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Tom's Team Turns 20

TOM'S TEAM TURNS 20

Flashback to August 8, 1988 (8/8/88), the day Tom Kiely (pictured here with his first employee Lois Tasaki) founded TEAM Unlimited. The date was no random coincidence, rather Kiely's first strategic decision. With all those 8's and their strong connection to good luck, prosperity and fortune there was no way he could fail.  And he didn't.

Twenty years to the day and Kiely's creation - which started with a $500 contract to help a bobbing boat tour operator get more business - is now a multifaceted, multimedia, multimillion dollar multisport operation (and I'm a multi-idiot for using all those multi-words in one sentence).

Seriously, though, in the past 20 years he's produced nearly 300 TV shows for dozens of destinations, created XTERRA which has blossomed into a Global Tour with almost 200 off-road triathlon and trail running events in 15 countries annually, built a worldwide community of dirt lovers, put together a line of licensed products, a 24/7 web TV network, a foundation that's putting at-risk kids through school, employed dozens of the most eclectic oddballs to ever walk the earth, and Lois is still his executive assistant.

Cheers TK, and thanks for all you've done....

MIKE AND "MAC" TO SWIM THE ENGLISH CHANNEL

Mike and “Mac” Mackenzie, Father and 18-year-old daughter, are on a mission to swim the English Channel from Dover, England to a shoreline in France, to raise funds and awareness for the XTERRA Foundation and Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund.  To accomplish their objective Mike and Mac have notched a cumulative open water swimming register totaling approximately 1,250 miles, or 2 million meters.  “Our training is minimal when we recognize how an amputee trains to run a marathon, compete in cycling, or swim in open water ocean events where the last part of a race is a ‘short run’ up the beach. Their dream is to compete and challenge themselves, not wait for someone to do something for them. These individuals need the support of those that can support them,” said Mike.

Read about their journey, which is scheduled for sometime between Aug. 23-31, and the causes they support on their website at www.mikenmacswim.org.

THE AFTER PARTY IN OGDEN

Biker’s Edge, the official bike shop of the XTERRA Mountain Championship, is rolling out the red carpet for XTERRA racers by presenting “The Great Ogden food, wine, beer, and Sundogs celebration” on Saturday night, August 16, at the Outdoor Amphitheater in downtown.  Local restaurants including Roosters Brewing Company, Bistro 258, Union Grill, Peddler's, Artisan Grill and Rickenbacker's Bistro will serve-up award-winning food at the Taste of Ogden's open-air dining extravaganza. A highlight video with footage from the day's race will play on a big screen and then a kick-butt rock-n-roll band from Atlanta, The Sun Dogs who are said to have "The Black Crowes in their souls and the Mississippi blues in their hearts" will keep the mojo flowing well after dark.  Of course, the party will be all that much better after taking part in the XTERRA Wheeler Canyon off-road half-marathon, or the XTERRA Mountain Championship itself!

RESULTS FROM LAST WEEKEND

There were a flurry of races last weekend and tons of XTERRA pros mixing it up with the amateurs in the points series races of the XTERRA America Tour.  Mike Vine and Keri Grosse won in the Pacific Northwest, Conrad Stoltz and Meiling Yee won in California, Paul Stapley and Suzie Snyder won in New York, Chris Sams and Cati Scheifele won in Pennsylvania, Scott Mills and Alisha Lion won in Tennessee, and Greg Krause and Melanie McQuaid won in Colorado.

Check out the race recaps written by XTERRA representatives stationed from coast-to-coast at www.xterraplanet.com.