Issaquah Triathlon: Meet the Pro, and Volunteer!

This Saturday I will be racing at the Issaquah Triathlon. This will be one of my tune-up events for the next ITU Pan American Cup in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, on June 26th.

I raced at Issaquah back in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 race was my first overall victory in a triathlon, so that was pretty memorable. In 2005 I finished second behind Jon Salerno. I just found a picture online from the 2004 race – it looks like I blew a kiss to the photographer! Classy!

In addition to competing in this Saturday’s race, I will also be hanging out in the expo area after the race to talk triathlon with anybody who wants to stop by. So come find me! I will have one of those big collapsible canopy/tents set up with a few chairs. I’ll be happy to talk about training, nutrition, racing, equipment, travel tips, the Olympic qualification process, life on the road, incriminating stories about other pros, … whatever you have always wanted to know about triathlon! I will have some coupons and giveaways from a few of my sponsors & friends – Brooks running shoes, Nuun and Bill the Butcher. I will have some of my racing equipment on hand for you to check out, including the latest Helix wetsuit, goggles and accessories from Blue Seventy and a set of brand-new Mad Fiber wheels. I will also have some information about a few training camps that I am helping to organize – a week-long camp in Kona this August and then also some warm-weather training camps this winter.

This is the first time that I’ve put together an informal “meet the pro” event, and if people seem to get a kick out of it then I will gladly do this again at other Seattle-area races. If you have other ideas on how to make this awesome, please let me know – chris [at] christremonte [dot] com.

On a related note: I talked to the Race Director yesterday and they could still use a few more volunteers. These events take a lot of manpower in order to go smoothly, and we racers really appreciate your help. In fact, to show my appreciation I have teamed up with Bill the Butcher to offer a $25 gift certificate to each of the next four people who offer to volunteer at the race. If you are interested, please email info@issaquahtri.com and then also email me at chris [at] christremonte [dot] com so I can set aside a gift certificate for you!

I hope to see a lot of you out there this Saturday! Woohoo!!

Sweet New Brooks Ads

The guys at today’s photo shoot just showed us a new series of ads that they shot for Brooks.  Check ‘em out at http://www.runningsuperfans.com/#/videos.  The ads star Randy and Jason Sklar, who used to have an ESPN show called Cheap Seats without Ron Parker.  My favorite is the one with the ice cream truck.  There are enough great one-liners in each video that it is worth watching a few times to catch them all.

Right Said Fred

I recently had the opportunity to model the Brooks Running Fall 2009 line at their annual sales meeting.  It was the same basic idea as what I did with Northwave last year but with one big difference: rather than just having us stand in front of the room Brooks built a runway and had the models strut their stuff.  Lights!  Music!  Gratuitous Zoolander references!!

Needless to say, I had a lot of fun out there.  I am going to have to update my business cards to say "Software Guy / Triathlete / Model."

The Fall 2009 line from Brooks looks really hot.  They have some great new features in the clothing that really demonstrate their thought leadership on running.