June 10, 2010
In This Issue
Newsmakers
Online Seminars
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Endurance Sports
Business News
 
Brought to you this week by  Ashworth Awards, Mike Plant & Associates,  and Club Running, the official magazine of the RRCA.
Latest News
Livestrong Signs Austin Marathon Title Sponsorship Deal
Austin 360
Livestrong, the Austin-based nonprofit founded by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and dedicated to providing support for people living with cancer, announced on Tuesday a three-year title sponsorship of the Austin Marathon & Half Marathon. More 
 
Ironman Foundation Pledges $100K for Oil Spill Relief Effort
 
World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman Triathlon Series, has announced that the Ironman Foundation, the company's charitable arm, has earmarked a total of $100,000 to support the oil spill relief efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. Its first donation of $25,000 will be made to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, an organization that has been instrumental in assisting those affected by the oil spill in the state of Louisiana. Ironman, headquartered off Florida's west coast, plans to offer additional assistance to related organizations in the coming weeks. More
Chevron Houston Marathon to Use Lottery for 2011 Entries
Running Network
The Houston Marathon Committee announced this week that it is adopting a lottery entry system for the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon. The 2010 marathon and half marathon sold out 22,000 slots in less than 60 hours. "Demand for our races has never been greater, and we believe the lottery is the fairest system to offer all runners the same opportunity to participate," said Wade Morehead, executive director of the Houston Marathon Committee. More
Local Runners Unhappy with Lottery Decision
 
Dorel Sees Future Growth in Bike, Apparel After Changes
Bicycle Retailer
Bob Baird, president of Dorel's recreation and leisure segment, told investors that Dorel's $680 million bike business is poised for future growth after executives spent the past year simplifying operations in order to shave costs. The largest and most high-profile change was the decision to end manufacturing at Cannondale's Beford, PA factory, moving production of 230,000 frames to Asia. More
 
Outdoor Foundation Study Reports on Trail Running
Outdoor Foundation
The Outdoor Foundation, in partnership with Montrail, has issued its Special Report on Trail Running 2010 which found that 4.8 million Americans ages six and older participated in trail running in 2009. The study also reports that more than 82% of trail running participants also participate in road running and 13.1% of trail runners tried the sport for the first time in 2009. More
Always Advantage
Grocery Stores Partner on Monument Avenue 10K Sponsorship
Virginia Business
Ukrop's Homestyle Foods and Martin's are partnering on a three-year sponsorship agreement for Richmond's popular running event, now titled the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k presented by Martin's.  The Monument Avenue 10k is the nation's 10th biggest running race of any distance and the 26th largest in the world. The 2010 race had a record of more than 37,000 entrants. More
 
SalaryShield Insurance to Sponsor XTERRA East Champs
Richmond Times-Dispatch
SalaryShield income protection by Heritage Union Life Insurance Company, the brand behind the nationwide SalaryShield Challenge, will be a presenting sponsor for this year's XTERRA East Championship June 19-20 in Richmond, VA. More 
 
Twin Cities Marathon Sells Out for 23rd Straight Year
Running Network
Registration for the 2010 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon closed this past weekend when the event reached its 11,200 runner capacity, the marathon's largest field ever. The 29th edition of the race, to be run on October 3,  reached its capacity for the 23rd consecutive year. More 
 
Dallas Area Chosen for New TriRock Series Race
Dallas Morning News
Competitor Group, the creators of the Rock 'n' Roll series, has chosen Dallas as one of four cities for TriRock, its new national sprint series.
TriRock, a 500-meter swim, 20K bike and 5K run, will debut near San Diego on September 12. The series comes to Lake Carolyn at Las Colinas, TX on September 19. The third race will be near Portland on October 3 with the November 7 finale in Lake Buena Vista, FL. More
 
New Balance Selects New Advertising Agency
PR Newswire
New Balance announced this week that it has named Boston-based Arnold Worldwide as its global agency of record. The agency is charged with strategic and creative duties, as well as providing integration guidance for all marketing components across the company's roster agencies. More
 
USA Triathlon, EcoSportsBottle Extend Partnership
 
USA Triathlon and EcoSportsBottle.com have extended their partnership with a three-year agreement designating the San Diego-based company as an official supplier and green product supplier of USA Triathlon through 2012. More
 
Skirt Chaser 5K Series to Continue Growth
Running Network
Skirt Sports, inventor of the original fitness skirt, has announced that its  Skirt Chaser 5k Race Series has expanded to 11 cities in 2010 and has plans to grow to 20 cities by 2012.  The series started in 2007 with one race. More 
 
Covenant Health Renews Knoxville Marathon Sponsorship
Knoxvillebiz.com
Covenant Health has extended its title sponsorship of knoxville Marathon for the next three years.  East Tennessee's largest road race drew almost 6000 runners for its 2010 events. More
 
Athletes for a Fit Planet Extends Pledge to Multiday Events
 
Athletes for a Fit Planet LLC, a provider of environmental services to athletic events, has announced that the Special Olympics Connecticut 2010 Summer Games is the first event to take the Multiday Event Pledge of Sustainability.  More
 
New Indoor Mountain Bike Park to Open in Milwaukee
Cycling News
Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park is expanding to offer a second location. After an extensive search, a 110,000 square foot former Menards Home Improvement Center was found as the location for the new venue in the Milwaukee, WI area. It is undergoing the transformation from empty warehouse to indoor mountain bike park. More
 
BC Bike Race Sells Out Again
Cycling News
The BC Bike Race has sold out at 500 entries for its 2010 edition. The stage race will start on June 27 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The BC Bike Race deliberately limits capacity. "With singletrack and environmental issues to be considered, we must be very careful of our footprint each year," said course designer Andreas Hestler. More
Mike Plant
Newsmakers  
Jeff Antonioli has been hired by Spenco Medical Corp as its global sales director.  Antonioli had previously worked for New Balance.  He assumes responsibilities formerly held by R.C. Cruthirds, who is now VP Spenco Footcare Division. 
 
David Cathcart has been promoted by Saris Cycling Group (SCG) to vice president of sales. Cathcart joined SCG eight years ago as the director of marketing and added international sales responsibilities.
Conferences
Race directors conference in Broomfield, CO 
 
Portland Marathon Event Directors' College
(October 7-9, 2010)
Annual conference in conjunction with the Portland Marathon. 
ClubRunning
Online Seminars
Organization: Active Endurance
(June 23, 4 p.m. eastern)
Learn the key elements of building a successful web site including how to plan and benchmark your site, knowing your site audience, techniques for optimizing and organizing content, and common design mistakes to avoid.
Career Opportunities
 
Pearl Izumi, a leading cycling and running company that designs and markets a line of high - performance running- and cycling shoes as well as cycling- and running apparel including accessories, is looking for an experienced Director of Global Footwear and Apparel Merchandiser to take our business to the next level, by leading a 8-10 person team. This position is working in a highly collaborate team environment and will manage merchandising and business planning of all Pearl Izumi products from kickoff  through introduction into the market place.
 
Footwear Developer
Company: Zoot Sports
 
Zoot Sports, located in Vista, CA is seeking a footwear developer for it's recently launched, highly technical running footwear program.  The scope of this role is a broad reaching Product Developer who will execute all footwear related tasks including but not limited to Design, Development, Materials, Pattern making, Outsole compounding, Fit/wear test, Commercialization, Production Planning, and Quality Control.
 
Director of Marketing
Company: Saris Cycling Group
 
Saris Cycling Group is located in Madison, WI, is a market leader in the bicycle rack, parking, storage and performance training categories.  We aim to build leading brands for cycling enthusiasts worldwide.  We currently have an excellent opportunity available for an experienced marketing manager to provide hands-on leadership to the marketing function of Saris Cycling Group. This position is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing campaigns across multiple markets & channels. Specific duties include overseeing development of external marketing communications, public relations efforts and communications, web-based marketing efforts including social media, and managing relationships with sponsored athletes and external marketing vendors and consultants. This position is based on Madison, WI and directly supervises 3 marketing professionals. Qualified candidates will have at least 5 years experience multi-channel brand marketing in outdoor or cycling industry. Other requirements include proficiency in social marketing, copywriting, international marketing and staff supervision. 
 
Event Timer
Company: Race Central
Race Central, a leader in the road race timing and technology industry, is seeking a self-reliant individual to travel to our events, manage our expo solutions area including our web-based computers and work the run on race day. The ideal candidate needs to have the people skills to work with our clients and interact with runners attending the events as well as the technical ability to set up equipment. Strong communication skills and the ability to work as part of a team are essential. Because things don't always go as planned, the ideal candidate must also be able to quickly and efficiently solve problems. This person should be capable of using computer software such as Excel and be able to learn the Race Central registration and scoring software.  In addition to the skills listed above, the ideal candidate needs to have the following:  bachelor's degree; ability to drive long distances, desire to travel at least 30 weekends a year, mostly by air. The typical timeline for distant events is a Wednesday departure, returning early Monday. Most events in Southern California are scheduled from Friday to Sunday. Starting salary range is $30K - $40K depending on skills and experience. We offer a health plan and other benefits.  If interested please email a resume to Audree@rccal.com.
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