October is an exciting month for NP-LAX: it’s BEACHTOBER of course, but it’s also a month of racing everything!!!! There are big races happening almost every weekend this month. On October 1st Kevin got to achieve his lifelong dream of seeing just how boring St. Paul is at the Twin Cities Marathon, last weekend Dana and Kim battled through intense humidity in Chicago and they DESTROYED, on the 22nd we are repping HARD at Ventura and again the following weekend at Rock N Roll!!!! There’s lots of talk about races at the workouts. People are planning final long runs with each other and tapering. Ron Pearlman will be racing his 1st marathon on his 60th birthday. Lujan and Michelle are coming back strong after surgery/injuries. Lewis will probably set a world record (if not for fastest half, then for person who looks the most like a jack russell terrier). Min wants to BQ and I think he can do it. It’s an exciting time!!!!!!
When we were in Utah for the Northface Endurance Challenge, Katy and I were congratulating ultra-marathoners who had finished up. “Everyone must be so excited for you!!!” Katy told the guy who placed 2nd in the 50-miler. “Who is everyone?” the guy asked us.
Katy was taken aback. “Your friends? Whoever is here with you?”
“Oh, no one’s here with me. My friends don’t really get what this is.”
Of course, Katy and I informed that guy that we were his new friends and we were extremely excited. As Katy and I started running our second leg she said to me, “I can’t believe people accomplish these amazing things and there’s no one here to be proud of them.”
After thinking about it I realized that’s not actually that unusual. If you’re not a runner, maybe you don’t understand what an incredible thing it is to toe the line at a 5k, half, or marathon. But we’ve suffered with you through trail repeats to turnaround rock and we’ve run the PR Day 5k! We get how strong you are for setting goals and ruthlessly going after them or for taking a race to appreciate that you can run! And when you’re racing your little hearts out, remember that there’s a cheer station out there that will be screaming your name/giving you hugs/running alongside you/bursting with pride.
If you’re not running and you’ve never cheerganged before – GO CHEER!!!! I can’t stress this enough. It is so much fun and an awesome chance to get to know each other better. Everyone and their mom has heard the story of my 1st cheergang but I’m gonna bullet point it anyway:
- I was coming back from a camping trip in a car with Vanessa, Orrin, Danielle, Angel, Jenna.
- So tired. No coffee. I didn’t want to cheer for Ventura. I had no choice.
- It was the BEST MORNING!!!!
- It’s exhilarating/emotional to watch your friends crush it.
- People will thank you and tell you what a difference your cheering made and it will make you feel warm and fuzzy.
More info on where exactly the cheer stations for Ventura and Rock n Roll will be is soon to come. In the meantime, follow these FB groups to stay updated: NP takes over Rock N Roll and NP takes over Ventura. And enjoy all the excitement in the air!!!!!
NEWS
BUFFS
- October 14th is the deadline to order the newest edition of #NPBuffs.
- No idea what the design is, but it’ll be awesome!
- Fill this out!
ECSCA
- November 18 in San Fran
- #NFECSCA aka North Face Endurance Challenge Series California. This is always an awesome time. This is part of the race series that Summit is always a part of. Consider this to be like a mini-NP Summit. Marathon relay is the most popular choice and you can race it with 3 other friends. Check it out, get a crew together, and sign up!
- Reach out to Maggie or Jesse if you are having trouble finding a ride or some place to stay. We want you there!
