Team Oceana at the Nautica NYC Triathlon

The event may be a week old, but the memories from the Nautica New York City Triathlon are still fresh in my mind. What a great weekend for Oceana – I’ve always thought triathlon attendees are some of the most interesting, friendly and positive people in the world and this event cemented that notion.

Over three days, fellow Oceana marketer Kevin Connor and twenty five volunteers joined me at the triathlon expo and finish fest to talk oceans with the nearly 4,000 athletes, sponsors and spectators. For the most part, everyone who approached our table was thrilled to see us there talking about the need to protect the oceans, but even when we came across folks who didn’t completely agree with some of our positions (like no new drilling), we reached a common understanding that taking care of our oceans is a vital to having a healthy planet.

In addition to gaining hundreds of new supporters, athletes representing Oceana and Nautica helped raise over $6,500 for our work.

The next stop for Team Oceana is Southern California, where we’ll race in the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. I’m going to participate in this race for the second time and try to beat my time from last year – 1:55:21. I’m spending the next week or so putting together the team, so if you think you have what it takes to finish the race and help raise some money for saving the oceans, let me know.