Wellness Walk & Run Video

Akron General from Infocus Studios LLC on Vimeo.

Tim Frankish of Infocus Studios LLC created an amazing video that captures the essence and excitement that took place during the Akron Wellness Walk & Run earlier this year on September 5. The video is a fantastic representation of the event, complete with action shots of the warm-up session, and views from inside the Wellness Trails. Take a look!

Running T-Shirt Quilt

Photo by OHventures

As an avid runner, my dresser drawers slowly began to overflow with race t-shirts I have collected over the many years of hitting the pavement. 

At first, it's really cool to get a new t-shirt every time you run - it can serve as a memento of a great accomplishment and fantastic experience had with friends. But, if you do 10, 15, even 20 races a year like I do, then it begins to take over your wardrobe, and your storage! A friend once asked if I had anything other than suits and running t-shirts, because he'd see me wearing them so often. Unacceptable.

So I decided it was time to do something about it. As part of my 30 Things To Do Before (While) I'm 30, I set out to have a quilt made using some old running t-shirts! It was a genius idea that I had seen before on Groupon. But rather than sending shirts off to a random company, I put the call out to my friends on Facebook to see if anyone had any ideas of where or who I could go to for a t-shirt quilt.

Many people stepped up and offered ideas, but one friend of mine, Rick, stepped up in a big way. He said that he had always wanted to try to make a quilt, but never had a reason to. If I trusted him, he said he would be willing to make a quilt for me. Instead of monetary payment, he said he would like to have a sampling of wines I gathered from all of my various wineries I visited across the state. It was a perfect match! 

I had to figure out which shirts I could use. He said he could take 20. There were some that I didn't want to give up because I really enjoy wearing them and they are too cool to give up. And there are some that - let's face it - are so ugly that I didn't even want them on a quilt. I wanted ones that looked good and were from races that had special meaning to me. So, after meticulous planning, I came up with a good mix of shirts. 

The shirts are, as displayed on the quilt:

Row 1 (l-r)

Capital City Quarter Marathon - May 2013, Columbus

Boardman Memorial Mile - May 2013, Boardman

Capital City Half Marathon - May 2012, Columbus (my first half marathon)

Run With The Pack 5K - June 2012, Columbus (first run I did with my dog)

Row 2 (l-r)

World Fit 5K - May 2014, Warren (my brother helped organize this race)

Selfless Elf 5K - December 2013, Akron

Glo Run Columbus - April 2013, Columbus

Arnold Pump & Run 5K 2014 - March 2014, Columbus

Row 3 (l-r)

Hubbard Public Library Zombie Run - October 2012, Hubbard

Oktoberfest Brat Trot 4 Miler - September 2012, Columbus

Warrior Dash Ohio 2014 - August 2014, North Lawrence

Out Of The Darkness Walk - October 2014, North Canton (in honor of my cousin)

Row 4 (l-r)

Team OHventures T-Shirts (a shirt I designed for the blog)

Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot - November 2012, Warren (started our family tradition)

Funny Bunny 4 Miler - April 2014, Canton (took place on my birthday)

Foam Fest 5K - June 2013, Logan

Row 5 (l-r)

Akron Marathon Relay 2014 - September 2014 Akron

Bike Columbus Festival – July 2012, Columbus (first biking event)

Dirty Dog 5K Run & Wash - July 2013, Avon Lake

Akron Gen. Birthday Bash Dash 5K - August 2014, Stow (I was Race Director)

These shirts were the perfect shirts to have made into a quilt. And, Rick certainly delivered with a high quality and great looking quilt (not too shabby for his first quilt making experience). Having this quilt has transformed a pile of t-shirts shoved in a dresser into a unique, meaningful and timeless piece of art (that also doubles as a comfy blanket). 

I owe a great deal of gratitude to Rick for making this happen. This is an item I will always value. One look at it brings back a flood of memories of friends and stories I have made in my running career that has truly changed my life in a number of ways. It's something you can't put a price tag on. No amount of wine can show my appreciation for this great creation!

Ultimate Beer Run Recap

Photos by OHventures

Peanut butter & jelly. Milk & cookies. Running & beer?!

It may not be a traditional pairing or a match made in heaven, but combining running with beer is definitely a recipe for a good (albeit interesting) time. These are two of my favorite things, so if you throw them together like in the Ultimate Beer Run on May 9 in Columbus, I certainly find it hard to resist.

Team OHventures (Me, Matt, Megan, Matt #2, Jess, Megan #2, & Jim) united in our green & gray OHventures t-shirts, party beads, and oversized neon sunglasses to tackle the challenge of the Ultimate Beer Run head on! The Ultimate Beer Run isn't about who is the fastest or the fittest. It's about good people, good fun, and tons of good costumes! 

Our "costumes" were extremely tame compared to the legions of participants clad in elaborate Avengers get-ups an other hilarious outfits like Wayne & Garth from "Wayne's World" (above) - or my absolute favorite, Indiana Jones being chased by the "boulder" (below)!

The concept was quite a doozy: run a total of 2 miles while stopping to drink a total of 40 ounces of craft beer from local Ohio breweries. Needless to say, this race was not a competitive timed event, but we did have the traditional running bibs to make it seem official. The Ultimate Beer Run Columbus took place at its home base of the Land Grant Brewing Company located in the up-and-coming revival neighborhood of Franklinton in West Columbus. 

Tents were situated outside for each of the breweries: Jackie O's Brewery from Athens, MadTree Brewing Company from Cincinnati, Fat Head's Brewery in North Olmstead, and of course our host, the Land Grant Brewing Company from Columbus! Each runner was given 3 beer tickets and a beer token.

All runners lined up on the street, and at the sound of the horn, we ran around a small loop course (approximately 2/3 mile by my estimations) that brought us right back to where we started. When we got back to Land Grant, we turned in our drink ticket to any one of the 4 brewery tents so we could receive a 10 ounce beer of our choice!

There was no need to chug the beer, so we took our times, enjoyed the brew, then went back around the loop to repeat the whole process. We did this - drinking a beer and running a lap - repeatedly until we were out of tickets! It was a gorgeous 85-degree May day in Columbus, and the race started at 12 noon (when it was the hottest temperature of the day). So, the heat combined with the beer and the running made it very important to also hydrate with water in between runs!

It was definitely a challenge bouncing up and down the roads of C-Bus with frothy brew sloshing around my stomach. But my mind was taken off of any discomfort thanks to all of the great scenery and hilarious costumes that kept me and my teammates cracking up and enjoying ourselves!

After our final lap, it was time to turn in our UBR chip to get our giant mugs of beer! By now, it was only 1PM, so the party was just getting started, with a costume contest, dance-off, and of course a ton of brew. If you want to take part in the Ultimate Beer Run, check out its website to see when it will be stumbling into your town! There are UBRs in Cleveland and Cincinnati, as well as many other cities outside of Ohio (Nashville, Indianapolis, and St. Louis to name a few!).

Ohio-fy Your Life

Photos by OHventures

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being so devoted that you'd get an Ohio tattoo (I am considering it), how hardcore of an Ohio fan are you? We aren't talking Ohio State football (although we are big-time Buckeyes fans), or Ohio University (although Athens is one of the coolest college towns around), but we are talking the entire state of Ohio.

If you are a tried and true lover of this great state, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, from Ashtabula to Cincinnati, then here are some products that you can get to Ohio-fy Your Life. And, yes, all of these are in my house!

1. Ohio Thread Art: Pictured at the beginning of this post, this thread art in the shape of Ohio is hanging proudly in my bedroom. Made by a friend at Threaded State (based in Cincinnati), you too can get a customized piece of Ohio thread art. Choose your color, your design, and whether or not you want to highlight a special city! You can also learn to make your own.

2. Milk Chocolate Ohio: Okay, so this was in my house, before I devoured it. Just in time for Easter (or whatever the closest holiday is at the time you are reading this), I purchased this tasty milk chocolate shaped like Ohio from Hartville Chocolate Factory in Stark County. You can also get loads of other goodies, such as chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate dipped Oreos, which are not shaped like Ohio, but taste pretty awesome nonetheless.

3. Ohio BibFolio: If you are a runner, and you live in Ohio (or do a lot of races in Ohio), then this handy dandy contraption is for you. It's called a "BibFolio," and it holds all of your race number bibs inside! Since I have dozens and dozens of bibs from races, this was a no-brainer. You can get a ton of different designs, but how can you pass up the RUN OHIO design?!

4. Ohio Ink Art: This Ohio ink art was special made for OHventures by our pal Matt of MATTHEWDYEstudio in Canton. Browse his site to see what artwork he has on sale. Odds are, there are some Ohio pieces available - or, if not, he would be willing to whip one up for you! Tell him I sent ya.

5. Ohio Cutting Board: I am quite the chef these days (don't believe me, then stop over for some award winning chili or my specialty shrimp & cheesy grits). So, a trusty bamboo cutting board in the shape of Ohio is a dream for me. Pictured, you can see I had a little fun and added some cut carrots on my three "homes" of Columbus, Akron/Canton, and Youngstown (Hubbard). This find was thanks to the Totally Bamboo brand sold at Bed Bath & Beyond.

6. Ohio Pocket T-Shirt: This is one of my favorite Ohio-themed items I own (can't you tell by the goofy face I am making while modeling it in the picture above?). The reason I love it so much is because of the story it tells. This shirt is from a new grassroots company in Akron called Neighbors Apparel. All shirts and accessories are made by refugee women living in Akron. Plus, a portion of the profits goes towards giving these refugee women a living wage, and some is donated to help Urban Vision, an inner-city mission in Akron. Become a neighbor today by getting one of these shirts!

7. Rubber City Golf Balls: And while we are in Akron, we may as well put a plug in for Rubber City Clothing, which sells, among other things, these golf balls donning - what else? - the shape of the state of Ohio! It's on my bucket list to hit the links and become a better golfer, so perhaps these balls will be good luck? If not, there's always other great Ohio-themed clothing and items at Rubber City Clothing as well!

8. #OHIO T-Shirt: Ah, yes. I couldn't ever pass up a shirt such as this. It incorporates a hashtag AND Ohio's historical year of settlement? The irony! The cheekiness! The Ohio-ness! I can't even. I got this gem at the Ohio-themed boutique in downtown Columbus called State & Third (found at the Shops on Capital Square). The vendor of the shirt is Lamp Apparel.

Stay tuned for more ways to Ohio-fy Your Life! Have items to add to our Ohio collection, send us an email to let us know!

Tackle The Tower Recap

Photos by OHventures

Tackling the tower is NO easy feat! 

On Saturday, February 7, 2015, Team OHventures supported the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland by participating in its signature stair climb event, Tackle The Tower!

The challenge was to climb 37 flights of stairs at the Galleria & Tower at Erieview in downtown Cleveland as fast as you can! It might seem like a simple task, but it was anything but!

The Tower at Erieview in Cleveland!

There was really not much of a way to practice for this event, other than to perhaps climb stairs in your office building on your lunch break. I have been doing a great deal of leg workouts (squats, lunges, calf raises, etc.) and running, but even that couldn't quite prepare me for the difficulty of this stair climb! In the past, I participated in a similar event, the Fight For Air Stair Climb for the American Lung Association, so I did have an idea of what to expect.

Team OHventures consisted of myself, and my friends Marc (my gym buddy), Chad, and Johnny (AKA my resident "Tough Mudder Expert"). These are guys who I knew would excel at such an obstacle, as they are pretty physically fit. 

Chad thought it would be a great idea to have coordinating outfits or shirts to show that we were a team. Since my last batch of OHventures t-shirts have sold out, we couldn't use that option. Instead, Chad suggested we all wear a superhero costume of some sort to indicate we were a pack. Since the charity we were climbing for, the Ronald McDonald House, is to help children who are ill, the superhero idea seemed like a no-brainer. Thus, Johnny was Spider-Man, Marc was The Punisher, Chad was Captain America (complete with a mask and shield), and I was Superman (apparently the only non-Marvel character of the bunch, which could upset certain comic book nerds).

Posing for the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland

The superhero costumes were a big hit! Random folks wanted our picture, as well as Ronald McDonald himself (pictured above)! We also were interviewed by the local news (WKYC Cleveland), and stretched with the gals from ZenWorks Yoga (they were helping many participants with a mini yoga session before their climb - how cool!).

Stretching with ZenWorks Yoga

The competitive heats began at 9AM, with runners starting every 10 seconds. I was first for our team, and I began at 9:46:50 - on the dot! Following me were Johnny, then Marc, then Chad. It was a GRUELING and painful run up those stairs. To call it a "run" is being generous, because I got gassed out after only a few flights, and from there on, it was just a matter of keeping yourself moving. Every flight that I climbed, I would see the floor number SLOWLY progressing until I finally reached the 37th floor! It was a glorious moment when I finished at the top.

My legs were sore, but the most discomfort came from the burning sensation in my chest and lungs! Like many other folks at the top, I was coughing up a storm! Something about powering through hundreds of steps in a dusty stairwell must really affect your breathing somehow!

Our individual times were: 5:38.2 for Johnny (he was 1st in his age group), 6:35.9 for Chad, 6:48.9 for me (about a minute better than my climb in 2013), and 9:07.9 for Marc. All were impressive times. We managed to get 4th place overall male team, which we are very proud of. I was told there was close to 1,000 participants (including those in the fun walk prior to our heat).\

Later in the morning was the mascot race (with mascots from every local sports team, including my favorite - Slider of the Cleveland Indians), and a firefighter race, where they all climbed with their heavy gear!

We were happy to support the children of the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland in the Tackle the Tower event. Felt like a real-life superhero that morning!

Birthday Bash Dash 5K Photo Blog

Who: 400+ runners & walkers, 70 volunteers, and countless spectators
What: Birthday Bash Dash 5K
Where: City of Stow, Summit County
When: August 30, 2014
Why: To celebrate an active lifestyle, and to benefit Muffins for Mammograms & SEEF
How: Months of training, dedication, and planning.

Photos by OHventures, AGMC, and Compass Media

Birthday Bash Dash 5K Recap

Photos by OHventures & Compass Media

The Akron General Birthday Bash Dash 5K walk/run took place on August 30, 2014 in the City of Stow. Over 400 participants registered to take part in the festivities honoring Akron General's 100th "Birthday" and supporting two fantastic organizations: Muffins For Mammograms, which helps uninsured and underinsured women have access to free breast exams; and the Stow Excellence in Education Foundation (SEEF), which provides teachers and students of the Stow City School District with scholarships.

The event was in conjunction with the City of Stow's Summer Sunset Blast, a weekend long celebration in town that serves as a farewell to summer. There were nearly 70 volunteers and countless spectators who were also present to help support the runners and the cause.

The festivities began that Saturday morning with day-of registration and packet pickup at 8:00 AM, and former WQMX DJ Chris Casale playing uptempo tunes to energize the crowd. Race Director Michael Evans sounded the horn at 9:00 AM to signify the start of the 5K. Everyone from competitive runners to casual walkers made their way down City Center Boulevard in Stow, soon making a turn on to the gravel and paved paths of the Akron General Wellness Trails located nearby.

These trails extended for approximately 0.4 miles, then sending runners down Lillian and Darrow Roads. The course looped around and guided runners back through the Wellness Trails to the finish line!

To get folks in a festive spirit, teal colored "birthday hats" and race day t-shirts were sprinkled throughout the crowd, and "birthday" muffins were presented to everyone who crossed the finish line. The Akron General Health & Wellness Express served as a backdrop to the after party, where runners gathered to cool down and hydrate with water provided by sponsor Giant Eagle. Additional muffins were for sale at the after party, and participants could visit tables to talk with representatives from Reflections Breast Health Center, the Heart Walk, Stow Parks & Recreation, and the Akron General Discovery Trunk.

An awards ceremony was led by Stow Mayor Sara Drew, which included a raffle of 100 Day Family Memberships to Lifestyles. Medals were given to winners who placed in his or her respective age group, and trophies were given to the overall female winner (Jodi Brown, 24, Medical/Surgical Staff RN) and overall male winner (Wes Parker, 34, Medical/Surgical Staff RN).

Special awards were also given to the runner who traveled the farthest (Matt Marshall of Columbus), the runner with the fewest birthdays (Hank Vucetic, 5), and the runner with the most birthdays (Norma Humbert, 82). A special award was also given to Mayor Drew for her participation in the run, and for serving as emcee.

The event was a success and a fantastic way to cap off the summer and promote an active, healthy lifestyle for all!

Special Thanks To Our Sponsors & Partners: Akron General Women's Board, Akron General Young Professionals, CommuniCare, Compass Media, Event Source, Giant Eagle, Infocus Studios, Reflections Breast Health Center, Rubber City Radio Group, Run To You Racing, Stow Excellence in Education Foundation (SEEF), Stow Parks & Recreation Department, Summit County Historical Society.

OHventures Shirts Photo Blog

A collage of our favorite readers donning the official OHventures shirt!

OHventures t-shirts debuted last fall, and they have been taking the state by storm! The shirts were created to help promote hiking, biking, running, jogging, walking, and exploring Ohio, and were worn by all of our favorite readers and supporters over the past few months! 

Below, you can see some of the fun places the shirts have been popping up, and a collection of selfies and "thumbs ups" that were inspired by those who wore them! 

Consider joining the trend and getting your very own shirt! Male and female shirts are available with the above design for a cost of just $15 (plus shipping if applicable). You can order your shirt directly by emailing mike@ohventures.org along with your size, gender, and address!

Creator Mike Evans wearing the OHventures shirt!

A photo of the shirts when they first arrived - right out of the box!

Mike Evans modeling the shirt

An animation created for the OHventures homepage.

OHventures friend Mathew wearing his shirt at the Arnold Pump & Run

Fellow blogger Diane of Just Humor Me bringing OHventures to the West Coast, pictured at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!

OHventures contributor for all things Toledo, Steve giving us a thumbs up with his shirt!

Our good friend Emily wearing the OHventures shirt at the Christmas Story 5K in Cleveland

Former OHventurer Of The Week Ryan taking a quick OHventures selfie!

My family (and Slider) supporting OHventures!!

Fellow blogger and runner, Katie, of Life Is Katetastic, smiling pretty for OHventures!

OHventures contributor (Mud Ninja) Corey giving TWO thumbs up for the shirt!

Our friend and Team OHventures Member Rachel showing off her OHventures pride!