Canadian Footwear and Footbed Company SOLE Joins All Out Again This Year: Participates in Sponsorship Case Study

March 28, 2011 – San Luis Obispo - SOLE, multiple winner of awards and mentions for their innovative and highly effective footwear designs, joins All Out for the 2011 season this year.

Sponsoring our SLO Mountain Run on April 17 and the ECOSLO Morro Bay Olympic and Sprint Triathlon on June 5, participants will receive coupons and top placing winners will receive a SOLE Footcare package including SOLE Custom Footbeds (either DK Signature Edition OR Thin Sport), SOLE Sport Sandals (choice of Sport Flips or Sport Slides), and SOLE Performance Socks. Other winners will receive SOLE Performance Socks.

Long recognized for innovative design and rehabilitative efficacy, they will also be working with All Out Events during its adventure race events on May 14-15 and June 18-19 to participate in a case study measuring effective educational marketing tactics. Says event organizer, Kristin McNamara, “I had plantar faciitis from training for our events and the SOLE Sport Flips were the only thing I could wear comfortably until it healed. I attest my quick recovery in time to compete to the Sport Flips and I’m excited to share that experience with our event participants!”

If you’re interested in how footbeds and simple flipflops can help alleviate a multitude of woes, come out to any of our events above and find out how.

Check out SOLE at http://www.yoursole.com/

Check All Out Event’s event calendar at http://www.alloutevents.com

Press release for Coast to Crest 24 hour race

It's 2 am and we're heading back to the finish/staging area to get ready to receive the first finishers in the early morning hours when one of the SPOT units sends out a "we need help" signal. No! After 18 hours of setting up transition areas, checking in with minor injuries (hamstrings are a big problem), and helping motivate our already stoked competitors, this is the first time we're genuinely worried about a team. Sure, there were some seasickies on the kayak, and a couple teams bonked on the first stage bike ride, but all in all, the race was going smoothly. The competitors were spread out far and wide but we were keeping tabs on them with GPS, radioing to our manned checkpoints, and our manifests. But at 2 am the signal goes out. We're about an hour away from the point we'd have to get to in order to start looking for the team that needs help. As we're logging into the ranger stations' computers to find the exact location and team, the help call is canceled.

And thus goes All Out Events' first 24-36 hour adventure race.

Our teams met up at Santa Margarita Lake, dropping off bins and bikes that would be trucked to the various transition areas they'd need them throughout the race, and they boarded a bus for an hour-long ride to the beach.

Winding through the coastal mountains, through eucalyptus groves, and arriving at a beautiful cove, the kayaks were laid out and our racers set to preparing themselves for one heck of a long day.

After an eight-mile open-ocean kayak (well supported by local rescue organizations and fortuitously, a blue whale), racers landed at a beach in Morro Bay where they hopped on their bikes for a long climb and a fun, fast single-track descent leading into the area's college ag land.

The run transition area was set up at Cal Poly's poultry unit, where racers could stop, take a break, and go back into the hills they came from. Said one member from Team Hilarious, hailing from Calgary, Canada, "That was the second-best mountain biking I've ever done!" Her teammates then decided to weigh the merits of whether it was more like the best or not.

Racers came in looking tired, but stoked. Some stayed for an hour, some took off right away at a jog. We didn't see them until many hours later in the dark - fifty miles away at Lopez Lake, where they picked up their kayaks for a lake trip and then their bikes for another epic tour of the mountains.

Our first team came in just under 6 a.m. - Team DART/Nuun/SportMulti, a world-class adventure racing team. Teams trickled in from there, with our last team finishing at 2 p.m. Results are posted here: http://www.ccadventure.com/results.pdf

Out of a field of 13 teams, we had 5 non-finishers. Though healthy respect goes out to all our DNFers, most especially SLO local Ryan Tarver from Hopes and Dreams, who kept up with the winning team throughout the first three stages of the race before deciding he would bow out.

Tips for an awesome Tri (good for adventure racers, too!)

So yesterday we went and cleared some of the poison oak the 24-hour race trek. I am not going to lie, that section is beautiful. You won't feel like you're in California. And, if you're like me, and you spent your youth exploring creek beds and rivers, you are going to feel so energized by the entire thing. If you are planning on doing this race try to time it so you go during the day. It's worth seeing.

Anyway, I follow a couple fitness blogs and had to direct you to The Fitness Nerd today, who sent me to "That's Fit" for an article with tips on tri training. Check it out: Top 10 Tips for Your First Tri.

May CCAC event wrap-up

Well, we had an awesome race again this year - the weather agreed with us, the plans went as we'd hoped, and the volunteers did an amazing job with their tasks.


The Dawn to Dusk race this year saw solos Fred Watson and Kevin Cooper finish first together (they're the guys holding the FRS, which they were quite happy to partake in after the were done), but because of our rules, four-person co-ed team True Grit picked up the bonus fifteen minutes and won our race overall in 10 hours, six minutes. This year's course featured about eight miles of kayaking, 30 miles of mountain biking (most of it single track), and 10 miles of trekking, including rappelling a slot canyon and crossing the lake with a rope bridge. Finishers were treated to complimentary custom burritos and all-you-could-drink Sierra Nevada pale ale. The night ended pretty quickly for our racers, and everyone had a smile on their face, even the only DNF team who got horrifically lost - but that's the screws when the race relies on serious navigation skills!

Our sprint was fun as always, and our third place solo from Dawn to Dusk took on a partner and won this race in the two person co-ed division: congratulations to Team Synergy (Katie and Garett). The sprint consisted of a kayak leg, a bike leg, and a trekking leg. One racer was overheard to say, "What, this is an off-road triathlon!" only to finish saying, "THAT WAS AMAZING!" No surprise to us, race director Yishai Horowitz works hard no matter the length or difficulty of the course to give people a truly unique experience in venues that offer the best possible courses.

Our winners enjoyed prizes and racebag goodies from sponsors, and Hammer Nutrition had them going at aid stations, finishing out with a frosty FRS held out by the beatiful demo ladies awaiting them with finisher bottles at the end of the race.

More photos are available here: http://www.ccadventure.com/photos.html

We can't wait to see you there for our second weekend of adventure racing on June 19 & 20, and we'll be out in Morro Bay on June 6th for the inaugural ECOSLO Olympic Distance Triathlon!

6th Annual Adventure Race hits Santa Margarita Lake on May 15th and 16th

The Central Coast Adventure Challenge is back for its sixth year, Saturday, May 15th and Sunday, May 16th. Hailed by National Geographic Adventure Magazine as one of the top five races in the country, and the largest adventure race on the west coast, this years' contestant field is drawing internationally and nationally and should prove to be an amazing event for competitor and spectator alike.

May 15th hosts teams and solo competitors in a Dawn-to-Dusk, 12-hour race taking them through some of the county's most beautiful backcountry. They'll paddle miles of the lake looking for checkpoints; run/hike through rocks, over obstacles, and through poison oak; and bike some thrilling, technical single-track mountain trails to be the first to navigate their way to the finish. Using a map and a compass, they are given a minimum number of check points to reach and strategize how to reach them in as little effort and time as possible.

May 16th we have the more accessible Adventure Sprint - a 2-4 hour race that eliminates the navigation aspect of the prior day's adventure race and explores much less of the beautiful, hilly country. If you can mountain bike, hike, and aren't afraid to try your hand at paddling the lake's open waters, this is one heck of a race. It leaves competitors feeling invigorated, ready to do anything - and really appreciating the beauty of the Central Coast.

This year the CCAC is also hosting a California Adventure Racing Association festival featuring educational clinics for those looking to break into the race or to take it to the next level. Anyone interested is welcome to attend the free clinics on everything from nutrition to night riding.

For more information, please visit: www.ccadventure.com or call Yishai Horowitz, event director: 805.541.0401