This past Friday marked the official kickoff for the 45th running of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run.We host a party in November to kick things off, and this year it included swag, giveaways, reveals, demonstrations, fundraising, and all-around fun.
Did you miss out on the fun? Or just want to relive it? Read on!
Swag
Swag included a $10 gift card to Potomac River Running, a selfie stick from Medstar Health, and an exclusive fall kickoff t-shirt in your choice of red or purple.
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| $10 to spend at Potomac River Running? Yes, please! |
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| Selfie stick, portable hand sanitizer, & useful health resources, courtesy of MedStar Health |
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| I selected the purple t-shirt; the other option was red. It incorporates the race artwork along with a "reveal" curtain |
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| While not official swag, my phone gadgets are pretty cool: a "Good Luck Box" PopSocket & CUCB microfiber sticky |
Giveaways
All attendees received a raffle entry, and throughout the evening both guaranteed race entries and paid race entries were raffled off. Raffle winners also got a gift bag from Good Luck Box.
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| Laura & Brian greeted attendees, handing out raffle tickets & PR cards |
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| Good Luck Box provided gift bags for raffle winners |
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| An up-close look at a Good Luck Box. The cherry blossom theme box is designed for our race! (you can purchase one when you register for the lottery) |
Reveals
The race t-shirt art is selected from contest entries each year, and this year's winner was revealed at the party. The color options for the shirt were also revealed, and attendees got to vote on the color - majority wins!
Two other big party announcements were the introduction of the new performance apparel and shoe sponsor for the race, Under Armour, and the introduction of this year's race ambassadors.
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| Event director Phil Stewart prepares to reveal the t-shirt art. Note the cool Under Armour shoes! |
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| T-shirt color choices were red & purple |
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| Attendees voted for their preferred color... |
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| ...and monitored the polling results. Purple won in a landslide! |
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| Annette designed the race t-shirt art. She is a 17 year-old high school student from Delaware! |
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| Annette & her proud parents (note to self: move recycle can out of the way next time) |
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| Half of our social media team: Race Ambassador Heather Mundwiler Race Ambassador Sara Brown Social Media Coordinator (me!) Blog Editor Courtenay "Coco" Brinckerhoff not pictured: Race Ambassador Adam Lesser Race Ambassador Holly Sajna Fundraising Captain Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan |
Demonstrations
This year's party was held at the MedStar Health Orthopaedic and Sports Center at Lafayette Centre, which is a new venue for us. It gave attendees the opportunity to see the space and equipment, including an AlterG antigravity treadmill and a basketball court.
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| Ready to welcome party attendees to the festivities |
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| Travis Smith, founder of iRunFit, demos the AlterG |
Fundraising
Supporting Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is a primary goal of our race. There were two opportunities to donate to CMNH at the kickoff party: a wine pull and a t-shirt sale. The t-shirts were each unique; they were colors that were tested for the background of the race t-shirt and ultimately not selected.
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| There were bottles worth up to $30 in the wine pull |
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| Begonia preps the wine and t-shirts |
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| More t-shirt test colors |
All-Around Fun
We had a great time kicking off the 45th running of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. If you didn't join us this year, you missed out! Make a mental note not to miss next year's kickoff festivities. And get ready for the race lottery to open on December 1st!
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