Santa Barbara International Marathon

Race day for the Santa Barbara International Marathon couldn’t have been more perfect. The hot and dry sunshine of the previous day had been traded in for a cool breeze, partial clouds and even a refreshing shower. Spirits were high as Team Vitamin Angels lined up at 6:30am for the start. Five brave runners took on the half marathon, completing a 13.1 mile race, while an additional 8 members made up two relay teams for a total of 14 runners in our first ever Vitamin Angels marathon event!

The festivities began the prior evening at the Santa Barbara Whole Foods store where Marketing Manager Rae Vanseenus was kind enough to host a pasta dinner for our team members in honor of their fundraising and training efforts. The marathon also happened to coincide perfectly with the Whole Foods "Be Good to Your Whole Body" campaign that launched this month in over 300 stores across the country (check it out at a Whole Foods store near you and leave a comment on the Viva Vitamin Angels blog!)

Among our runners were The Phelps Group employees Janette, Aaron, Nick and Jonathan. After a brief speech by President Howard Schiffer, Janette and Nick were awarded wine baskets courtesy of Resereavge Organics for their top fundraising efforts. Our SB team was also comprised of Arizona Team Leader Mark Potocnjak, who had the vision for Team Vitamin Angels, and our very own photographer Matt Dayka, both of which competed in the half marathon. Rounding out the team was 8 Vitamin Angels staff members and family. All together we raised a total of $4,042 allowing us to reach an additional 16,000 children in 2011!

A huge thank you and congratulations to all of our runners and the many people who made this event possible and helped make Team Vitamin Angels a reality.

Check out photos from the dinner and race day below!