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On Oct. 21-23, 2022, the Global ElliptiGO Riders Club (GERC) and ElliptiGO HQ hosted the 13th Annual ElliptiGO Rally and World Championship here in Solana Beach, CA. The annual gathering is a celebration of all things ElliptiGO: our customers, our athletes, our team, our products and the amazing community they have all created together. With riders from Scotland, the Channel Islands, Canada and all over the United States, this weekend is always memorable, but here are some of the key moments that made this year such a special one. Let’s relive the 2022 Rally and World Champs weekend! Explore photos from the weekend here, and dive into the unique stories from the events below.

NEW ElliptiGO World Record in the Mile
Riders from all over the world began gathering in Solana Beach on Friday! Before we kicked off the weekend with a social gathering, Mark Fairley made sure that this special weekend started with a bang! Just down the road at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, Mark set a new ElliptiGO mile World Record at 2:33:94! Mark is the meet Director and Volunteer Assistant Track & Field/XC Coach at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Previously the record was held by Paul Thomas at 2:37.25. Watch the video of Mark breaking the record.

All Together Now
Throughout Rally and World Champs Weekend, attendees found chances to connect with one another. Whether raising a pint glass or riding along Pacific Coast Highway, camaraderie was the name of the game during this annual event. 

Bites and brews at Tidewater Tavern, group rally riders on Saturday and Sunday, lunch at local favorite Fidel’s, the Awards Dinner, and the World Championship itself…all amazing opportunities to come together and enjoy the ride!

Dinner With A View
We must give a huge shoutout to long-time ElliptiGO rider Erik Korevaar, who hosted us at his beautiful home in La Jolla for our Awards Dinner. The property overlooked the water and offered a classic Southern California backdrop that could not be beat.

We enjoyed snacks and sweets, plus sips including margaritas, craft beer and more! Many thanks to surprise special guest, world record holder, and inspirational ElliptiGO rider Brian Reynolds, who stopped by to join us at the dinner party. He now works for Athletic Brewery and we had the chance to sample their delicious non-alcoholic beers thanks to Bill Pinell.

The GOGO Food Truck was a match made in heaven for our GO-loving crowd. Attendees enjoyed chicken, chicken banh mi, and pulled pork sandwiches and arugula salad!

And The Award Goes To…

During dinner, both ElliptiGO HQ and the Global ElliptiGO Riders Club gave out special honors and awards. Here’s a round up of this year’s winners:

ElliptiGO Awards
2022 Authentic & Inspiring Award Winners: Kim Nedeau and Allen Kilpatrick: Learn more about these amazing members of our community and why they were selected for this special award here.

Global ElliptiGO Rider Club Awards
Get Out and GO September Team Challenge Results:

Overall Champions, Most Distance and Most Elevation: Team SEPTIMONIUM

• • • They totaled 7,792 miles and 330,191 ft over the 24 days!
    • Team members include: Tanya Bowerbank, Todd Faulkner, Carol Galgano, Julia Johnson, Kevin Jones, Jim Lyons, Alexandra McCallion, Chris Roan, Margarita Rypkowski, Daniela Shapiro, Tedra Trimmand and Bryce Whiting

Most Days Ridden: The GOGOs 

• • • Together, they rode a cumulative 265 days!
    • Team members include: Scott Brown, Frank Chmielewicz, Allen Crisp, Sasha Crisp, Pamela DeStefano, John Hutton, Eric Korevaar, Pamela Sewell, Susan Shuler, Larry Smith, Erin Sterenson and Jack Tan

Get Out and GO Challenge Top Individual Point Earner: Allen Kilpatrick. Allen racked up 2680 points, and could still earn more before GOGO ends on Oct. 31.

GERC Rookie of the Year Award: Kim Rose and Alexandra McCallion

• Kim maxed regular GOGO points each month and also added a number of organized rides for extra GOGO points, becoming the only new Club member to reach Gold award level this year. Kim did her first-ever century on the GO in August and followed that with two more in September. She also organized the Club’s first New England ElliptiGO Day event, held Sept. 18, 2022, in Harvard, MA.
• Alexandra maxed regular GOGO points each of the 8 months AND led her team, SEPTIMONIUM, to victory in the September Team Tournament. During the tournament’s 24 riding days, she totaled more than 1424 miles and 88,000 feet of elevation gain. That’s 59.3 miles and 3,666 ft PER DAY! She rode over 100 miles three days in a row during the tournament’s final week.

Sunday Funday on Palomar
For the very first time, the Elliptical Cycling and Stand Up Cycling World Championships were held on a Sunday! The road up Palomar was closed on Saturday for a car race, so we worked quickly to coordinate and move the event to the following day. Nearly 30 athletes came together to conquer the climb: an 11.69-mile route that climbs 4209 feet at an average grade of 7%.

Here are the podium finishers!

Men’s Elliptical Division
1st Mark Fairley 1:18:58
2nd Jonathan Matthews 1:28:49
3rd Mark Berger 1:30:08

Women’s Elliptical Division
1st Tera Moody 1:30:42
2nd Shannon Payne 1:32:21
3rd Sammy George 1:33:44

Men’s SUB Division
1st Billy Grace 1:11:21
2nd Brian Kildow 1:16:44

Women’s SUB Division
1st Denise Mueller 1:45:12
2nd Carol Galgano 2:58:34

Sammy’s Journey To Palomar
Our third place Women’s Elliptical finisher this year was Sammy George. Sammy is a professional runner and coach based in Flagstaff. After running in college and dealing with injuries, she was unsure about her future in sport. Just a couple of years after graduating, she began training again and experienced a breakthrough – she was PR’ing for the first time in years and even had a chance to compete at the 2021 Olympic Trials in the 5k. 

Even after this exciting turn, injury began to hold her back once again. This time, her achilles tendon was causing her serious pain. After undergoing medical treatment, she’s been working her way back into training and ElliptiGO has been a part of that journey! We were so glad to have her join us for the World Championships, where she could show her incredible athleticism while still recovering and regrouping after injury. Check out this video to learn more about her experience.

Sammy, congratulations on your top 3 finish. We hope you’ll join us again next time to defend your podium position, or, better yet, to see you rise up into 2nd or 1st position!

See You Next Year!
There’s never been a better time to get involved with our community and put next year’s Rally and World Championship Weekend on your calendar. Here’s how you can take part:

• Get the scoop on qualifying for the World Championship climb on Palomar here.
• Check out the Global ElliptiGO Riders Club for more information on the Rally and many other events throughout the year.
• Start engaging with fellow riders in our customer-run Facebook group to get tips, find riding buddies and root for other ElliptiGO riders as they chase their goals.