on the 5th Day of Christmas...
Dec 05, 2012
...my True LU gave to me...
5 Dudes named NICK!!! and a deal....(louder please)
We hear today just happens to be the St. Nicholas Day. EVERYday is NICK DAY at LIVE UNCOMMON....
NICK. What a good name, right? Solid. Strong. Cool-guy-you-want-to-know kinda name. Lucky thing for us, for YOU, that we have 5 of these solid, strong, cool-guy-you-want-to-know NICK dudes on the roster.
Here they are.....
NICK SCOTT. Mr. SCOTT is LU's most recent NICK acquisition. This NICK joined the Movement in August of this year and all we can say is that we are stoked that he did. Here's what we know about the guy -- NICK SCOTT is a proud Iowa State grad who brought the fruits of his top notch education back to the Quad Cities area from which he hails. The Movement is truly honored that NICK flies the LU flag all over the region, competing in events from the 5K to the IRONMAN 70.3 (whoa). LU Crew has yet to shake this man's hand in person, but has captured his fleeting image a time or two as he flies by the FINISH LINE like a blur.
Since his LU inaugeration, NICK SCOTT has been one busy NICK. NICK hit the Chicago ground running for his second take down of the 26.2 miles up there. The Chicago Marathon is only a hash mark on the wall for this guy -- this year alone NICK has knocked off: Kansas City 5150 Olympic Triathlon, QC Triathlon, IronMAN 70.3 Kansas, Firecracker 10K, Bix 7, OUCH! Half Marathon, HyVee 5150 Olympic Triathlon DesMoines, KC Marathon and is now training for IronMAN Tahoe in September of 2013. Um...can you say 'tough'?? Well, also say 'nice'....
From the ONE who may likely know him best, NICK SCOTT's very own true blue MORGAN BENSON tells the world her NICK is one stand up guy. Here's what our MORGAN source says:
"Nick is a driven, self-motivated, and selfless person in all areas of his life. He will talk your ear off about triathlons if you let him, and is always willing to dedicate his time to helping anyone, especially another athlete. I wouldn't be where I am today as a runner if it weren't for his motivational advice and inspiration!"
Sounds like MORGAN is a keeper, NICK. Thank you, MORGAN, for sharing some tidbits about NICK with the Team. And thank you, NICK SCOTT, for bringing your force to the Movement. We dig you. Alot.
Next NICK -- NICK VILLAREAL. Hmm. What can we say about NICK? Not enough. This guy - NICK VILLAREAL, that is - is also one of the good guys. NICK VILLAREAL was introduced to the Movement back in the summer of 2011 just after LU was launched into the world. We believe we can thank NICK's sister ALICIA VILLAREAL for that intro, since she - ALICIA, that is - is LU Charter Member 22 (that's way, way early on in LU life -- we're talking first week kind of timeline). NICK made his LU debut a couple weeks after his sweet sis, claiming the CM71 LU ID. We can further track back NICK's LU origin to none other than JEN PAUL. Because.....it was ALICIA who opened the LU doorway to her bro NICK...it was JEN PAUL who gave ALICIA the LU nod. Here's how it happened -- ALICIA was driving down the road one day and sees a billboard. She's intrigued -- "LIVE UNCOMMON" she says to herself. Hmmm. And what makes her do a triple take is the realization that the chic on the billboard is her former cross country coach from her days at Davenport North High School. Hmmm. Back in those days, LIVE UNCOMMON billboards (there were two that were launched to announce the launch of the RevoLUtion - one of JEFF, one of JEN)....anyway, back in those way early days the billboards had the website address on them. So ALICIA went home and typed in liveuncommon.org. She found LIVE UNCOMMON, made a donation, got some sweet gear, wore it while she did her Uncommon thing here and there and everywhere, and NICK was like, "LIVE UNCOMMON...what's that?" And the rest is in the LU history books -- NICK becomes CM71 and we, the behind the scenes LU Crew, do our happy little jig dance. And, as always, the Crew did their research. The reason we can tell YOU about ALICIA seeing the billboard and noticing it was her high school XC coach, is because she - ALICIA - told us about it. The Crew wrote to ALICIA to thank her for her donation and ask very politely how she came to know the Movement. When we got in the know about the JEN/ALICIA connection, the next thing the Crew did was to tell JEN about it, so JEN could do the happy little jig dance too. She did (the happy little jig dance, that is) and then she went on to share with us the awesomeness of ALICIA, and all the VILLAREALs. JEN's words to the Crew were something like, "oh ALICIA's a great girl! and that's because her Family is a great Family!" Pretty cool, don'tcha think? We did. We do.
The Crew's first sighting of NICK VILLAREAL was at the 2011 QC Marathon when he breezed past a majority of the pack to come in around 1:30ish in the HALF. Alot of the Crew was running that day and at first saw NICK only from the back, blinded by his speed and the flash of the "R" on his back. The Crew captured this pic of NICK at the FINISH that day there he was after 13.1 miles looking fresh as a daisy.
When 2012 first rolled around and details of that upcoming year were being released, The LIVE UNCOMMON Race Team was launched. It's funny - there was talk back here about reaching out to NICK and personally inviting him to consider signing on --- we had a certain 'feeling' about him. We knew he was literally running all over the country taking in and knocking down Marathons and Halfs everwhere he went. We thought the LU Race Team might be right up this guy's alley, ya know? But, we also didn't want him to feel obligated or pressured in any way. Seriously, serving on the LU Race Team isn't for sissies. In Year One - 2012 - serving on the Race Team meant not only signing on to run the 7 LU Series Race Events (ranging from 5K to Marathon), but simultaneously raising awareness and funds (minimum of $700 each) for the Charities behind each of the 7 Races. No small task, right? Well...The Race Team was forming....growing... ONE by ONE the LU Heroes were stepping forward to take this journey....to make a difference for the Charities. Ya know that happy little jig dance the Crew does when we welcome an LU to the Movement? Well, the Welcome-to-the-LU-Race-Team is more like a break dance. Let's just say that these guys are a pretty big deal and we are in awe of their GIVE BACK. Pretty cool stuff. Okay, so this brings us back to NICK VILLAREAL. As we're thinking about what a good 'fit' NICK would be for the LU Race Team, the LU Inbox chime goes off and what do you know?? Yup - NICK VILLAREAL is on the Race Team. Come on, we know you've got some moves, bust out a few for NICK, will ya?
Next next NICK. NICK SACCO. NICK SACCO is.....let's see now where do we begin? NICK is.....a teacher - high school math (Trig, Algebra, all that tough stuff).....coach (XC, baseball, maybe more) and ya know how much we dig good teachers and coaches, right? And NICK is both. Hmm. Well, then add to the mix that NICK SACCO is on the 'good guys' list, like NICK SCOTT and NICK VILLAREAL. Check this out -- NICK came to the roster way way back in July of 2011, right? (so NICK SACCO is a CM) Like, in the first week or so. When the Crew wrote to him to thank him for his donation, NICK writes back to tell us that he wants to make sure he gets his new gear in time run in it at the ST. JUDE's 34 Mile Run event. Yeah. NICK SACCO likes to run, no doubt... 34 miles is no lazy morning jaunt. But NICK wasn't running those 34 miles for the sake of the 34 miles. Nope. NICK was running them for ST. JUDE's. Pretty impressive. So right off the bat, the Crew was tipping our hat to NICK SACCO. There are alot of good Causes out there doing good things for the world. ST. JUDE's is way up there. Running, or doing anything for that matter, for a CAUSE is pretty cool. LIVE UNCOMMON tips its hat to all the events, running or whatnot, out there in the world which are organized for the purpose of serving 'the greater good'. Not just to make some money, but to DO SOME GOOD, affect some GOOD on the world, GIVE BACK. The LIVE UNCOMMON Race Series is comprised of events selected based upon their GIVE BACK. The funds ($17,500 in 2012) raised by the LIVE UNCOMMON Race Team, are distributed across the Charities behind the Series Events. It was no suprise to the Crew when NICK SACCO chimed the LU Inbox again in March to sign on the dotted line to serve on the LU Race Team. NICK SACCO - Teacher, Coach, Marathon Man, Hero.
One more tidbit about NICK SACCO. We told you he's one of the good guys, right? Well, all three of these NICKs -- SCOTT, VILLAREAL, SACCO have more than just running to make their hearts beat faster... All 3 NICKs shared their Uncommon-ness with someONE on and off the race courses this year. NICK SCOTT with MORGAN BENSON......NICK VILLAREAL with ANNA MULLEN (ANNA was inspired by NICK to take up running in 2011 and conquered her first ever Half Marathon with him in Disney World last January!).....NICK SACCO with HEATHER SOON-TO-BE-SACCO (wedding date July 13 next year!).
Okay, that's 3 NICKs. But this verse is "The 5 Dudes named NICK". So what's up with that??
Let us tell you what's up with that. Our Next Next Next NICK is NICK EMORY. And our Next Next Next Next NICK is NICK MITTON. All the Crew knows about these two Teammates is that they are obviouly cool dudes because they have generously supported the Movement and are probably walking or running or biking or swimming or break dancing around town somewhere doin their Uncommon thing in their gear. NICK EMORY and NICK MITTON came out to do their glowy thing with the Team in June at the LU Torchlight Parade and maybe the Crew caught them on camera in this photo. Zoom in....
So those are the 5 NICKs. What did we tell ya? 5 smoking cool dudes, right? You can say it. Even if you're a smoking cool dude yourself, you can still recognize a fellow smoking cool dude when you see one, right? Give the 5 Dudes named NICK an LU nod...
Oh, wait -- the deal!! Today -- ACTIVE ENDEAVORS (you know LU Exclusive Gear Retailer) well today is Customer Appreciation Day. That means 20% off EVERYTHING in the store. Not LU gear though. You can't take 20% a donation, ya know. Anyway, besides the obvious fact that ACTIVE ENDEAVORS does SOOO much for the Movement (they carry the gear without taking a 'cut' AND they donated the $5,000 for the LU Scholarship awarded to SAM STAVER, MICHAEL BYRNE, GRANT LANG in June) ACTIVE ENDEAVORS is hands down the coolest store for miles and miles and miles. Sweet stuff in there -- and today it is ALL 20% off. Get in your LU gear and give your LU saLUte to the peeps at AE.
Alright....ready to sing?? Come on, you know the words... On three. One, two....
on the 5th Day of Christmas my True LU gave to me..........5 Dudes named NICK!!....and a deal............4 Friends of FRANZEN........3 LMTs............2 ROBERT BEARDSLEYs..........and JEN and JEFF PAUL in RUSSELL CONSTRUCTION gear!!!!!
Missed a verse? Click on the days and we'll take you to the words so you can sing along...
