Time to empty the fitness mailbag:
What’s the most polite way to tell a friend he’s a dangerous cyclist?
The Bicycle Alliance of Washington is making it a little easier to have educated conversations about the rules of the road.
The organization recently released a free pocket reference that offers a brief overview of Washington’s traffic laws that pertain to motorist and bicycle interactions. The reference folds up to about the size of a business card.
The size makes it easy to carry with you to hand out to motorists, cyclists and the legions of others who don’t seem to understand the proper ways for bikes and automobiles to share the road.
The reference includes a website – bicyclealliance.org/rcw – that will take you to the complete text of the laws.
To request free copies of the pocket reference, send an email to info@bicyclealliance.org.
What’s a good way to get into running?
Fleet Feet Sports in Bonney Lake is launching its No Boundaries program Monday. The 10-week training program is designed for beginning runners who aspire to run their first 5- or 10-kilometer race.
The program concludes May 5 at the Tacoma City Marathon 5K.
No Boundaries’ twice-weekly running/walking sessions are led by experienced coaches and include lessons on nutrition, gear and injury prevention.
The program costs $130 and participants get a shirt and jacket.
How can I go Beast Mode when I work out?
There’s only one person that can answer this question properly and his name is Marshawn Lynch, the Seattle Seahawks’ Skittles-eating running back.
Lynch is one of several Seahawks supporting a new endurance competition called TruAthlete. The event is scheduled for 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on July 27 at Tukwila’s Starfire Sports Complex. Organizers say Lynch will be on hand to present the trophy to the winner.
The all-day event includes competitions in flag football, volleyball and soccer. Teams of seven-10 people will compete in a tournament and will not know which sport they will play until just moments before their matchup.
Organizers say they’re hoping to bring multisport competitions to those who aren’t into traditional multisport events, such as triathlons.
“There are lots of individual endurance events for runners and cyclists, even some where competitors crawl through mud and jump over fire, but none for team sports,” said Nathan Riley, the event’s founder. “This is a whole new breed of triathlon, one that tests a wide range of skills. And judging from the support we’ve gotten already, it’s going to be huge.”
According to a statement released by event officials, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to America Scores, a nonprofit group that teaches soccer and poetry in urban schools.
Former Seahawks Mack Strong, Roy Lewis and Kerry Carter also will be involved in the event, Riley said.
Riley co-produced the independent movie “Matt’s Chance,” which starred Margot Kidder, Lee Majors, Gary Busey and Lynch.
Riley staged a test event in 2010 and says it went well, but he waited until now to launch Seattle TruAthlete to gauge how he’d best compete against events such as mud runs.
Organizers plan to add events in Los Angeles and San Francisco next year.
Registration is $50 per person. For more information, contact Riley at rilo@thetruathlete.com or Brian Abbey at Brian@thetruathlete.com.
Craig Hill’s fitness column runs Sundays. Submit questions and comments via craig.hill@thenewstribune.com and twitter.com/AdventureGuys. Also, get more fitness coverage at blog.thenewstribune.com/adventure and thenewstribune.com/fitness.
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