This summer at Bird Camp our team came together to talk about lots of running topics but one of the highlights was getting to sit with our fellow team members and talk about the changes over the last three years with our team. The growth has been significant and wonderful. To be able to welcome so many wonderful women runners into our fold is inspiring. We asked several of our veteran team members to take on more responsibility and be leaders for the entire Flock. From August to now they have been meeting up with their area team members for group runs, races, coffee, brunches etc. How amazing that 500 some women are brought together because of their love of running, their desire for a sisterhood and because of great running clothes!

Thank you to our fabulous leaders who organized such great meetups. Here are a sprinkling of some of the great things that happened this fall!

AUGUST 2014

Bird Camp
Sarah Hartnett: “Night-owls closing out the first night of the inaugural Bird Camp in Bend, Oregon! An unforgettable weekend of running, yoga, hiking, and more.”

(Atha Vermillion, Sarah Hartnett, Kimberlie Pearlman, Laurel Mathiesen, Sophia Duluk, Becky Leung, Andrea Gibson Hallberg, Lorraine Deichert, Farron McIntee, Kristin Metcalf)

Beth Gillespie: “It was an amazing experience to meet my Oiselle teammates and spend a few days running, laughing, getting to know each other and falling head over heels in love with Bend! Being able to connect with so many amazing women was one of the best parts of my year! This picture was before we all ran the Deschutes 5k!”

SEPTEMBER 2014

Beat the Blerch Half Marathon
Sarah Hartnett: “Oiselle runners showed up at Beat the Blerch! Blerches chased us down the wooded trails of Carnation, WA before handing us birthday cake and grape drinks.”

(Sarah Hartnett, Michelle Benton, Marilyn Keys, Erin Ledden, Shannon McCarthy)

Minnesota Team Meet-up
Tracy Hirigoyen: “When you're looking to get to know each other, what sounds better than breaking the ice with some fun yoga (and lots of groaning about our collective tight muscles) followed by sushi and drinks? The Minnesota birds did just that for their first official meet-up. Not shown here: Our fierce tree poses.”

(Hyedi Nelson, Ali Jones, Jana Harvieux Effertz, Lisa Overman, Jenny Scherer, Caitlyn Elizabeth Stenerson, Tracy Sciacca)

OCTOBER 2014

Washington Team Dinner
Sarah Hartnett & Emily Brain: “A dozen Oiselle runners from Washington state met up in Seattle for a night of burgers and brew at Uneeda Burger. It was a fun time getting to know new faces and catching up with old friends. Seattle runners know how to run and eat a good burger!”

(Jen Major, Tiffany Olson, Sarah Hartnett, Jennifer Favre, Emily Brain, Ashley Penney, Robyn Hefner, Jess Graham, Marilyn Keys, Lynn Carlson, Dawn Dolobowsky, Stephanie Carlson)

MEC Marathon
Leana Keto: “Calgary's Flock runners met up on a chilly morning before the start of the MEC half and full marathon in October. This was the first time we've been able to get together and it was great to chat about running and Oiselle and to cheer each other on at the race!”

(Leana Keto, Victoria Harold, Angela Williams)

NOVEMBER 2014

New York Marathon
Paulette Ference: “We enjoyed the Strava shakeout run in Central Park and a coffee meet up before the NYC Marathon."

(Chloe Lasseron, Beth Gillespie, Aysha Mirza, Paulette Ference)

Abby McGill: “Pre-NYC Marathon team meet-up! It was so fun to have birds from all over the country flock to NYC for the weekend, including Mama Bird Sally and Best-Team-Manager Kristin! There was a rainy shake out run, then we all met for coffee and carb-loading (aka pastry eating) for those running...or just cheering!"

Portland Marathon
Liz Anjos: “From the pre-race shakeout run and brunch on Portland Marathon weekend. We had Flock members from Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver BC! It was awesome because it was our first big Flock meet-up in Portland.”

(Diane Peterson, Leslie Block, Laura Michaelson, Molly Crowley, Liz Anjos, Tammie Dubberly, Becky Leung, Darnelle Moore, Nikki Baca-Smith)

City of Oaks Marathon Relay
Allie Bigelow: “For our November meet-up Oiselle Team North Carolina fielded two fabulous relay teams at the City Of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh. We ran to cheers of "Go Kara Goucher's teammates!" and despite freezing our southern tears off, we had a wonderful time together, as usual!

(Ellen Moss, Allie Bigelow, Andie Cozzarelli, Nikki Gainey, Rachel Beck, Laura Collins, Kelly Pollock, Alyson West, Rose Asrican)

Mustache Dache
Emily Brain: “Oiselle runners donned mustaches to take on the annual Mustache Dache 5K! Stached up and ready to race.”

Andrea Hallberg, Jennifer Favre, Stephanie Carlson, Kaleigh Gerlich, Sarah Hartnett, Emily Brain, Portia O'Callaghan, Liz Anjos

Richmond Marathon
Stephanie Granlund: “Oiselle runners from 3 states and Washington, D.C. celebrated after the Richmond Marathon and Half Marathon in November. The Richmond Marathon is known as "America's Friendliest Marathon" and these ladies indeed made fast friends, chatting about their races, their favorite Oiselle looks, and more, while enjoying locally-brewed beer at Ardent Craft Ales.

(Ashlie Tseng, Jessica Graham, Stephanie Granlund, Jackie Gruendel, Emily Ward. Also in attendance, but not pictured were Kaia Hampton and Courtney Carter)

DECEMBER 2014

Holiday Lights Run
Courtney Carter and Prianka Nandy: “The #dcbirds know how to holiday and have tons of fun combining running with a tour of some of DC’s finest holiday lights and decorations. We visited all the major trees in DC on this really fun run!”

(Courtney Dredden Carter, Prianka Nandy, Colleen Lerro, Julie Anderson, Ivey Wohfield, Jennifer Hendrickson)

Club XC Nationals
Jennie Kormanik: “Team Ohio runs their first team competition in OIselle jerseys!”

(Alex Bowers, Lauren Buser, Amanda Fire, Jennie Kormanik, Marissa Baranauskas)

Icebreaker Marathon Relay Practice
Sheila Wordell: “Our meet-ups are great because it's not just about running but the bonds that are made and the experiences that are had.”

(Sheila Wordell, Sun Torke, Kristine Burgess, Kim Leal Tortomasi, Megan Buschkopf, Nicole Garms Pudwell, Allison Gallipeau)