JUMP TO:

The 3rd Annual DCR Cave Open House–December 10th, 2016!

It’s that time of year again!

Time for you to start planning your trek to the 3rd annual DCR Cave Open House!  Yup, it’s gonna be the third open house already – how time flies since we did all that construction!  Here were the first and second DCR Open House events.

The open house is on a Saturday evening for folks that want to come check out the DCR cave, and just in general have fun chatting about sports and sports technology (and wine, cheese, and cupcakes).  Oh, and we gave away a bunch of free stuff.  Watches, gift certificates, apparel, and a few random other things I had floating around.  Last year some of that got caught in customs and took forever to get out to people afterwards (and I still have something for someone that I can’t figure out who it’s for).  This year, I have it all arriving in the next few weeks, phew!  Clever Training is awesome for helping out on that front (they supply all the tech goodness!).

About 50 folks came through last year – definitely good times!  We did a bit of a quiz for some of the prizes as well.

IMG_2665 IMG_3453

Of course, the evening of the Open House I’ll have plenty of devices around should folks want to play with the latest and greatest stuff.  Anything that’s been announced will be available and fair game for tinkering, including all the newest trainers and watches.

IMG_2646

Last year we added the first ever DCR group run on Saturday morning, which was a blast.  Two groups set out – one with The Girl, and one with myself.  We did one of my favorite runs around the city, hitting up many of the major sights.  That’ll definitely be on the docket again – so you don’t want to miss it!

G0167476

Not only that – but this year the DCR Open House is on the same weekend as the Santa Clause 10K Run!  You can enjoy a nice leisurely DCR run on Saturday morning, and then throw-down in your Santa costume on Sunday morning nearby (with 8,000 other Santa’s).  I’ll definitely be one of those Santa’s!

VIRB0746

Beyond DCR things, there’s tons of fun stuff in the city to do if you’re coming from out of town.  For example the Christmas Markets are up then in multiple locations – including the Champs-Élysées. Not to mention ice skating should be open at a few major locales around the city.  And finally, for those who want to roller blade, there’s the weekly Paris Roller events on Friday nights that are always epic (they also have a tamer version on Sunday morning geared towards families).  If you’re looking for other ideas, just drop a note below – happy to point folks in the right direction.

As you can see – it’s a great time of year to visit the city, especially since it’s just ahead of the typically more busy tourist weekends.

Specifics:

For the Open House:

Date: Saturday, December 10th, 2016 – Starting around 7PM.
Address: Location sent via e-mail few days ahead, but within the Paris 5th Arrondissement near Notre Dame
Closest Metro: St-Michel Notre Dame (RER-B/C) or Cardinal Lemoine (Line 10)
Food: We’ll have various appetizer & dessert items
Price: Free of course!

For the DCR Run:

Date: Saturday, December 10th, 2016 – 9AM
Address: Same as above, I’ll send out a note in the days prior with exact address.

We’ll leave at 9AM from the DCR Cave location (sunrise is 8:33AM that morning).  We’ll divide into two groups on a route that’s approximately 7.5 miles (12 kilometers), though folks can turn around early, or we’ll show folks how to take a Velib back from the half-way point if you’re saving yourself for the Santa Race (Velib’s are fun anyway!).  We’ll divide into two pace groups, one will be about a 7:45-8:00/mile (4:50-5:00/KM) pace with me, while another group led by The Girl will go at approximately 9:00/mile (5:35/KM).

Upon return we’ll have some goodies to help you replenish your nutrition for a few hours.  For those that want to pickup a Velib pass, you can actually do so before the run, right next to the DCR Cave, it costs less than 2EUR for a 24hr Velib pass.  You’ll be able to securely store bags/etc during the run here at the DCR Cave/Studio.

For the Santa Clause Run:

Not sure what you’re signing up for? Here’s my 2012, 2013, and 2014 race reports (it was cancelled in 2015).  It’s our favorite race of the year!

Date: Sunday, December 11th, 2016 – Various times in the morning
Length: 6K, 10K, plus kids races
The Race I’m doing: Race #5, at 10:40AM – This is the official Santa Clause 10K race
Race Price: 27EUR (includes free t-shirt and usually a bottle of wine at finish)
Santa Outfit Cost: 11EUR (seriously, how awesome is that?!?)
Register: This website here in English. Note, after clicking ‘Register’, the page will go back to French, there’s a little English icon up top on the right to change it back to English (if you don’t read French).

Minor useful things of note: Taking the RER-C train is the easiest way to the start, quick and simple.  They do have a bag drop inside that’s secured, along with limited bathrooms and a place to change (it’s a school gym).  Packet pickup is usually the days prior, unless you have it sent to you for extra.  It’s in the same spot as the race start.  It’s quick and simple.  Feel free to drop any questions down below about it, also the race reports probably answer a bunch as well.

Sign-Up!

For the open house simply use the form below to sign-up (just so I can figure out how much cheese to buy, and cupcakes to make!), we look forward to seeing you then!

Create your own user feedback survey

I’ll use the e-mail provided to send the final details (and a reminder) as we get closer to the date.  We’re looking forward to seeing everyone there!

See ya then!
– Bobbie & Ray

Note: Folks from various sports tech companies are of course more than welcome!

FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!

Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.

Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon

Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked.
If you would like a profile picture, simply register at Gravatar, which works here on DCR and across the web.

Click here to Subscribe without commenting

Add a picture

*

43 Comments

  1. hugo

    Arf .. already going to Paris in November … I’m still hesitating for December 😀

  2. Dave

    Was holding out hope this would be pushed to Feb when i’ll be in town, what with the new addition… Oh well.

  3. Alexandra

    Nooo! I have to be in Paris for work….the weekend BEFORE this happens! ??

  4. Douglas Tissot Kawano

    Nice opportunity to see you guys!

  5. Raul Freitas

    Oh, no, we will be in Paris from Christmas to New Years Eve…
    Will the Cup Cake Bakery be open? If so, can you pls share the address?
    Cheers, have fun

  6. Mike S.

    Dang! I wish I still lived in the UK. Would definitely have made the trek.

  7. Elliot

    One year I’ll get to go!

  8. Remco Verdoold

    Would love to come over for the visit, but it is the same weekend as Dutch St Nicolaas. Still looking forward to the DCR summer meeting (though I understand this year was hard).

  9. Circe

    Hi Ray, where is the mobile version of your blog? Now I can see only desktop version in my IPhone…

  10. Tom Jansen

    If I can convince my girl (and if she can arrange it with her employer), I’ll be there! She’s the latest addition to my triathlon gear so to speak 🙂 Beginner triathlete, overall sports enthousiast, wears the Garmin Fenix 3 HR all the time and is a (health)foodie, online all the time. So the event seems perfect for her.
    She’s travelling in Africa atm, but I’ll let you know by the end of next week.

  11. Hi Ray, I wanted to fill in the survey twice. But it is not showing up again, just a message saying Thank you for taking the survey.

    Powered by
    SurveyMonkey Logo
    Create Surveys. Get Answers.

    Sign Up FREE

  12. Hi Ray,

    Thinking of coming to Paris for this weekend with my family of 5 (4 adults, 1 child) – my eldest daughter and I will most like do one of the runs, but we would want good shopping, xmas markets etc and a nice flavour of Paris, and great food near our hotel! Is near Notre Dame a good general location, or would you suggest somewhere further up the river like St Germain?

    Cheers

    Ian

    • Awesome!

      Notre Dame is a great location (I’m biased), though, if you want a true family pleaser for shopping, I’d probably go more off of Rivoli, just north of the Louvre area. That’s super-central to everything from a walking standpoint.

      St. Germain isn’t much different than the Notre dame, as both are fairly close together. St. Germain does have lots of good shopping, though it tends to be further up St. Germain, basically from Odean and West on the avenue.

    • Excellent! Many thanks Ray

    • All booked – nice appt just off Rivioli 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion Ray. See you Saturday evening (we will be going out for a meal for my wife’s birthday and stopping by ahead of that so won’t need *too* much cheese and cupcake!

      Now just need to persuade them all to do the Santa run on Sunday 🙂

      Cheers

      Ian

  13. Jamie

    Would love to come but on my daughters birthday weekend. Have a good event.

  14. coach Dion

    Let me win the LOTTO first, then I’ll pop over for the weekend…

  15. Harry Oosterveen

    Nice! Looking forward to coming back again.

  16. Taavi Sepp

    As much as I’d like to join you for the run and festivities, and visit our friends, Eurostar doesn’t support my endeavour (ticket price for suitable time is too damn high!). Must read results in vain and do my Christmas run in Estonia on Christmas day… and book early next year.

  17. Ben Cook

    Dear Bobby & Ray –

    I am really looking forward to my trip to Paris for the run & open house (this time travelling from Berlin).

    Last year’s was such a nice occasion that I’d recommend it to anyone who might be “on the fence” and able to go: the run was fun; the soiree sociable. Long may the tradition continue 🙂

    Also, I would very tentatively identify myself as that random raffle winner… “yeah, yeah, yeah”… but that is _entirely_ another story 😉

    All the best,

    Ben

    • Awesome – looking forward to having you here!

      As for an e-mail, I’ll be sending out an initial logistics e-mail over the next few days. Looking forward to it!

    • Ilja Booij

      Hi Ray,

      is it correct that I haven’t received any information regarding the open house event yet? Hotel & train tickets are booked 🙂

      cheers,
      Ilja

    • Hi Ilja!

      Sorry for the delay – the e-mail just went out a few seconds ago. If you or others don’t receive it, let me know and I can respond to ensure you get the details.

      Looking forward to it!

      Cheers!
      -Ray

    • Ilja Booij

      Hi Ray,

      I’ve just received the email.

      Thanks and see you next Saturday!
      Ilja

  18. Hi Ray,

    Just signed up for the Santa run but was confused by the “photocopy of a valid license or a medical certificate of no contra-indication to the practice of running in competition dated less than one a year (Google Translation)” – any idea what they want? It says we can’t run without it – even though they have taken the money 🙂

    Cheers

    Ian

    • Indeed, welcome to French athletics! 🙂

      So, you can either have a sports federation license (i.e. triathlon federation), which allows you to skip the singular paper for each event. That’s simply because your federation card requires it’s own medical, so that’s taken care of then.

      Alternatively, you can download the form, print it off, and take it to someone that’s medical in nature. It just needs a signature, but also needs some sort of stamp (i.e. rubber stamp), or embossing, or something. And by medical ‘person’, I mean anyone that basically has a Dr. in front of it and has a rubber stamp to plop on your form.

      You can download the form here: link to corrida-noel-issy.com

      They are unfortunately pretty strict on the whole form thing. I mean, it doesn’t much matter what the heck the form says as long as it has your name and a rubber stamp mark/logo from someone else that appears to be a doctor when the volunteer spends .8 seconds looking at it. It’s essentially just a CYA thing.

      Hope that helps!

    • Perfect – thanks Ray 🙂

  19. lukian

    Ray, what are the preliminary numbers for attendants to the morning run, I would like to do it (with the girl probably, to enjoy the views) but not a big fan of crowds.

    • There looks to be 22 people signed up for the run with me, and about 6 signed up for The Girl. There’s also 22 people still deciding whether they want to wake-up. And then another pile of folks that have decided they have no desire to be up that early. 🙂

    • lukian

      Hi Ray, I registered yesterday do you plan to send another email for the late birds like me or was it like too late. I’m flying today in Paris and stil organizing but would like to do the run with the girl and see The cave.

    • No worries! I just sent out the details to you.

      If anyone else registers, just drop a note here as well so I see it and can quickly shoot you the details (since the Survey thing only seems to notify me once a day).

      Cheers!
      -Ray

  20. Nicole

    Thanks for the great party, Ray and Bobbie! I enjoyed meeting both of you and your adorable baby girl. And the cave is amazing – I have never seen so many devices in one place. Happy holidays – Nicole from DC Tri Club