“This is for you Jerry”

Congratulations to Winter Vinecki, who won her age group in the IronKids triathlon in Boulder on Saturday and dedicated her win to Jerry Lee, Newton co-founder. She put the competition to shame in the 300 yard swim, 4 mile bike, and 1 mile run. Nice work, Winter!

A few highlights from Newton Running athletes racing across the country last weekend:

Newton’s original superfan Brandon Wood finished 38th overall and 12th in his age group at the New York City Triathlon. Here’s what he had to say about the race:

“About 1/3 of the way through the swim I took in an enormous gulp of the Hudson River. As a result, I had a bit of nausea on the bike and though I was going to lose it a few times, but everything stayed down. By the time I hit T2, the heat and humidity was really setting in and a lot of people were really feeling it especially on the shade-less run on W. 72nd Street. I really felt good on the run and kept dumping as much cold water on my head as I could get my hands on. Thankfully, the uppers of my Gravitas trainers are so open, the water just ran out. I finished with a time of 2:14:45 grabbing my elite qualifying time by a whopping 15 seconds.”

Congrats B-Wood! We’re proud of ya and one day we’ll say “we knew him way back when…”

Tatiana Vertiz raced the Vineman 70.3 yesterday and got first in her age group (20-24).

Dennis Meeker finished the Roth Ironman in 8 hours and 57 minutes.

Ryan Sutter, of ABC’s The Bachelor fame, raced the Xterra Beaver Creek, CO in Newtons last weekend as part of his 10.10.10 campaign against cancer.

Team MOFR also had a strong showing for Newton at the Beaver Creek Xterra as Greg Abrahamson got the top podium spot in his age group.

Congrats folks!

Last week Newton had three athletes competing in the Badwater Ultramarathon, the 135-mile run sufferfest that rises 13,000 feet from Death Valley to the portal of Mt. Whitney. Claiming to enjoy “hills, heat, and headwinds” Ian Adamson won the masters category (45+) in his first Badwater race ever with a total time of 34:32:38.

Is that snow on the horizon? Must be a desert mirage.

This year’s race was particularly hot, resulting in times that were 4-5 hours slower than usual.

Ian describes the role that his shoes played in his successful race: “Badwater provides conditions most human’s can’t, or shouldn’t, run in, which in turn provides an opportunity to see how Newton shoes hold up. I ran primarily in the Distance racer, a light-weight racing shoe, that performed remarkably well. I already had 400 miles training on them, so another 100 or in extreme heat confirmed their resilience.” He also claimed that his legs didn’t even feel beaten up at the end, which we find hard to believe!

Also running for Team Newton was Pam Reed, who finished in third place overall for the women with an overall time of 32:23:34. Jim Smith rounded out the trio and made the tough but safe decision to quit around 100 miles in. We also learned that this year’s finishers included a 75 year old man, a crazy guy who ran “the double,” i.e. he turned around and ran all the way back upon finishing, and Marshall Ulrich, who finished for his 22nd time.

Congrats to all the finishers, you guys are a tough group.

On a related note, Ian is still accepting donations on his Badwater page:

Donate $50 or more to Racers Against Childhood Cancer (RACC) and receive a coupon for 40% off a pair of Newton Running shoes (any model.) Here’s How:

• Browse to Ian’s Badwater donation page.
• Make your donation.
• Newton Running will send you unique coupon code and instructions on how to redeem it for your discount shoes.
• Purchase your shoes at NewtonRunning.com and enter the discount code.

The Fine Print

• Offer is available on-line only.
• Coupons code will be issued after donation and can only be redeemed at time of purchase.
• Coupons are valid unill July 31st, 2010.
• Models subject to availability.
• Shipping and taxes will apply (shipping via UPS Ground.)
• Anyone who purchases two or more pairs of shoes on-line in a year can become part of “Club Newton” and will receive an additional item of value such as tech socks, hat, shirt and more with each purchase.

Known as “Queen of the Ultras,” the 56-mile Comrades road race attracted over 16,000 runners to Durban, South Africa. Brazilian Nato Amaral finished the race for the 9th time despite debilitating stomach cramps every step of the way. He decided to cross the finish line hand in hand with some Brazilian friends he met along the way.

Nato then went on to race in the Johannesburg RAC 10K just two weeks after the Comrades. We asked if he got to see any soccer while he was down there to which he replied? “Any soccer? I saw seven games.” Including three Brazil games. Sounds like we found out his real motivation behind his extended South African stay

Even though it is now Tuesday and we hope you have already recovered from your weekend of racing, we wanted to give you a quick recap of Team Newton’s results.

Craig Alexander (pictured left) placed third in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in 1:49:45.

Dev Paul got 16th in his age group Ironman France to qualify for Kona.

Tim Berkel got 2nd in Rhode Island’s Ironman 70.3 last Saturday improving upon his 5th place finish at the same race in 2008. He gave us an interesting recap involving a crash with a motorcycle:

“The bike course is a beautiful one-way journey towards Providence with undulating hills along the way. With a few kilometers to go before the end of the bike, I edged away from the group that contained Terenzo (eventual winner), Richie Cunningham, and Graham O’Grady. I might have only had about a 20 or 30 second lead on the main group, but it was enough to be out of their line of vision. As I was approaching the transition area, I had already taken my feet out of my shoes.

There was a photographer on the back of a motorbike in front of me as I was approaching the dismount line. I was alert and focused, but then the motorbike started to slow down. I was only coasting towards the line, but I needed to go around the slowing motorbike. Just as I was coming around the back of him, he swerved across the front of me to pull off the course, and I smashed into the back of his motorbike. I went head first over my handlebars and onto the pavement. I rolled my foot as I came down, and my bike and handlebars got scratched up a bit as well.

Coming out of the transition area and onto the run, I could feel a pain in my foot where I came down awkwardly from my crash. My race had been going quite well, and I was afraid that I was going to have to pull out because of my foot. Terenzo and the other boys were out in front of me, but I still had them in my sights.

After the first few kilometers the pain in my foot began to subside, but as we were heading into the second lap we got to a hill, and Terenzo put the hammer down. I kept him in my sight the rest of the run, but I just didn’t have enough energy to surge back to try to take back the lead. I crossed the line in second place, and I was only 50 seconds behind Terenzo.”

What races do you all have on tap for next weekend?

(photo credit: Kevin Coloton/Competitive Image)

Murray rounds a corner with a great view of the Jefferson Memorial

Here is a quick weekly roundup of the recent accomplishments of Newton athletes. Hope you had as good a weekend as we did!

Ian Murray competed in the Olympic Distance SC Triathlon, his first tri since returning from Afghanistan. He finished 2nd in the 30-34 age group and 15th overall. His best part of the race was the run—he posted a 36:29 10k.

Roy Pirrung became the first American to finish the Ultrabalaton, a 212k race around Lake Balaton in Tihany, Hungary. Despite back spasms and falling off of his bike several times, he finished in 34 hours, an admirable feat.

Also a big congrats to Wendy Mader, who finished 2nd in last weekend’s Boulder Sprint tri with a time of 1:18:11.

Any PRs for the rest of you this weekend?

Here’s a quick roundup of races from Newton athletes over the weekend. As always, please share news about what races you completed in your Newtons in the past few days!

Chris Bagg took 2nd at the Xterra Solstice on Saturday, and his Distance racers, pictured below, took a beating in the wet cow pasture.

Brian Leib raced a Super Sprint Triathlon in Austin and placed 4th overall and 1st in his age group. He said it might have been the hardest 52 minutes of his life, but it was definitely worth it.

Helen Bij DeVaate won the Long Distance SABIC  Triathlon in Stein, becoming the Dutch champion and showing she is fully revovered from her 2009 season of injury.

Also a big congrats to Anne Klein, Newton’s VP of Administration, who ran the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon on Saturday in Duluth, MN. She set a PR by 8 minutes over her previous best time.

Here in Boulder we had a rainy weekend but still pulled off a successful Natural Running Symposium on Saturday evening and form clinic in a downpour next to the raging Boulder Creek on Sunday morning. Soon we will have video footage available for those who could not attend. The weekend proved successful for Newton athletes as well.

Six days after winning REV 3 Quassy, Craig Alexander grabbed another win at the Boise IM 70.3. Despite nasty cramps, he came over the finish line with in an exciting finish with only 10 seconds to spare. Tim Berkel placed 3rd and had the fastest run amongst the top 5.

Look at that perfect form!

(more…)

The Woodway Desmo treadmill at RnRSD turned for eight hours last Friday and Saturday, and the official number of steps are tallied. Pam and Ian got a solid training session in for Badwater and logged the following numbers while raising awareness for Trickle Up:

Ian Adamson: 82,015 steps, 47 miles

Pam Reed: 87,777 steps, 43 miles

Ian had the following to say of the event: “Running on a treadmill for eight hours is not particularly fun, but it’s much easier than the challenges faced by the countless millions of people in poorer countries without a stable (or any) income. Last Saturday I ran 47 miles in Newton Gravity Trainers on a treadmill to raise awareness for Trickle Up. Trickle Up gives grants to develop micro-enterprise for folks who live on less than $1 a day. “Dreadmill” running is challenging since there’s no change of scenery, or the smells, sights and sounds of the countryside. Fortunately plenty of people stopped by at the expo to chat and gawk. As Ben from Woodway pointed out, it’s akin to being a human hamster—only I’m neither cute nor furry.”

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our expo booth to try on shoes, and congrats to all the marathon finishers. Now for the announcement you’ve all been waiting for, the winners of the contest. Because we added Pam last minute, for the online contest we chose to pick the two closest guesses for Ian. The expo winners were determined by the closest guess for Ian, Pam, and the combination of the two.

Here is the list of folks who will be receiving a free pair of shoes:

Sheli Auteh guessed 82,600 steps for Ian at the expo

Judy Kniss guessed 87,600 steps for Pam at the expo

Yvonne Faucher guessed 170,000 for the combined number of steps at the expo

Lewis Fowler guessed 81, 568 steps for Ian online

Jeff Kaldahl guessed 82, 222 for Ian online

Winners: email us at media@newtonrunning.com if you have any questions.

7-time Ian adventure racing world champion Ian Adamson and ultra-running legend and 2-time Badwater winner Pam Reed both seem to have certain penchant for pain and suffering and are training hard for the Badwater Ultramarathon in a couple of months. As part of their training, and more importantly to raise awareness for an important cause, both Ian and Pam are going to spend eight hours on a treadmill at the Rock’n'Roll Marathon in San Diego this weekend. To honor their pain, we’re going to give away some Newton shoes to a couple of lucky winners.

Since we launched the company about three years ago, Newton has proudly supported the Trickle Up Foundation with a $1 donation for the sale of every pair of shoes. Trickle up was created to help poverty-stricken people in developing countries to launch micro-enterprises by providing seed capital grants and business training – it’s a small non-profit that’s making a big difference in the world.

In order to raise awareness about Trickle Up, Ian and Pam will be running on the treadmill for eight hours straight wearing pedometers to train for Badwater. (Ian is running Friday for eight hours, Pam is running Saturday for eight hours).

Here’s how to win FREE SHOES.

Guess at the number of steps they will each take over the course of the day. Two winners (for the closest guess for Ian) will receive a pair of Newtons of their choice. There are four different ways in which you can enter:

1. Stop by our expo booth and write down your guess.

2. Leave a comment on this blog post with each guess.

3. Tweet your guesses and include the hashtag #NewtonRnRSD

4. Leave a comment on the Facebook post announcing the contest.

The contest will run until the end of the day on June 5th, when we will pick the winners, and break ties via a random drawing. You can read the full contest guidelines here.

Sweating it out for eight hours of running in place will be good training for whats up next—both Ian and Pam will be running Badwater in July as part of  the seven-athlete Newton team. Stay tuned for more updates on the team.