New Vineman Website, 70.3 waitlist and more...

It looks like spring has begun it's arrival here in Sonoma County. The mustard is in full bloom in the vineyards and flower blossoms are popping out everywhere! Winter is typically our time to hibernate for a while. Well, we certainly weren't spending any time hibernating THIS winter. Instead, some of us here in the Vineman office decided to get a jump on the season and work on some new things for the 2008 events. As most people know the Vineman Ironman 70.3 is sold out. The race has continued to grow in popularity and this year is no exception....we sold out 5 weeks earlier than last year. As a result the waitlist is quite massive at this point. This is typical as it is still early in the season. Heck, some people haven't even begun to train yet. As a result there will be little movement of the wait list for the next month or so. However, we are confident that everyone will clear the waitlist. So for those of you far down on the list, keep on training....or start training!

What's new with Vineman?

We have a new website in the works and hope to have it up and running by early April. It will have a completely new look and many new features which we are all really excited about.

A new feature on the current website is online signup for volunteers. So, for all of you athletes that will be bringing family and friends along with you to the race, pass the word that we need volunteers and the signup process is quick and painless!

Microfiber shirts....yes, we have made the switch from cotton! We know that all of you must have a drawer (or rag bag) full of those cotton shirts. We have gotten great response about the microfibers. So, thanks for all the feedback. It's obvious that we made the right choice in switching.

The Vineman goes GREEN. That's right. We are embarking on the huge task of making all of our events more environmentally friendly. We will have more updates on this as we develop a plan and hope to have a "green" page on our new website. In the meantime, here in our office we continue to recycle (and use recycled copy paper) as we have for years but have also added to that: composting, replaced the paper towels in the bathroom with hand towels, replaced all of our regular lightbulbs with CFL bulbs and replaced all of our cleaners with ones that are better for the environment. We hope that all of you will do your part while you are here for Vineman!

The Showdown At Sundown is back for it's second year and by the number people signed up already it looks like it's popularity is catching on. Don't forget that we have both "age group" and "team" divisions for this race. Last years team winners were the Santa Cruz Tri Club (large team division) and The Tri Dogs (small team division). The Santa Cruz team will be back to defend their title and although I have not spoken with anyone from the Tri Dogs, I'm sure they will be back as well!

And, speaking of popularity, the Full Vineman is another race whose numbers are growing. We are continuing our "buy 2, get 1 free" promotion for this race. Round up two of your friends or family members to participate along with you, make them pay for their entries and YOU get to race for free!

That's all for now but there will be more posts in the coming days from each of our illustrious staff members here at Vineman....so check back often.

Amy