One of the great benefits of being active in the outdoor sports world is that you get the chance to sponsor great outdoor sports teams.
One of those is the Columbia Multisport Club, and if you think we sponsor them because we like to win, well, you’d be right, but maybe not quite in the way that you think.
It’s true, CMC has some of the winningest athletes in the nation. It’s based in a prime position, smack in the center of the US, in Columbia, MO. But it also is one of the friendliest clubs in the world. Witness its 600+ membership, or the fact that some members never even do a race the entire year of the membership.
“Some members just come for the camaraderie,” says club president Tom Brinker. “We have people from all walks–folks who just come to walk, folks who have never done a race before, all the way to people who have done multiple Ironman races.”
In fact, Brinker’s own trajectory with the club is testament to the come-one-come-all nature of its membership. He started out as a charter sponsor (his bike store, Cyclextreme, is about 20 years old, about twice as old as the club), and he eventually became so involved that he became a member of the club’s board, the its vice-president, and then its president. As for his own sporting life, his membership in the club led him from his formerly narrower scope of everything bicycling-oriented to the wider worlds of adventure races and triathlons.
“It’s just that kind of club. It’s not just about doing races,” he says, “it’s about trying to advance the cause of people getting involved in an active lifestyle. It’s a whole movement.” If Brinker sounds a little in awe of the idea, we don’t blame him.
It’s that mentality that led us to want to sponsor this team. In the months to come, we’ll be featuring workouts and tips and tricks from some of the club’s members, and we’re looking forward to sharing them with you.
So yeah, we think we picked winners to sponsor, don’t you?
What’s your measure of winning?