Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The First BQby40 Giveaway!

In the interest of distracting myself from the looming half-marathon (still 1.5 weeks away)--and as a thank-you to everyone for reading and helping out this far--I am hosting my inaugural BQby40 giveaway.

I'm going to try to do one of these every month or so. My plan is to use products from companies and individuals based in Boulder for these contests. Boulder has been very good to me. As a daily beneficiary of this town's beauty and kid- and runner-friendliness, I want to give something back. Plus, there are so many fantastic locally-produced items here, most made with good health in mind, that I don't see running out of ideas any time soon (though I will deviate if something runner-friendly and really great comes up from somewhere else).

So without further ado: my first giveaway is.....four boxes of Justin's Nut Butter squeeze packs!

These little packs, which run about 200 calories each, are the perfect post-run recovery food, especially when accompanied by crisp apple slices. They also make a great afternoon snack, either on their own or with fruit. I keep a box of the plain peanut and almond butters in my in-box at work--if the munchies hit I have something satisfying at hand. Oh, and my kids also love them.

Justin's is a homegrown Boulder company but rapidly expanding throughout the country. Read their story on their site (and order some of their products if the stores listed don't include yours). And of course enter the giveaway!

What I've got for one lucky winner (who hopefully will have a large sweet tooth like me) is one box each of the Chocolate Peanut Butter, the Chocolate Almond Butter, the Honey Peanut Butter and the Honey Almond Butter. Each box contains 10 1.15-oz. squeeze packs. Should be enough nut butter to last you a while! The ingredients (this being Boulder) are all-natural and mostly organic. And they are tasty.

To enter, do any, some or all of the following things (one comment for each you do, to maximize your chances of winning!):

1) Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me you've done so (or tell me you're already a follower).

2) Go to Justin's site and then leave a comment on my blog saying which kind of nut butter would be the first you would try (or if you've tried them already, tell me your favorite).

3) If you've been to Boulder or live around here, tell me in a comment your favorite story about Boulder.

4) Post about this giveaway on your own blog and then leave a link to your post in a comment here.

5) Tell me in a comment one thing you'd like to see more of on my blog.

6) Know of runners (including yourself) who have an inspiring story about qualifying for Boston on their blog? Post a comment with that link here.

The contest ends on Saturday, March 26 (that's the day before my half-marathon) at noon Mountain Time. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and will be posted that afternoon.

Good luck and thanks so much for reading!

22 comments:

  1. Hey hey! I've been following your blog since day one. I love it! This post actually made me very hungry. Thanks for introducing me to this product. I hope I get to try it!

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  2. Oh, I forgot to mention that I would definitely want to try the Hazelnut Chocolate. That sounds divine.

    Sadly, I have never been to Boulder. I've been to Denver. However, I would love to see it someday, mainly because of the great trails and nature you talk about in your blog. Also I would love to see that statue of the bears that you have with Dan and the kids in front of it.

    Also, I wrote about your contest on my blog and have linked to it here.

    One thing I would like to see more of on your blog: more photos of some of the trails or nature areas that you talk about in your blog. Show us more of Boulder, please!

    Sadly, Terzah, I have never run a marathon and only know a couple people who have. Although my friend Ryan does tell a funny story about getting beat in a half-marathon by a guy who ran barefoot with no shirt on, and the guy had a beer belly.

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  3. Just found your blog and I'm a new follower! I've heard so much about Justins...would love to try.

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  4. I am a 2x Boston alum. Never in my wildest did I ever think I'd be saying that!

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  5. I've never been to Boulder but I'd sure love to. To visit the Newton HQ among other things.

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  6. Cool giveaway!! LOVE their honey peanutbutter. That reminds me that the kids just ate all of ours, gotta get some more before my long run on Friday.
    Best Boulder story . . .
    I was hiking on the Mesa Trail with my dear old dog Maggie (just a pup back then and so was I - this even predates Eric). She was feeling sassy and decided to start sniffing around off trail. It became very quiet and all of a sudden she gives one quick bark. She comes dashing back to me with a huge herd of mule deer right on her heels. Fortunately I did not get trampled but Maggie hid behind a rock for half an hour before she would get moving again. Needless to say we both learned to respect the leash after that.

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  7. Sadly, I'm guessing they're not vegan, so I'm not entering-- but have fun!!

    I'm excited about your run! I want to do a local half in the fall. Maybe.

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  8. I have to swear off the nut butters for the sake of my skinny jeans, but the A Day in the Life of a Boulderite are always enjoyable. Although that may be off the mark for a running blog. Post pictures of your trails? Review products? I've never heard of Nuun water before, for example. Where the heck did you hear about that?

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  9. oooh, I really want to try these. I am a follower!

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  10. I would want to try Hazelnut chocolate! :)

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  11. I posted about your giveaway on my blog :)

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  12. I'd like to see more pictures on your blog. :)

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  13. I would definitely try chocolate hazelnut first. Yum!

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  14. Oh Man, that's alot of work. I am an official Follower now. I flew to Boulder last Nov to attend a clinic at the Newton Running Lab.

    My BQ story is not all that inspiring. I worked my a@@ off for 2 1/2 years and finally BQ'd.

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  15. Oh, and I always like bikini pics on blogs.

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  16. I'm following you!!!!! And your blog :)

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  17. Because of your blog, I decided to pick up a few packs of Justin's. I know I know, I've seen him at the Farmer's Market for years and NEVER tried it. Unbelievably lame. I tried Chocolate Hazlenut and Maple Almond:DE-LISH!. After visiting Justin's site, I want to try Chocolate Almond. Ps, Greg just told me "Bread isn't 'good enough' to be mated with Chocolate Hazlenut; it deserves something better."

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  18. Favorite story, eh? That's tough. I love Boulder! There are too many great stories. I'm going to tell this one, because it's appropriate for your weekend. First, let's just say that you are Sarah and I am Dimiti. Yes, I am the turtle. I once ran the Boulder Backroads - I think it was 2001 (wow that 10 years went fast). My sister her husband came up from Denver. My Aunt came in from Georgia. We all (including Greg), did it together. No training for Greg and me because my Aunt was really into "walking" half marathons at the time. We had been doing big hikes, so why train, it's just a walk. It turns out that NO ONE walks the Boulder Backroads and somewhere around mile 1, we realized that we were all alone in the walking. My sister and her husband gave up about mid way. Greg, my Aunt walked together, leisurely strolling across the finish line (much to the surprise of the announce - I think he thought he was done hours earlier!). Greg and I got last place and next to last....and somewhere, I have the result cards to prove it. Terzah, you're going to rock this!

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  19. okkie dokkie - posted on my blog - ok, you can see how bad I want this nut butter!!! I had to actually set up my blog (or re set up, I had one I let expire, harumpf)

    http://cmoandgmo.com/2011/03/25/iwantmesomenutbutter.aspx

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  20. I have to agree on the photos! Let's take one with my phone in spin next week :)

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  21. No inspiring BQ stories from me - remember, I'm the tortoise.

    Here's an inspiring BQ story:
    http://run350.blogspot.com/

    There is this quote:
    "For a lot of runners, the Boston experience is really more about qualifying for it than actually running it," said Jack Fleming, spokesman for the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), the marathon's organizer.

    Also, I think I told you to read Good to Great by Jim Collins. There is a section in there on his wife becoming an elite runner. Rinse your cottage cheese. I can't believe I forgot about that part of the book!!!! You need to read it for work anyway, right?

    Ps- you are an elite runner :)

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