Racing and Shooting. Not at the Same Time.

Spring has evidently sprung. I know this because two things begin to happen once the ice breaks and the birds start chirping; my inbox gets flooded with two main themes; mailers and save-the-dates regarding upcoming race information and registration reminders AND photo contents.

Not those two things combined, mind you. In my world, it's either a photo contest or a race I shall enter. And truth be told, I've never entered a photo contest...not even with the stellar photo finish image of last year's Chicago half. See below.

Here is what's coming up...

1. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Twenty-six point two smooth miles of entertainment, chompy stomping grounds and absolutely the best cheering sections in the world make this the best marathon ever. October.

2. Rock and Roll marathon in San Diego. New course. Same great race. June.

3. The ING New York Marathon. Be there near the square. November.

Photo contests

1. The J Peterman contest of rare and strange and utterly unexplainable images. The ironic thing is that the J. Peterman catalog does not use photographs of products to sell it's products...they use artist's renderings..or drawings some would say...to tell you all about a fantastically decadent fully-lined sheep-sheered wool sweater overcoat from Ireland that can be combined with the most painstakingly produced high grain leather hip boots found only in the remote villages tucked far away from conventionalism of the outback and yada, yada, yada...you get the picture (pun intended!)

2. The Groupon photo contest. This group offers daily coupon deals, a pretty good overall social media strategy backing it's marketing efforts and seems to be growing bu way of viral marketing quite nicely. Plus, they offer deals that real people use...like dining out deals, haircut coupons, spa treatments for half price and gift certificates to niche stores that you may otherwise walk right past. The photo contest asks for nothing more than a snapshot of you enjoying whatever it is that you purchased. Quick and easy. Just like taxes should be.

3. Enter the 8th annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest. This may very well be reserved for the serious lens worshipper among us, but it's still something that would look super duper cool on your resume.

Anything else going on near where you live? Any upcoming races or interesting contests? Please share!