Endurance Race Series Ambassadorship

My history with the Endurance Race Series has been a long one, quite possibly from almost the beginning.  During the first year of running, when Mike Numon challenged me to run a 5k, which I completed; he then challenged me to run a 10k by the end of the summer.  I spent quite a while trying to find the perfect 10k for me.  I really liked trail running (as opposed to street running), and I needed something with relatively little elevation gain.  I can't remember where I found the Denver ERS 10k, but I think possibly on the internet or running magazine.  It seemed to fit the description  that I was looking for.  I had been training for longer distances, but when I ran my first ERS 10k, it was the first time I had run 6.2 miles.  I ran the whole thing as well, no walking.  I had fun, loved the post-race party, the medal, and the people.  It was the only 10k I ran that first year, but I started looking into the race series for the following year.

The following year we ran four of their races (Denver, Glenwood Springs, Snow Mountain Ranch, and Louisville).  I am not sure why we didn't run more, or sign up for the whole series, but we were new runners, and didn't know enough about the running community.  Plus,  6.2 miles was a lot for us at the time. We really enjoyed the Race Directors Jeff and Craig, as well as the Volunteer Coordinator, Denise.  The following year we signed up for the whole series.  We have run the entire series three times!  It's not only the trails that bring us back, but the people that manage the series, as well as the people that participate in the series.  These people are mostly down to earth kind of people, friendly and are there to have fun.  We have also made several good friends because of running the series, and we get to enjoy each others company more than just during the race season.

Last year the Endurance Race Series started an Ambassador program.  The program required you, as an Ambassador to run all the races, wear ERS Ambassador Gear, pass out you Ambassador discount code cards, work the booth at another race for promotion, post on Social Media, and help out at the ERS races.  You also got to run all the races for no cost!  Both Tom and I applied, and Tom got one of the Ambassadorships!  I didn't get one, but I still enjoyed going, running, and helping out at the ERS races last year.  Tom did a great job being an Ambassador, and it was fun helping him reach out to people and post for him on Social Media.  At the end of the year, Jeff (Race Director) gave me an ERS hoodie for helping out!  I love it, and wear it all the time.

This year I got asked to be an Ambassador!  I was so excited!  So far, it has been so much fun, and the race season hasn't really even started.  We are required to work for our Season Pass this year, getting people to use our codes, which wasn't too difficult.  It made you reach out to runners that you know, to running groups, and just talk to other runners that you encounter.  It has been a really good experience so far.  We are also required to do a training race.  Tom and I did our training race a few weeks ago in Longmont at the course site for this years Longmont event.  We had a good time, and met several runners that came from Arvada to run with us, as well as Season Pass holder Glen Ort. Tom and I traveled 180 round trip miles this past weekend to be with Stacy Allen Boyd for her training run in Morrison at Deer Creek Canyon.  Beautiful trail and views, but the trail was so muddy I couldn't run on it because of my injury.  For being an Ambassador, we were given products from some of the Series Sponsors.  We received an Ultimate Direction hydration vest, Gnarly Protein and hydration samples, personal discount code cards, and really great ERS Ambassador gear to wear.  The season hasn't even started, and it has been fun meeting new runners by making contact and passing out my discount code card along the way.  I am really looking forward to the race season this year, and I am hoping that my MCL injury is well on it's way to healing when it begins. 

Being part of a team is something that is personally important to me.  Before I retired, and was working as a Supervisor.  I felt that just being a supervisor wasn't just about supervising, but it was about working as a team.  I think it is important to work with the people on your team, everyone brings something different to the table.   I play ice hockey, and everyone on the team is important; no matter how good you play, or whether you can score goals or not.  You work together with the levels that each player is able to play at, and use it to develop a play. That's how you score goals.  Learn about your team mates, find out what their skills are, and help to them to develop new skills and excel at their current skills.  The ERS Ambassador team brings 5 people together that have different goals, achievements, running paces, and different skills.  We have leaders that recognize the importance of what each person brings to the team.  That's what team work is all about.  The Race Director (Jeff), the Volunteer and Ambassador coordinator (Denise), and the Ambassadors (Rebecca, Erica, Stacey, Tom and I) are a team; and that's just another reason I am excited to be a new Ambassador for the Endurance Race Series.

Once again, I urge you to apply for Ambassadorships for products that you love and care about.  At this point, I had two Ambassadorships, #mysoxyfeet and the Endurance Race Series.  Both are dear to my heart.  Make sure that they don't conflict with each other if you have more than one.  I wear the ERS gear (shirts and hats), and wear MySoxyFeet on my feet.  No problem.  Next time I will talk about my newest Ambassadorship, #skirtSports, a company that designs running skirts in Boulder, CO.

See you out on the trails . . . . .