Hi runtastic users!

My name is Neall Hards, I come from North Bay Ontario.
One of the things I enjoy most about running is my time to soak in the beautiful Northern Ontario scenery and think. Nothing compares to the beautiful landscape colors and smells of Northern Ontario in the fall, my favorite time of the year to run.
As life became more demanding, there was little time left over for running. When I was in my early 20s I went into the mining industry, living in tents, working 12 – 16 hrs/day, 7 days/week for up to 3 months at a time, running was all but a memory.

My wife Samantha and I moved to Ottawa and I went back to school to study computer science. Our family was growing(Kaeline (Kiki), Eithan, and Masen), and life became more hectic. Still feeling the need to run, I tried to keep it a part of my life and competed in various 5K and 10K races and hit the gym from time to time.

In 2002 a sport injury set me back nearly 8 months. In 2003 I broke my ankle, which slowed me down a bit more, but I kept running as much as possible. Due to job travelling I had the opportunity to run in Australia, Switzerland, Boston, Texas, California, Florida and Toronto.

In the spring of 2011, something happened, I woke up, dusted off my gear, bought a treadmill and started to run between meetings. I decided if I was going to run I wanted to track my progress, did a search and bang there was runtastic, the free app and the 30 day gold trail was all I needed at first but then decided to get serious and buy the App and sign up for the gold membership and haven’t looked back since.
Within 2 months I was running a 30K. I bought a running stroller and incorporated time with my youngest at 6am. Running had become a passion for me again and to be honest the app has been very helpful in pushing me to do better every week and planning new routes. Of course work/life balances still offset running but quickly I pull it back in!

Since fall of 2011 I have been preparing for the more challenging and exhilarating runs, no matter if it means running all winter at -5C or -36C temperatures!
In January a friend mentioned the Tough Mudder (www.toughmudder.com) competition and asked if I wanted to make a team to run the race, I thought to myself, “I can run in +36C and -36C so lets do it!” and not only signed up, but decided I was going to qualify for the “Worlds Toughest Mudder” which is a 48 hour non stop round the clock ultra run…
In February someone told me about the Spartan sprint (www.spartanrace.com), but I found out they had the Spartan Beast race, which is a 19K race similar to the Tough Mudder and a qualifier to the Spartan Death Race, so there was only one thing to do… Sign up for the Beast and qualify for the Death race!
In my search of becoming a Worlds Toughest Mudder and a Death race competitor, I want to share my training, trials and tribulations with you and feel more motivated; runtastic is more than happy to let me share my progress and track it all via the runtastic app.

So here we go, I have been putting more and more effort into my all around training, my profile is open for all to watch my workouts, ask me questions if you think you can call my bluffs and I will prove you wrong.
“Why are you doing this?” You ask… Well I am competitive, love a challenge and if I may steal a response from George Herbert Leigh Mallory when asked ” Why climb Everest?”… “Because it’s there”

Now its time to sit back and enjoy the show, I will have blog posts with videos, my progress, feelings, including my pre-race jitters video and post race results. I am hoping to have the runtastic app running with me during the races, so my fan base of 1 can increase and you can cheer me on!
This weekend on June 30th I will be running the Spartan Beast race with the runtastic app tracking my progress… so folks follow me on my runtastic profile (http://www.runtastic.com/en/users/TOUGH-MUDDER-IN-TRAINING-Hards) and cheer me on!

We’re excited that runtastic is featured in the official new Windows Phone video! Check it out…

runtastic – Windows Phone

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Our finished run – in the shape of a sailboat!

In case you haven’t heard, runtastic’s “Gear Up for Summer” contest is going on now. We’re awarding $100 (or equivalent) debit cards to five creative fitness enthusiasts, plus runtastic t-shirts and fun swag for another 10 winners. And those of you who haven’t gotten around to entering are in luck because we’re extending the contest deadline to Saturday, June 30! That’s 10 more days to get outside and use a runtastic app to map your run, hike or bike ride – following a route that forms a summer shape. When you’re finished, send us the picture of your route (use these instructions). We’ll award the most detailed, high-quality and creative submissions shaped like summer items or activities.

Make sure to map your route before you head out. And don't worry if your final GPS image doesn't look quite as perfect as your plan — we're looking for creativity!

After seeing the awesome submissions that have been rolling in, some of us here at runtastic decided to join the fun. Of course we’re not eligible to win, but we’re always up for a workout (especially during work hours) and we were eager to stretch our creative muscles as well as our leg muscles.

First off, we needed to plan a route in the outline of a summer shape, which proved to be a bit of a challenge. The grid-shaped streets of San Francisco limited our options to square, rectangle and triangle-based designs. (And we wanted to be sure to steer clear of some of the city’s massive hills!)

Pondering a Google map of the city, we decided to run in the shape of a sailboat, in honor of this popular San Francisco summer pastime. We mapped out a precise route, then headed out for a jog through the crowded city streets. Between swerving to dodge tourists in Chinatown and inevitable GPS inaccuracies, our boat came out a little curvy here and there, but you get the idea.

From planning a course to making sure we turned on the exact right streets, “drawing” a summer shape on our run was a challenge, but also a ton of fun. So what are you waiting for? Plan your run, hike or bike ride, tracking your path with a runtastic app, and submit the resulting GPS picture for a chance to win!

And one more thing for our U.S. users: we’re thrilled by the enthusiasm and support we’re seeing as we continue to expand our U.S. presence, so we’ve decided to launch an exclusive Twitter handle for our US audience. Follow @runtasticUS for English-only fitness news, runtastic updates and more!

In February, we introduced you to marathoner Günther Weidlinger, who qualified for the Olympic Games 2012. Since then, he’s been updating us on his training. With the Olympics right around the corner, we asked the avid runtastic user to fill us in:

This spring I had to cancel races due to various injuries, but for the last several weeks I have been ramping up my training and working on increasing my pace. I’m very excited about the upcoming Olympiad in London and the thought of running past TowerBridge, Buckingham Palace and crossing the finish line at Olympic Stadium is pushing me on.

Since my injury-related setbacks, I have steadily been increasing my weekly running mileage to around 170 km (over 100 miles) while upping my general strength training, and have seen great improvements in stability and mobilization. A couple weekends ago I was finally able to pin on a race bib number and run in an organized race for the first time in a while. I ran the Puckinger Seelauf race, conveniently located near my home town, Weißkirchen, where I do most of my training.

Before the race, I thought I was just going to need to run a good tempo and not push myself too hard to win. But then I heard from a fellow racer that Elisha Sawe Kiprotich, a Kenyan runner, was also at the starting line. Elisha and I have known each other for a long time and I know that he is a very strong and powerful runner. After only one kilometer it was clear who would win the race, and it was not me! I finished the 10K with a very respectable of 30:41, only 24 seconds behind Elisha. I was extremely satisfied with my performance considering this was my first competitive race after my injury.

Thanks to Elisha’s speed, my kilometer pace ended up being 3:04 (under a 5-minute mile) instead of my goal of 3:10, which was an encouraging sign for London.

For the next few weeks I’ll continue my training inAustria, and when July rolls around, I’ll move my training to the high altitude camp in St. Moritz. There I plan on increasing my strength, endurance and pace and be fully prepared for London.

Best regards,

Günther

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To celebrate Father’s Day (this Sunday for many of our users), we’re dedicating the weekend to family fitness. Get the dad in your life outdoors on Sunday. Start the summer off healthy with a family hike, kayak adventure, rock climbing expedition, or just a walk around the block. With kids out of school, your once strict exercise schedule may start to slip, but here are some tips to encourage and include the whole family:

Be a role model

• Kids learn by example, so set a good one. If you’re eating right and exercising regularly, they’ll see the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Your commitment to fitness may even inspire and rub off on your significant other, parents, and friends.
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  Make exercise a team effort

  Don’t let entertaining the kids replace exercise—take them with you. Spend quality family time being active outdoors. Take regular family hikes or bike rides, or pledge to go on nightly walks with the dog. Or if you prefer to run, the kids can whiz along side on roller blades. For more kid-friendly exercise ideas, check out this mom’s blog.

  Take the screen with you

  Peeling kids away from their favorite video game may be tough, but challenge them to rack up as many steps as they can take with the runtastic Pedometer app, or bring runtastic Altimeter on a family hike and watch your elevation climb right along with you. Our apps track time, distance, calories burned, altitude, and much more, so treat statistics like points for a new type of game.

  In case you haven’t heard, our “Gear Up for Summer” contest is another way to make exercise more fun. For contest details, visit our past post, but here’s the gist:

  Until June 21, runtastic app users who track a run, hike, or bike route in the shape their favorite summer activity and submit it to us are eligible for one of five $100 (or equivalent currency) debit cards. Runners up will snag runtastic t-shirts and other cool swag.

  Here’s an unusual Father’s Day gift: help Dad win the contest by planning the coolest route, and going with him as he runs, hikes or bikes it. If he’s into softball, plot out the shape of a diamond. If he prefers tennis, figure out how to hike in the shape of a tennis racquet (and if you’re really dedicated, strings included!) Then, make sure he submits it to us at contest@runtastic.com.

  And to our users in Austria, Germany and other countries, even though the holiday has passed, we hope you made time to get outside. If not, show Dad how special he is with a second celebration. 

   Happy Father’s Day!