So, another old stage climb for the notch in my belt and rubbing elbows with who's who of Triathlon, another great day in Boulder County.

Next week, I'll be doing Old Stage again, just haven't figured out exactly what/how yet.