Andy Potts and Matty Reed Race for Charity

US Olympians and Suunto sponsored athletes Andy Potts and Matty Reed will face-off in a relay race to raise money for charity.

Both Potts and Reed will captain a relay team during the Memorial Hermann Gateway to the Bay Triathlon in Kemah, Texas. The race is April 11th and raises money for Jenny's Light - a charity that helps women with post-partum mood disorders.

Other spots on the relay teams will be auctioned over the internet. For Team Potts, you can bid on the bike and run leg. For Team Reed, you can bid on the swim and bike leg. You can find the on-line auction here.

Potts and Reed will also put on clinics during the weekend to help participants with triathlon training and performance.

Another Skill for Suunto Watches

It’s yet another use for your Suunto.

Len Waldron – an outdoor and adventure writer – is now using his Suunto to help calibrate and shoot targets from over a mile away.

Len says altitude, temperature, barometric pressure and wind all play a role. Here is his description:

Basically, in a shooter/spotter team the primary consideration is calculating the distance to the target (elevation) and the strength and direction of the wind (windage). Elevation is "up or down", windage is "left or right".

However, to be precise over long distances, shooters have to account for atmospheric changes such as temperature, barometric pressure and altitude. This is where I use the Suunto wristop computer. I collect the atmospheric info and plug the data into a program that is part of my iPod. The spotter estimates the range and wind, and that data (along with the atmospheric data) goes into a "shooting solution" that outputs a scope adjustment based upon pre-collected ballistics data (how the bullet flies based upon its mass and powder charge). The shooter adjusts the scope, takes the shot, and the spotter watches the target and suggests adjustments if necessary.

Might be more than you needed to know about precision shooting, but the accuracy is amazing. Len was out at Arco Pass, Idaho recently with some Chey Tac rifles hitting target over a mile away in sub-zero temperatures. Len says while his other devices failed, his Suunto Core had no problems and gave perfectly accurate readings for altitude, barometric pressure and temperature.

Check out more of Len’s stuff here: http://www.waldronpond.com/.

Cancer Charity Rocks the Roof of Africa

Suunto was a key sponsor of the Love Hope Strength Foundation in their recent musical pilgrimage to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The 19,341 foot climb to the rooftop of Africa raised money to help support critical cancer care and awareness in East Africa. Suunto’s donation of Lumi watches helped the group of 25 musicians, cancer survivors and others track their progress up the scree-laden route of Africa’s highest peak – Uhuru.

LHS, which focuses on purchasing life- saving equipment and providing material support to cancer centers in remote areas of the world used the watches to keep tabs on altitude and coordinate their ascent.

“We wanted to make sure that our team had the best of the best in order to safely hike the mountain and were lucky to have high quality gear from some of the best outdoor brands in the world," said LHS Executive Director, Shannon Foley. "Not only did Suunto watches help us raise additional money for Tanzanian cancer care it was great to have a watch that provided us with crucial altitude, barometric and temperature gauges while still being something that we all loved to wear.”

The latest musical journey by the Love Hope Strength Foundation – dubbed “Kilimanjaro Rocks” -included legendary rockers like Mike Peters from the British rock group Alarm, Cy Curnin of The Fixx, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze, and Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms. Peters, a cancer survivor himself, gave impromptu jam sessions to the other members along the trek for inspiration, often during times of debilitating altitude sickness. The inspiration worked as all 25 members of the climb summited.



Join the Love Hope Strength Army to receive advanced event details and pre-enrollment opportunities: www.lovehopestrength.org/site/join-the-army/

Rusch In New York

Rebecca Rusch is in the Big Apple this week. She's pedaling all over town, giving clinics and leading group rides. She's also sporting one of the new women's T series watches.

There are more details on her blog here.

You can also check out her take on winning the 24hrs of Moab.

If you're in New York, say hello.

Matty Reed Wins the Toyota Cup

Matty Reed become the first American male to win the Life Time Fitness Series Race to the Toyota Cup.

Reed dominated an impressive field to win the Dallas US Open race Sunday.

The win gave him the series title - the Toyota Cup.

Reed says it all comes back to his workouts,

I have learned to trust my training and I know that I must use that mentally to my advantage. I went hard until the turn around and calculated I had a 50 second advantage and was very pleased. I knew I could enjoy the last 2 miles.

Matt uses the t6c and PODs for training.

For a full race recap, go here.

Congrats Matty.

Ironman, Moab and More

It's a busy weekend for Suunto sponsored athletes. Series title hopes in Dallas, 24 hours of Racing in Utah and the Ironman World Championships in Kona.

Here is the rundown of this weekend's events:

Andy Potts:

Back after a nasty spill in Chicago, Potts goes for the title of Ironman in Kona.

Interesting interview with Potts about the race here.

Rebecca Rusch:

Her incredible season continues with 24hrs in Moab. She'll be competing in the women's duo event with friend and elite racer Gretchen Reeves.

Follow the race in real-time here.

Matty Reed:

Finale of the Life Time Fitness Series Race for the Toyota Cup in Dallas. Reed leads in the points and can take the series title by finishing one spot behind Greg Bennett or better.

Follow along here.

Where are you racing this weekend?

Tell us at event@suuntousa.com

Amazing Success Story

Jonathan Hinkle has gone through quite a transformation over the years. He's now completed his second triathlon after losing over 160 pounds. He has an amazing story...

My adventure to become a triathlete began after losing 160 pounds over the last 4 years. At 34 years old I weighed 355lbs. After losing 100 pounds I started to compete in cycling and running events as motivation to continue my weight loss. This led to an additional 60 pounds lost and my first triathlon. I'm now 38 and weigh 188 pounds.

With the help of Suunto, I was able to achieve my weight loss goals and a podium finish in my second 70.3 triathlon event. The t6c and Training Manager software helped me track my weight loss and training progress to reach my fitness goal. As a triathlete, the Comfort Belt, Bike POD and Foot POD enable me to manage the race by keeping my pace and beating the clock on my personal record.

I recently finished the Patriot half 70.3 in 4:52:40 resulting in a 2nd place age group finish and 15th overall.

Jonathan has now logged over 78 miles swimming, 2,700 miles biking and 830 miles running.


For more on his fitness goals and success, head to his blog http://www.jonathanfit.com/


We are all athletes.

Submit your story at event@suuntousa.com.