Brooks I.D. Program

Inspire Daily April 2008 Newsletter

Shout Outs!

We have an impressive list of Shout Outs this month! It’s very possible that I wasn’t able to include your result this time, so please email me if you had an exceptional result and would like to be included next month.

Todd Braje – Todd won the prestigious Way Too Cool 50k, considered to be the most competitive 50k in the United States! He even managed to beat Brooks-sponsored runner, Scott Jurek, who finished 4^th overall. Todd received an automatic entry into the Western States 100 miler that he is now training for. Great job, Todd!

Alice Kassens – Alice was the first female finisher and 3^rd place overall at the Explore Your Limits 5k. She even beat the course record by 20 seconds! Congratulations, Alice!

Alex Barth – Another experienced trail runner, Alex won the Hat Run 50k in Maryland a few weekends ago. Congrats, Alex!

John Reich – John accomplished an impressive three-peat, winning three Phoenix area 10k’s in the last month. All runners at the Runner’s Den, Foothills, and the DC Ranch Run for Life got to stare at John’s back for 30 minutes and some change!

Mike Bresson – Mike, a native of Spokane, WA, won the Snake River ½ marathon in a fast time of 1:10:23. From the picture, it looked like Mike was all by himself!

Leo Foley – Leo also finished in 1^st place at the Hilton Head ½ marathon in the time of 1:12:09. Nice work, Leo!

Events

The Boston Marathon and Women’s Olympic Trials Marathon are upon us! Many of you are planning to run the Marathon on Monday, and we have several women racing in the Olympic Trials Marathon on Sunday morning. Please join me in congratulating our six Inspire Daily women racing for a spot on the USA Olympic team next Sunday:

Lauren Mathews – Seattle, WA

Gwen Greiner – Seattle, WA

Susan Empey – Seattle, WA

Caryn Heffernan – Bothell, WA

Susan Graham-Grey – Greencastle, PA

Meghan Arbogast – Corvallis, OR

Brooks is organizing an on-course event to cheer for these women and our Brooks-Hansons women for this momentous event. A huge “thanks” to the over 20 ID Members who have volunteered to help at this event. I would also like to give an invite to anyone either living in theBoston area or planning to race on Monday to join our group. We will be cheering loudly on the corner of Mass. Ave and Bolyston Street!

Finally, best of luck to everyone racing on Monday! We have over 50 ID Members running the Marathon and you can rest-assured that Brooks will be on-course cheering for you as well!

ID Video

I just completed a brief field-trip crossing the United States filming a short video for the ID Program. Our goal is to demonstrate the unique, grass-roots positioning of this program for internal Brooks use and marketing on our website. The video will include brief profiles of several members and some information on the mission and vision of the ID Program. I’m very excited about this project and will let you know when it is ready for viewing!

Coaches’ Corner

I didn’t receive a submission this month for the coaches’ corner, so if you have any training tips, sports medicine, nutrition, or running-related advice for other members, please send it my way.

However, I do have a personal agenda I would like to promote. For those members unaware of athlinks.com, it is a website where you can lookup race results for anyone in the country, and it will generate a list of results for the past several years. Athlinks.com has a function similar to other social websites that allows you to chose “friends”, and one of those friends can be running shoe companies. Currently, Brooks is third on the list, but I believe with your help, we can be first. Let’s channel our efforts and make Brooks Sports the top “friend” on Athlinks.com! Thanks in advance for your help with this.

March Recap

• Infiniti – Brooks’ new Infiniti shoes are receiving rave reviews from retailers. The shoe features increased forefoot cushioning and falls into Brooks’ “guidance” category.
• Raceboston.com – Ray Britt, a Chicago ID Member, has created this website for anyone with interest in the Bostonmarathon. There is a lot of good information on training, logistics, tips, etc on the site!
• 2008 Membership – Membership requirements for 2008 will be the same as the 2007 campaign. Anyone who spends over $300 online receives an automatic renewal for 2009, and the minimum limit remains at $100. Exceptions for legitimate reasons are always considered.

Thanks, and Run Happy!