Rebecca Rusch Tells Us Why

Our friend and incredible Suunto athlete Rebecca Rusch sent us this recently released project that she has been secretly working on with Corey Rich, acclaimed photographer. Corey has been developing a new film, titled "WHY", to highlight the new Nikon D4 camera, for a showcase at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. The film tells the story of the motivation behind the endless drive of three super-athletes.

Click the image to watch the video.

This is a stunningly amazing video, showing off the talents of kayaker Dane Jackson, rock climber Alex Honnold, and Reba. All three tell the story of why they do it - why they push themselves to the limits on the water, on the bike trail, and on the sheer slope.

Here are Rebecca's words describing the project:

"I got to spend Thanksgiving in Moab with Greg, photographer Corey Rich and his crew of about 8 people. It was a big, multi-day shoot that ran from pre-dawn til after dark every day.
It was cold and sort of hard work, but pretty cushy compared to racing. I've known Corey for about 15 years and worked with him during my adventure racing career. He invited me to be part of the video from Nikon launching their new D4. The only thing is that the camera was so super top secret that we weren't allowed to tell anyone what the shoot was for, or who we were working with. Corey spent months shooting and working in secrecy on this amazing video. He did three different shoots with his crew in Mexico, Moab and Joshua Tree. The idea was to highlight what the D4 can do and Corey told the story by featuring the athletes in this amazing film called "WHY". It's one of the best films I've ever seen. It was a blast to be part of it."

You can check out Corey Rich's blogsite for more details on the shoot. Rich has this to say about his motivation to make the film:

"I have always been facinated by those people that are the best at what they do. Those that operate on the edge; scientists, artists, athletes, etc. Always the question that I find myself asking is "WHY"? What deep inside drives them? What does the world look like through their eyes?"

And stay tuned. We have some behind the scenes imagery and commentary from the project that we'll be bringing you!

Thanks Rebecca, and thanks Corey Rich!

NYC Marathon Recap

Just like a good blockbuster flick, the NYC Marathon continued to live up to all the hype. Full of drama and suspense this past weekend, the legendary marathon offered up some great watercooler talk come Monday. With top contenders including reigning marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie and Japanese runner Fujiwara not finishing the race, and Gebrselassie’s retirement announcement, then possible retirement reconsideration, there was drama! We had a great time taking it all in. Suunto also had several ambassadors running the race; some first timers and some returning. The event was a perfect way to start November off on a good foot. For complete results of the NYC Marathon as well as news articles on the event click here.

Endurance Runner Matt Hart Blasts the Colorado Trail

Our good friend and big Suunto fan, Adventure Racer Matt Hart just finished running the historic Colorado Trail. He regularly trains with his Suunto t6d and we were excited to hear how his ambitious journey went.

Matt says, "Hey gang! Well two days ago I finished an epic journey… an attempt at the Colorado Trail speed record. Although I did not break the record, which is insanely tight. I did run the 3^rd fastest time for the 484 miles with 75,000 feet of elevation gain. I wore my Suunto t6d and foot pod each and every day. The foot pod was awesome and gave me a very close approximation of my pace and how close to being done with each section I was. The altimeter as always was spot on, and with the massive amounts of vert each day it was great to see it tick off as I climbed, and climbed and climbed. There were extended sections above 13,000 feet!! I was also on the trail for 15-24 hours at a time, and we all know the 7 hour battery life of a forerunner just wouldn’t have cut it out there. So with all that said – THANK YOU."

Also from Matt’s website –

484 miles and 75,000 ft of vertical gain later.. and somehow life really is that much sweeter. I finished the Colorado Trail on July 23^rd at 12:18pm. I ran the 484 miles as fast as I could, which was 9 days, 7 hours, 48 minutes. I believe this is the 3^rd fastest time anyone has ever covered this beautiful and awe inspiring piece of trail. I knew from speaking iwht very fast ultrarunners who do this sort of thing that the record was super tight. I found that out. After 3days I had run 180 miles and was 10 miles ahead of the record pace. But I paid for it the following day where I only logged 38 miles and couldn’t stay awake. And so it goes, I made a lot of mistakes, didn’t plan well enough for some sections, was stranded a few times and hypothermic once. None of that matters or tarnishes the experience because that is the experience. All of these things are expected when the goal is something this huge ~ the crap that happens becomes the deepest burned memories. It’s how you respond to that crap that really matters. All things considered the adventure went amazingly well on 3 days of planning.

Way to go Matt--that is an awesome accomplishment!

To see video segments of the run visit Matt’s website here.

Full Throttle Endurance Racing Team Wins Big in NYC

According to a press release below by Full Throttle Endurance, the team finished on top, despite the heat, at the Nautica New York City Triathlon. The Chelsea-Piers-based team members all wear Suunto t6d training watches and train together with the Suunto Fitness Solution as a group.

Full Throttle Endurance Racing dominated the Nautica New York City Triathlon for the third consecutive year. On the hottest day in the race’s ten-year history, FTE handily won the team competition, finishing 17 points ahead of the second-place team on the strength of eight podium finishes spanning a wide range of categories.

In the elite division, Allison Lind finished second among women; Doug Clark and Bill Kelly took fourth and ninth, respectively, among the men.

Melanie Wolff (F30-34) and Stacy Creamer (F50-54) both won their divisions; Creamer’s time was the fastest among all female age-group competitors and Wolff’s was the second-fastest.

“It’s always a thrill to race on home turf,” said Creamer, “especially when the course includes the Hudson River, the West Side Highway, and Central Park. And I love racing for a team. I compete better when more than just my own results are at stake.”

Mark Guay took second in the highly competitive M25-29 division.

“It was definitely not an easy race with the heat and humidity and, at times, I wanted to quit,” says Mark Guay. “How could I though? With my team cheering me on, I dug deep and persevered, and even set a new PR.”

Greg Usry (M45-49) and Full Throttle coaches Toni Weeks (F30-39) and Dan Ownes (over-40 Clydesdale) all finished third. Jess Mullin won the Athena division by more than 14 minutes.

Other FTE athletes contributing to the team win were Charlie Howe (fourth, under-39 Clydesdale) and Tom Slon (fifth, M50-54).

FTE team members Creamer and Bobby Kennedy also scored for second-place Yale in the Bloomsburg Businessweek Ivy League Championship, and Melanie Wolff and her husband, Bryan Wolff, scored for third-place Princeton.

We want to congratulate these awesome Suunto Athletes on a stellar job!

For more on Full Throttle Endurance visit there website here.