Inking a deal with Avia

A dream sponsorship deal is one in which you get to work with great people to promote a product you believe in. That is why I am so happy to have met Ed and Julie of Avia at Wildflower this weekend. They contacted me after seeing photos of me winning col nats in their Avi-bolt racing flat. Then I met them this weekend and was really impressed with their enthusiasm for the sport. Avia is title sponsor for Wildflower and they do a real nice job. The brand was all over the place this weekend. It made me really excited to be joining the team. I raced the Avi-bolt again this weekend and its about the only thing that went right in my race. I ran on rough trail terrain, up and down steep hills, over the longest distance I have ever run in a race and I didn’t get a single blister. Oh, and I did it all barefoot. I have come to expect a blister or two as the price for foregoing socks, so I was happily surprised.

Avia had moved away from endurance sport and triathlon for a while. But under new leadership, they are really trying to break back into the market. My good friend and fellow 2008 col nats Champion Amanda Felder had been working with Avia since before Col Nats and has nothing but great things to say about the people and the product. They had an entire row of RVs for their staff and athletes to stay in. They were parked right in the transition area (see pic below). That is pretty cool.

I look forward to working with Ed and Julie and the other great people at Avia to support their shoes and my triathlon endeavors.