Thanks to you….

We (ENDracing) were able to donate a whopping $10,000 to Ground UP Adventures--a local Grand Forks youth based non-profit--at the end of 2013.  The non-profit is the chosen beneficiary of any surplus our organization has at the end of the year, but we honestly never imagined we'd be able to make such a substantial contribution.  It's a good thing too--Ground UP's ambitious boat house project  needed financial support.  It had only recieved one cash grant (from the North Dakota Tourism Department) and although many in-kind donations promised to see the facility stocked to the gills, additional funding for the actual facility was sorely needed.  

We at ENDracing are all just thrilled to have been able to find such success doing what we love that we can give back in such a meaningful way.  A huge thanks to all those who have raced with us, volunteered, or just cheered us on--it is your support that makes it possible for us to support others. 

It's Winter. Send Us Your Beardcicle!

It's been a rough start to the winter for some of us, but the arctic vortex just meant conditions where primed for great beardcicle formation.  Send in your best beardcicle photos, and we'll be giving away a ColdAvenger face mask and two $25 ENDracing codes to our top three favorites.  If you don't have a beard, that's okay--we'll accept your truly epic face, balaclava, or mask frost photos as well.

To Enter: First, go outside in the cold and get a good workout in.  Only beardcicles from this season (Winter 2013-2014) will be accepted.  Entries must be received before February 1st.

  1. Give us some props by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
  2. Send us a photo in one of three ways (we'll be watching all of them):
    1. Drop an email to matt@endracing.com with your photo and a caption (include photographer if it wasn't you).
    2. Post the photo on our Facebook page with hashtag #beardcicle.
    3. Tweet the photo to us (@ENDracing) with hashtag #beardcicle.

We here at ENDracing will pick our top three favorites, based on the epicness of the beardcicle, any associated story, and any other criteria we see fit.

Fine Print: Only beardcicles from this season (Winter 2013-2014) will be accepted.  Copyright stays with whoever took the photo, although by sending it to us you are stating that we may share photos (with attribution) on our website, Facebook page, or Twitter account in relation to this contest.  Your photos will not be used for promotional materials.  We do not share or sell information to third parties.

Photo by Wes Peck at END-IT 2013.

One shirt to rule them all....

People were asking for shirts, so we got some shirts!  We've ordered 250 USA made T-shirts - 50% organic cotton, 50% recycled PET  (basically old pop bottles).  We've got an assortment of colors available, but due to the nature of being 'green' colors were limited to dyes that were also environmentally friendly.  The shirts are not event specific but instead list all the 2014 ENDracing events on the back and come with a fabric marker so that you can buy one shirt and check off the events as you do them.  Will anyone fill their shirt this year?  We'll have to wait and see! 

Shirts are available in both women's specific cuts (S, M, L) and unisex cuts (S, M, L, and a few XL).  All sizes will be available in the following colors: Bark, Coal, Dusk, Shadow and Kiwi.  The unisex shirt showning the front logo is an example of kiwi, the back is coal.  'Shadow' is basically black, 'Bark' is a earthen brown, and Dusk is muted darkish blue/purplish color.  We've only ordered 250 shirts total (in all sizes and colors) so stock will be limited.  They will be $15 ea. with a race (when purchased online at time of registration) or for in general for $25 off the website and/or at events. 

Click here to get 'em now.  Yee Haw and happy new year everyone!

The New ENDracing

We're excited about 2014.  Not only are we starting to get the hang of this race directing thing, we're also making loads of friends and great connections within the community.  We are getting a bit closer to navigating the challenging waters of staying true to our passion while making this whole thing a viable enterprise - things that we'll have to master to keep this going into the future.  We love feedback from racers and want to keep getting it - and its because of that feedback, in conjunction with our own constraints, that we're launching a few new options this coming year.

You'll notice when you register for races that some prices will have gone up and some wil have gone down.  We've got a much better idea this year about what each of our events (well at least the ones we've done before) actually cost us to put on and a few of our events weren't covering the costs.  We've also realized that a signficant portion of our costs for some races were in providing swag.  Sourcing and getting swag for each individual event, particulalry once our 'season' gets underway, is also logistically pretty difficult. We also know that some racers would rather not pay for swag they don't want/need. Finally, we've had an increasing request for ENDracing merchandise.  So here's what we've decided to do:

Most races will be offered at a base level registration fee - this fee will get you into the race but does not include any swag.  Racers signing up for events will have the option to add optional swag at prices that cover our cost to purchase and screen print it.  We plan on offering functional and awesome gear that is useful for racing - hats, gloves, socks, merino shirts - stuff like that.  If you want swag, just add it to your 'cart' during the registration process and the discount will appear automatically - you'll get your stuff at the race.  We'll also offer all the merchandise available for purchase as swag (and maybe some additional stuff) in a new 'store' section of the website that we hope to have up and running in time for you to do some holiday shopping.  And of course any relevent ENDracing gear will also be available for purchase at events themselves.  Note, some races will still have swag - this will be noted on the event page under the section that tells you what you get for your registration fee.

Some races, particularly the really difficult ones that will remain the same from year to year (END-SURE, etc) will offer finisher awards for some categories.  This means if you take on the 100K trail run, for example, and finish it, you'll get a belt buckle or something similar.

We will continue to pursue industry sponsors as a source of meaningful prizes, but realize that we will increasingly need to rely on local connections and a more 'humble' prize pool (like the Zombie Zinfindel and Dead Guy growlers from the double feature) when we don't get suitable industry sponsorship.  Experience has shown that even when we've got good relationships with national partners, it is hit and miss as to whether we are able to get them on board (or even connect with them at all!) for a particular event. After all, these companies are being asked to give stuff away to an extremely niche racing group in North Dakota of all places!  So we'll take the love when we get it, and continue to rely on racers themselves reaching out to these sponsors to show their appreciation when it all comes together.  Bottom line though is that providing memorable race experiences will always trump providing valuable prizes as our priority.

Finally, I want to create an organization that is fully tranparent.  So if you're interested in this sort of thing, and want a look at the big picture of ENDracing, then here is a link that give details about what we do behind the scenes, how we do it, and where the money goes. 

See you all soon!

Grassroots

 
Here at ENDracing we claim to be a grassroots racing organization.  But what does that really mean?
 
Well, a grassroots movement, according to Wikipedia, implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, (as opposed to a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures). Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the movement.
 
This is all well and good, but lets get more specific.  What grassroots means to us is that we put on races for our community supported by members of that community. It means that we've grown organically while staying true to our mission - putting on challenging events that are well orchestrated and offered at exceptional values.  It means that when we make mistakes occasionally (our prolonged clean up of the mud run for example) we learn from them, and try really hard not to make them more than once.  It means that we rely heavily on our volunteers who donate not only their time on race day but also in the days leading up to the race - and their trucks, trailers, kayaks, lifejackets, and paddles to help us keep costs down.  It means we are appreciated by the very community we serve - what we do is only possible because our city and state values our efforts and supports them both directly (financially) and indirectly.  It means that there is a high degree of interconnectedness and lack of separation between much of the core ENDracing group - our families are all volunteers, our volunteers are often also our racers, and our racers become family.  We wouldn't want it any other way.
 
Cheers,
Andy

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