A contest. And a giveaway!

On Friday, I mentioned that I would be announcing a super cool giveaway today. I didn't lie! I have it for you today. And, I have info about a contest. Just all kinds of good stuff going on around here.

First, let me give you the background. Some nice folks from Strands contacted me to let me know about their site and give me some info to share with you about a contest they are running. Running! Heh, heh. Strands is a free online training log, along the lines of Daily Mile, Running Ahead, Map My Run, etc., with a dash of social networking. Users set up accounts and can track their workouts, add running routes, join groups, share information with other runners and do all the typical things you would expect to do on a running site. I signed up for an account last week and have just started setting it up so I'm not well-versed in all the features but it seems like a good site.

OK, so that's the deal with that. Now on to the contest!

The Strands Contest

Strands is giving away 12 all-expense paid trips (airfare, hotel, meals) to Oregon to run in the Nike Hood to Coast Relay at the end of August. According to the promotional material, it's the largest relay in the world!

There are two ways that you can enter to win. First, you can participate in the store contest, which is for running stores that have profiles on Strands. Visit your favorite running store to see if they are on Strands (or check them out on the site -- the list should be posted today) and request a promo kit by sending an email to: HTC@strands.com. Check out the detailed info on the store contest here.

You can also enter the individual contest for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to run with Team Strands! All you have to do is create a video, essay, poem, blog entry or other creative work on the subject of “Why I Run” and publish the work on Strands. The top "Why I Run" entry wins! You can read all about the individual contest here. The contests end on July 20th.

Pretty cool, huh? Check it out!

The Happy Runner Giveaway

So . . . I said this was going to be the coolest giveaway ever and I really think it is! Thanks to the generous folks at Strands, here's what one lucky reader will win:

• One pair of running shoes -- winner's choice! The shoes just need to be available to the public in stores or online.
• One Puma tech shirt
• One Puma t-shirt

Yes! I love that the winner will get to pick the shoes!

Here's how to enter:

• One entry (required -- you need to work for this one!): Set up an account on Strands and then leave me a comment with your username (do NOT leave your password or anything else related to your account!).
• For one additional entry: Link to this giveaway from your blog.
• For another additional entry: Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter.

The contest will run through midnight (EST) on Thursday, June 25. The winner will be picked at random and announced on Friday.

Good luck! And happy Monday. How about no rain today, huh? That would be nice . . .

~ Felice