Best Costume Pics?

Many have now brought to my attention that I failed to post a picture of Maureen (costume contest winner at the FZ Halloween Run). Here are a couple for your enjoyment. Cheers-Teague

Freaky FootZone Halloween Run

The pictures tell the story here. More than 40 turned out to run through town showing off some impressive Halloween garb. The costumes were great but stealing the show and winning the costume contest was Maureen Schlerf and her ample backside. I believe her costume prompted the question I overheard while we ate and drank at Jackson's Corner; "did your butt get really sweaty"? I've done lots of runs and events but I've never heard that one before. Thanks for coming out. Cheers-Teague

Screw Your Shoes and TPG

Well some folks got their shoes screwed at the FootZone this eve. Despite the very warm day some clearly believe we will eventually move into winter and be happier if we have a metal option on the bottom of our shoes. You can do this with traction devices like Yaktrax or Get a Grip, but if you have an older pair of shoes to commit, screwing your shoes is an option. Thanks to Jeff Browning for bringing in the Makita and showing people the way. We'll probably do this one more time in the beginning of December so watch for it if you missed out. We we're doubled up on activities at the FootZone tonight since the Tuesday Performance Group took advantage of the daylight for some relay races at Drake Park. Max utilized the competitive spirit to mix up the speed workout and make it a little more interesting. Great crowd. Despite the coming darkness next week, Tuesday Performance Group will carry on. Join us!

MacDonald Forest 15k and 5k

It was a spectacular October Sunday in Bend, Corvallis and all points in between. Nearly all the FootZoners (seven to be exact) and several other Bendites traveled to MacDonald Forest outside of Corvallis for what's become a ritual on the last Sunday in October. Mac Forest offers up 15 or 5 kilometers (there's a 50k in the spring) of wonderful trails, a really tough climb and some of that lovely west 'o the mountains foliage. There we're many highlights and suberb finishes from the run itself and you can see the strong Central Oregon showing when the results are posted at http://mac.oregontrailseries.org/results.htm Twenty or so of us gathered afterwards at American Dream Pizza for more food than we could eat and some post-run reveling. Think about slapping this one on your calendar for next year- you won't be disappointed. Cheers-Teague

ps. this last picture is especially momentus since it's the first time in three years that Shane (Jenny's husband) has been able to enjoy the post run feast instead of lying in the car. Woohoo!

Economic Crisis and Price Matching??

Ok, its a stretch, but Since our Presidential candidates, Congress, the talking heads, and everyone you meet on the street has weighed in on the financial crisis, I thought it was time to voice my significantly less important opinions.

First of all, Thank you. We open the doors every day, and folks keep walking in and letting us fit them in great shoes. We're lucky, when times get tough, you still need your run or walk. I hear customers talking even more about their workout as daily sanity. However, even the FootZone is seeing that this year is different and folks are understandably watching their pennies a little closer. You all know that FootZone has never been a place to focus on price and that won't change. In retail, you choose your path, and ours will always be the path of relatively well paid employees, health care and exeptional customer service. I've yet to see the example of the retailer that excels at servicing the customer while also being a great discounter. I admire Costco for their low margins and paying their employees but I certainly don't expect help finding something there. I think people get that, and support us not only because we have the right product and service, but because they like us as a business. Anyway (finally getting to the point), I do want to remind people that we match prices. We always have, although we don't make a production of it. If price is a hurdle, but you still WANT to buy their shoes from us, no problem. If it's an online option, we'll ask you to factor in shipping. Otherwise, it just has to be the same product and same size. We don't want you to think of us first because of price. However, we don't want you to feel like you have to shop elsewhere because of price, either. We know we offer a good value at the FootZone and that's where we'll keep putting our energy. Cheers-Teague

Tuesday Performance Group - Hills

Well, Max told us in advance that we were going to do a hill workout and 19 people showed up anyway. He didn't lie as there were hills and it was a workout. This has quickly become something I oddly look forward to every week. As I huffed and puffed on our final steep pitched I couldn't help but notice that everyone was working hard and the smiles (not to mention words) were a little slow to come, but there was a shared sense of satisfaction. The Tuesday Performance Group is only 3 weeks old but it's grown every week and it's a solid and varied group. Join us if you can. Email mking@reboundspl.com to get on the list for the workout and location ahead of time. Cheers-Teague

Three Doses of Dirty -- The Dirty Dozen recap

With fall's chill greeting us and temperatures teasing either side of the 20 degree mark, an abundance of smiles warmed the day for the 121 participants in the Dirty Dozen and Half Dozen Trail Run at Wanoga Snow Park this past Sunday morning. A huge thank you and an awesome job to all that joined in on the fun by either running, volunteering or both! It was great to see folks enjoying themselves and embracing the day! With proceeds of the run benefiting the Central Oregon Trail Alliance, (http://www.cotamtb.org/) Wanoga provided a unique venue, and for the most part, a spot that none of us would normally run. It was impressive to see some the new sections of trail that COTA's volunteers have been constructing while listening to the crunch of frozen dirt beneath our feet as we plodded up the hills and attempted to catch our breath as we loped down the other side! New this year at the run was the 2 person relay which had 6 teams; Aubree Swart and Laura Cooper took first in the relay with overall time of 1:29:31. For the individual races, kudos to Amy Freeman and Michael Dennis for givin' it the juice with times of 41:42 and 35:54 on the Half Dozen. And, ufff duhh! nice work on the Dozen - Lisa Nye with a time of 1:25:15 and Max King keeping everything in perspective and the crowds laughing by tagging up with finish line prior to turning around and busting out a time of 1:12:52. All results can be found here: http://www.time2race.com/Results/Dirty%20Dozen%202008.htm

Thanks again to all that came out and participated and thanks to Super Dave for orchestrating another great trail run!

Keep running,
Rob