Posts Tagged ‘recipes’
Team ZIP and the 2008 Boston Marathon…
By: Michelle
With the sun shining and summer just weeks away, the athlete in me is itching to get out and stretch the legs. I’ve been busy playing and refereeing soccer games, but with the Utica “Boilermaker” 15k run coming up in July, I know I need to lace up my running shoes and start getting some miles under my belt. And with the recent trip back East for the 112th running of the Boston Marathon, I’ve never felt more inspired to get started.
This year’s race had over 14,000 runners in it, with participants in their teens up to their 70’s. Individual runners were their for their own personal reasons but had one common goal of finishing the marathon with their heads held high.
The 2008 Boston Marathon Health and Fitness Expo was held April 18-20 at the Hynes Convention Center, where marathon runners and health-conscious consumer alike gathered to get the latest on how to keep their bodies in shape. Big-time athletic companies like Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Mizuno had some impressive interactive booths where one could go to see how they run via a video screen and a treadmill. There were also plenty of other booths with energy supplements, coming in the form of bars, chews, drinks and pills. But the booth that surprised a lot of people and was a big hit as far as taste goes was our beef booth.
Working with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, Pennsylvania Beef Council and New York Beef Council; fellow ambassador Jennifer Rassler and I handed out samples and spoke with thousands of consumers at this wonderful event. For the consumers’ sampling pleasure, we had Roast Beef Veggie Wraps that tasted great and a copy of the recipe so that even the worst of cooks (me being at the top of the list) could prepare this dish in minutes. And for those who were willing to try their hand at some beef trivia, we had steak rub to give away as prizes. We also had several handouts with great recipes and even more on nutritional benefits for not only athletes but also for children, infants, expecting mothers and more.
We surprised a lot of people with how beneficial beef really is, especially when it comes to an athlete and demanding so much of your body. With a 3-ounce serving being packed full of nutrition, including protein, zinc, vitamins B6 and B12, iron and more; the only way to match that is with a man-made energy supplement. Plus I think (and I think that others would agree with me on this) that beef is probably the tastiest nutritional supplement you could take.
So besides our hard work at the booth, we had the opportunity to sample some tasty local food as well as visit the oldest fire house in the city, which just so happened to be right outside the convention center. The station has one engine (#33) and one ladder truck (#15) and each respond to about 4400 calls a year. The guys were wonderful and I did take them some wraps and steak rub so they could keep their energy up in keeping us safe.
So all in all it was a great trip and I’m more inspired than ever to get out there and start running. The runners’ stories, the individual consumers that we reached out to and the friendly people of Boston have left me feeling good about sharing the story of beef and running towards a great summer.
