10 Degrees Latitude » ironman

Brandon White is ampted to join us for 10DL North America

neal — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:34:06 +0000

A good friend of mine, Brandon White, asked to join us for 10DL North America. We said YES! He’s an entrepreneur and amatuer bodybuilder. His story is a typical one and three ACL repairs (all a result of playing lacrosse) and a history of endurance training and events. He’ll be training and representing 10DL on the East Coast at his home Maryland. Glad to have you join us Brandon. Welcome!

A nice write-up from Gu

neal — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:13:44 +0000

Gu Nutrition, makers of Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel, did a funny little write-up on us today. They sent Adam and I a list of provocative questions and asked us to respond. I hope you have as much fun reading it as we had writing it.

Here’s an excerpt.

- – -

What’s the most creative way you’ve ever carried your GU?
Neal: In my Speedo.
Adam: In my Speedo.

Funny racing/training story?
Adam: While training for Ironman Florida, I was on a long run in the backwoods of Virginia, miles from home, and miles from civilization. When nature called, I found the nearest tree. Long-story short…poison-ivy everywhere (yes everywhere). Two weeks before race day!

- – -

Congrats to an Iron Woman

adam — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:25:22 +0000

We wanted to congratulate our good friend Holly Bennett from Gu. She competed and kicked butt in the Ironman Coeur d’ Alene in Idaho last weekend. She finished in 12 hr 18 min. Good enough for 21st place in her division out of 177. Great Job!

5 Steps To Organize and Cheer Your Own Half-Marathon

neal — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:46:48 +0000

Lauren wanted a goal to motivate her training, but there were no running events near her at a time that worked for her. So we hosted our own half-marathon for her! This post is about how we organized our own super-classy half-marathon race for less money than it would have cost to enter an organized event.

Step 1: Organize a fan base.
20 minutes on the telephone.
Lauren asked her good friend MacLean to run with her. My Ironman friend Jonathan volunteered to ride bikes with me to setup refreshment stations and guide the runners.

Step 2: Buy supplies.
20 minutes shopping time.
1- Cap gun & noise makers
2- GU hydration/gels & dixie cups. 1 gel + 2 cups per 45-minutes
3- Face sponges (not from the sink!) in discarded Chinese delivery food container
4- Chalk for making sidewalk cheers
5- Knee brace, just in case
6- Finish line: orange crape paper, collapsible tent pole, 72 balloons, scotch tape
7- Map of event, printed using Google Pedometer. Here’s our link.
8- Ice cream for post-race party
9- Replica runner “chips”, to mimic the RFID tracking chips used at organized races

Step 3: Build finish line
2 hours assembly time.
Blow-up balloons. Find a flexible pole that works (I used a tent pole from a Mountain Hardwear tent because it is light and has a natural bend at the top). Scotch tape balloons to the pole. The result is pretty fabulous and eye-catching.

Step 4: Start runners, guide runners, refresh runners and CHEER!
2 hours during the race.
The race began with a cap gun and a crape paper. Jonathan and I biked ahead and every mile or so offered refreshments and cheers. We had water and GU hydration juices. At mile 8 we offered GU and sponges to wash the salt from their faces. At the end of the race we held the balloon finish line and they broke through the crepe paper. It was all pretty rad.

Good Cheers: “Yeaaah Lauren & MacLean!”, “Looking good!”, “Yippee!”. The louder the better.

Bad Cheers (aka. cheers to avoid): “You are almost there!”, “Right around the corner!”, “Just about finished!”, “You are not going to make it!”, and booing, hissing, or cursing.

Step 5: Host post-race party
We kicked it Ben & Jerry’s style.
—————–

In the end… Lauren and McLean finished the half-mile with 9:24 minute miles, which is pretty fast! The whole thing cost around $20 ($35 including the ice cream), which is less than the entrance price for most half-marathons.

Do different… If I had it to do over again I’d involve music from a boom box and bib numbers.

Upside… It was almost more fun to host our own event than to participate in an organized event. Organizing our own meant we could pick the best route and the best weather day.

Full resolution images are here.

If You Build It, They Will Come

adam — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:17:39 +0000

We announced a while back that Interbike was a booming success for us. We wrote about all of the solid relationships that we developed during the trade show, and we haven’t really talked much about it since. Well, as amatuers in the arena of garnering support, we must tell you, these things take time. Interbike was just the kickoff of a busy season for most of the industry. The trade show was followed very closely by the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii and a whole slew of stuff between then and now. Most companies are just getting around to their decision-making for the coming year. The good news for us is that we did in fact build solid relationships with many of the right people within these companies. The first road block in this process for most athletes is getting the right people to take your call. For the most part, we have crossed this hurdle.

Grass Roots Appeal: Our idea from the outset was to build a business plan around this event that would leverage our backgrounds and the unique and exciting nature of the endeavor to garner interest from multi-sport enthusiasts. Our ability to effectively reach a specific demographic in a new and interesting way was the key to opening the door with many companies. The most common feedback has been that big sponsorship does not sell bikes/equipment. They sell equipment when the “regular athlete” sees other “regular athletes” riding their bikes or using their equipment. When they met us face-to-face, we were able to demonstrate our ability/appeal to sell their product to their target market. Companies see thousands of similar proposals each year. What set us apart to the point where they were willing to commit? We were not just another team of pro athletes, looking for a handout. We talked with them about their companies and engaged them in business conversations. We talked about how to add value to their company.

We’ve got a lot in the cooker right now, and we’re hoping to have some great news in the coming days and weeks. We’ll keep you posted. Now I have to get off my butt and get to the pool again to try and clear all the sludge from my muscles.