The term ‘thank you’ shows appreciation. We say it every day, in various circumstances and, let’s be honest, varying degrees of sincerity. This morning I thanked the girl at Starbucks for charging me five dollars for a cup of hot, flavored water. I truly appreciated her enabling my addiction and allowing me to validate the viral expansion of a multinational corporation built on roasted beans. After that, I found myself saying thank you to a police officer as he handed me a ticket for a burnt-out brake light. I appreciate the fact that, after fixing the bulb, I now have to find precious time to stop by a police station and have the desk clerk verify that I got a new bulb like a junior high gym teacher verifying the boys are wearing their jock straps. I thanked some guy in India for reading a useless troubleshooting script on behalf of my local cable provider. I thanked our attorneys for so promptly sending out their bill. I thanked a waiter for comping the price of a Diet Coke after an hour wait for a sandwich order that was twice gotten wrong (He tried to blame it on the kitchen. But it was him. I know it). The point is that I often find myself using this expression of gratitude in situations inversely proportional to my attitude. So, as that certain third Thursday of November beckons us to pick up a fork and loosen our belts, it is with great relief that I find myself, on behalf of Endurance Films, with something for which I genuinely and eagerly wish to give thanks… This August saw the debut of the Endurance Films Racing Team. For years, we have wanted to assemble a group of triathletes to don our logo and, in doing so, provide enhanced visibility for our company and enjoy (hopefully) the boost in business that came along with it. But we weren’t sure how to approach the endeavor. Most companies want one thing out of their sponsored athletes – podium appearances. Sure, that would be great, but affording top elites is out of our tax bracket and just giving more money and stuff to athletes that already get money and stuff didn’t seem right for us. After all, our core customers are people who will never earn a cent in the sport, yet couldn’t live without it…People who must balance their passion for triathlon with an equal passion for family, friends, career and community. Shouldn’t we give back to them? The answer, of course, was yes. That’s exactly who we wanted on our team. So we put out the call. We sent e-mails, placed ads, ran promos…everything we could to attract athletes who epitomized the ideal of the “age-grouper”. As for the response, we were truly humbled. Applications poured in from individuals across the country. Their stories not only inspired us, but also galvanized our confidence in our decision to build an age-group team. Because of this, we increased our number of available roster spots from five to eleven and, if we had the means, could have easily made it thirty. It is to the incredible community of Age-Group Athletes that I want to give our thanks. Thank you for the spark that motivated us to build our team to represent you. Thank you for the privilege of putting on film yet another year of inspirational performances. Thank you for your friendships. Most of all, thank you for allowing me to say thank you and to truly, truly mean it! --Danny Kolker Producer, Endurance Films