WINNERS!!!

Not only do you have that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you support an awesome cause (and a really cool event!) - YOU lucky few also get a tangible reminder of EpicMan 2012 (better than sunburn and chafing...)

So (drum roll please) the winners are....

JGG - TYR Special Ops goggles
Marco Gross-Santos - TYR Trucker hat
Mike Myers - TYR Trucker hat
Josh Ives - TYR Tech shirt
Kelly Lord - TYR womens cycling jersey
David Constantini - FREE entry to the 2012 Pumpkinman Sprint triathlon

Prizes will be available for pick up at Trek Portsmouth, i'll be putting names on them this afternoon.

Thanks again and again to everyone who helped out - You all ROCK!
Epic report coming soon.

HOLY EPIC

Wow -wow wow...

DONE!

It's taken me a while to process the whole experience. The phenomenal energy of our support crew, the fortitude of the Epic Team, the craziness of an unexpected 90 degree marathon day! I'm in the throws of writing a long and (extremely interesting!) event report - but it's taking almost as long as the event itself!

So this is a quickie - an interim post to say a huge THANKS to all the folks who supported, donated, rode, cheered and toasted. I was able to raise almost $3000.00  for Team Trevor - Yeeeeeeha!!!!!!

I have some awesome goodies to raffle off to everyone who donated (there's still time, i'm going to do the drawing on Friday!). You could win a Pumpkinman Sprint entry or one of a selection of awesome TYR goodies - a hoody, a pair of goggles, a hat Or a Balance Multisport T.
Donate online to Team Trevor and your name will be entered too!
Thank you all for your generous donations - I so appreciate the way my little community stood up and helped out.

Oikos and Stonyfield are a big supporter of Epicman - check out this great competition and you could be a winner too!!!

And now it's time for my Oscar-like thank you's.

Thank you most of all to my (long suffering) sweetie Matt - he is my rock, mechanic, ferry and bag carrier. From Ironman to Epicman and all things in between - I would still be on the side of the road in Hopkinton without him!!!

Thank you to my lovely girls Amanda and Kelly - who brought me cold medicine,  picked me up (bodily), made me pretty and got me to the party!

Thank you to Trek Portsmouth - for the Bike support (yeah Pete), the party venue, the discounts and most of all for matching my donations on party night!

Thank you to the Epic Team, and the amazing Obey's for getting this early-to-bed-mom to stay up ALL night!!! (And for providing the sugar and caffeine that assisted in that domain!). Check out April's beautiful photograhy in her blog about Epic.

Thank you to Team Trevor - Salema family you are an inspiration to know. We are blessed to have such Epic people in our lives. And FYI - coming home to a bucket of wine and beer on ice is BRILLIANT!!

OK ok the music has started - once I get my Epic report finally finished I will get it out on the interweb!

Cheers folks!

O

Blatant Mass Marketing

It's GO time folks - 3 weeks left! Last long run is about to happen (thanks Sybil for the company!!)
The Jedi mind training to keep me up all night is not going as well as planned, but Henry assures me that I just need more faith "There is no try, only do".
And my bike has even made it off the trainer!
The crew is assembling and i'm getting excited!

So.... time for some hard core fundraising! Fork over your cash folks :)
(see below)

If you're lucky enough to be on my email contacts list, or you accidently friended me on facebook, or I met you once at a race and stole your email address - then you will have received this email :)
BUT in case you didn't - here it is again!!!

Wait....
Don't Archive me!!!!

I know your inbox is crammed full of friends and family and friends' cousins' ex-boyfriends teacher's in-law who are running or biking or getting out there doing some awesome thing for a great cause....

 But, please  - just one more!!!

On Sunday April 15th I will start a journey that will bring me 2.5 miles by kayak, 156 miles by bike (overnight) and 26.2 miles by foot to the finish line of the Boston Marathon! Yup - it's EPICMAN time!!!

I'm doing this insane-o adventure with a great group of folks from all over the country who are doing it for all kinds of reasons, but underlying all is the desire to live an Epic life.

My journey is for Team Trevor, Trevor Salema has Cystic Fibrosis and his family is fighting it with everything they've got. The Salema's are local, our kiddos have been in school together since pre-school, and I have had the chance to watch them fight, fundraise and educate tirelessly for CF research. Team Trevor deserves all the help they can get and I am psyched to be on their team!

You know me - I love triathlon, I love Ironman - I might be a wee bit competitive... But Epicman is different. It is an entity in itself, it is triumphant, exciting and encouraging of everyone. And I am so psyched to be part of it.

If you're local - come and join this great event - ride with us from Portland to Portsmouth - it's about 50miles, flat! Big group ride with stops and lots of re-grouping along the way. Or come to the party at Trek Portsmouth - Burritos and Beer! Then send us off into the night as we begin the ride to Hopkinton. Or come and cheer us on the marathon course and join us for the after party!! There's a piece of Epic for everyone.

ANY donations will be HUGELY appreciated! All donations will go to Team Trevor, the MGH CF Team and CF research. If you donate at the Trek party your $$ will be matched by Trek Portsmouth (so free beer and more donation dollars -win!).

AND I have some great prizes - TYR gear, an entry to the 2012 Pumpkinman Sprint and other goodies that I will be raffling off for folks who donate!

You can send a check (made out to Team Trevor) to me at
Olivia Lord
107 Brave Boat Harbor Rd
Kittery Point, ME 03905

Or donate online via Team Trevor http://teamtrevor.org/donate/

That's it, that's all I've got. Check out my Epic Journey on my wee blog.

Always be EPIC!
Olivia

PS - I know this is a crass and mass post for money - But please do NOT feel bad if you can't donate :)

My own personal Jedi...

Some Germs, a Heatwave and a Gift from City Hall

It's been a crazy gorgeous week of unprecedented heat and sunshine here in Maine. This kind of weather is normally saved for a few choice days in July (typically tuesdays or thursdays) and is then replaced by either sweltering humidity or snow.

So the whole world (well, my world in maine) has been running, biking and loving life. I've been under the covers shaking, sweating and cursing all germs and their virus cousins. Yup, I managed to get the flu (or the Norovirus) for possibly the best week in March in Maine - ever. I did make it out of the house today to go and buy food - we had made it down to Christmas hamper breadsticks and frozen mystery soup. So i'm on the road to recovery, right about as the temps are on the road back to actual March weather.

So you can imagine I was feeling a little blue (not in the good way) as I watched Matt and Kelly ride away on a gorgeous evening without me. But then I got a little treat in the mail.

Yup, my Boston Marathon official entry!!!!

From the Mayor no less! To be honest this is all abit of a mystery, the last I heard my bib was in major jeopardy because the benevolent donor had not ponied up the CF team bibs. I was offered the chance to join another team, but I feel really committed to Team Trevor and I knew that I wanted to stick with them. I continued training, and promoting Epic and working to make it happen. But the marathon was still a big question mark.

Then an envelope arrived from City Hall in Boston - I'm in!
You've got to love it when the universe says - "hey, you had a crap week? Here, this'll make you feel better".

The countdown is on, the team is getting psyched! We have 30 people already rsvp'd for the Portland to Portsmouth ride/party!! If you haven't yet, you can rsvp on facebook - This is going to be AWESOME!!!

Remember - you can donate any time :)
Pop a check in the mail or contact me, oliviakiwi@gmail.com

Blue skies, blue ocean, blue shoes - Life is Good!

Sometimes all it takes is a new pair of shoes to put a kick in your step! My sweet new BLUE shoes arrived last week and I put them to good use running 18miles along the ME coastline.

Epic is coming right up and the weather seems to be in full support of us all! Glorious spring days full of sunshine and warm temps have blessed the seacoast. the snow is melting away and the flowers are popping up. There's nothing more motivating than warm weather in March!

As I was running last week I became slightly delirious - maybe it was the bright sunshine, maybe it was my bright blue shoes...anyway I spent a long time thinking about how lucky I am to be able to do these mad and crazy physical endeavours. I'm not the speediest, or the strongest or the skinniest! But I can get out and run 18 miles, or bike 75 and my body supports that. It occured to me that, while I do treat my body in a way that allows me to be physically active, I could have been born into a body that simply wouldn't let me do it.

Trevor Salema didn't do anything wrong, his parents didn't do anything wrong. It was simply a case of bad (bad) luck that Trevor was the kid born with CF. The arbitrary nature of this disease really struck me as I was out there taking what I have for granted.

Sometimes it takes a long run and a wide open sky to let all the little, niggling problems of life subside for a while - so you can really appreciate how good life is.

Stay Epic folks!

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeha!

If you travel by Kayak (2.5miles), by bike (157miles overnight) and by foot (26.2 miles) from an island in Maine to the finish line of the Boston Marathon, in 24 hours on no sleep – you could be an EpicMan.

The EpicMan idea was born where so many great ideas are spawned – in a bar. The specific details are a little fuzzy – but what started as a ‘gentlemens bet’ between Will Thomas and Samuel Bradbury has evolved into a triumphant, multi-faceted event of truly epic proportions. The 2012 EpicMan promises to be no exception!

I have been lucky enough to be involved in this wonderful event for the last 2 years, developing the Portland to Portsmouth leg of the journey into a great group ride and fun party at the beautiful Trek Bicycle Store in Portsmouth. This portion of Epic has always been a fundraiser for Team Trevor – a wonderful local family who work their butts off raising money to find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. Trevor’s family has been closely involved, Mom Christie holds down the fort at the Trek store and organizes all the donated Chipotle burritos and beverages for the party, and Trevor’s dad and uncle have both ridden with us (and will again this year). With the help of Stonyfield Farms, Trek Portsmouth, Many members of the Vento Triathlon Club and local cyclists we have raised some good dough for TT, and spread awareness through our community.

I’ve got to be honest, each year as I have stood outside the store and waved off Will and Seth and Ted (in 2010), and then more adventurous souls in 2011, I have kind of breathed a sigh of relief that I get to go home to my warm and cozy bed and then check in on facebook over coffee in the morning to see how they did…. But this year I am breaking out. This year, this mom is going EPIC.

As the spirit of EpicMan has grown so have the numbers, this year we will have around 15 crazies riding all night and running the marathon – and many more participating in numerous and varied aspects of the whole weekend.

EpicMan is all inclusive – there’s room for everyone. Want to kayak? Great! Want to hang out and eat pizza (there-by fundraising!) at Flatbread? You’re in! Come ride to Portsmouth as part of the most supportive and exuberant group ride you’ll ever experience! Hang at Trek Portsmouth for beer and burritos or cheer us on from the sidelines on Heartbreak Hill - and of course you wouldn’t want to miss the finish line party! There’s room for all, as long as you bring a little of your own Epic spirit.

I’m training, I’m preparing, I’m wondering how on earth I am going to stay awake ALL NIGHT… and I am so excited to be part of this larger than life adventure.
Stay tuned to my Epic Prep… I’ll keep you posted on how I manage to balance some Epic training into a life pretty full of being a mom, working hard at our small business, coaching skiing and triathlon and not forgetting to feed the dog…or the guinea pig.

Create Epic Moments...
Olivia