USA Cycling has awarded the 2012 and 2013 Collegiate Road National Championships to Ogden, Utah. To welcome these athletes we have decided to make available our famous Ogden marathon special. Our Carb-Load Burrito will help you load up before the race and the completion combo will help your body recover after.

Pre- Race (Thursday and Friday)

Carb-Load Burrito: Slow roasted pork, flour tortilla, coconut-cilantro rice, almonds, black beans, pico de gallo, cabbage, smothered in homemade enchilada sauce, melted cheese, sour cream, sliced avocados. $11.95

Post – Race (Saturday and Sunday)

Completion Combo: Chile Relleno, Chicken Enchilada in green sauce, beef enchilada in red sauce, crispy cheese quesadilla, rice and beans $11.95

Click here to enter Sonora Club or go to http://www.thesonoragrill.com/sonora-club/

The winner of the $75 gift card is: Candice Monson.

And since there were SO many people who entered our drawing, we decided to keep pulling out names!

Ten dollar gift cards will be mailed to the following 20 people:

Dee Atkinson, Savannah Shaw, Leigh Kawaguchi, Jill Crockett, Meredith Dodgen, Craig Oberg, Miguel Aguilar, Stacy Day, Becca Cannon, Sina Sharifan, Jon Robinson, Summer Hogge, Lindsay Rasmussen, Abby Beattie, Troy Pugmire, Nicole Burton, Debby Cannon, Elizabeth Adams, Shellie Stevens, Corey Paschal

Thanks for becoming Sonora Club Members and entering our contest!

It’s time for the Ogden Marathon- cancel your reservations at the Italian restaurant because Sonora Grill is where you want to come as a pre-race destination or a post-race celebration. Most athletes load up on carbohydrates before a race or competition. You can read more information from Runner’s World on carb-loading here.

As an official sponsor of the marathon, we have created two meals for athletes. Both have a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. Our Carb-Load Burrito ($11.95) will help you load up before the race and the Completion Combo ($11.95) will help your body recover. (We also have some incredible desserts to help you celebrate!)

Beans and rice are better than pasta because they offer slightly better carbohydrate properties and are packed full nutrition. Together they form a complete protein, providing all of the essential amino acids. If you’re watching salt intake, they’re a great dish because without the addition of salt during cooking, beans and rice contain no sodium. Beans and rice are an excellent source of iron (45 percent DV) and phosphorus (34 percent DV). They also supply 23 to 27 percent of the recommended daily value of potassium, magnesium, selenium and copper. Rice supplies 87 percent of the total selenium, and beans contribute between 60 to 86 percent of the remaining minerals. The rice and bean combination works so well for long-distance running because rice is a medium on the glycemic index for fast, but not too fast energy and beans are very low on the index, giving you energy longer into your race.

Did you know that Sonora Grill’s rice is vegetarian, vegan, and MSG-free? Most Mexican restaurants use chicken stock to make their rice, and most chicken stocks are heavily laden with toxic MSG. You can watch a cool video about MSG here. In addition to the problems and health risks shown in the video, my favorite statement is that you can make dirty taste good with MSG. Since Sonora Grill doesn’t use any MSG, you can be assured that our good is good . . . and good for you too!

Give your body what it needs and make your reservation now!

Want to participate in the SOLD OUT Ogden Marathon on May 21?

We have an entry for a Relay Team and we are giving it away here TODAY.

Relay Teams may have 2 to 5 participants. Relay participants are allowed to continue running the next leg(s) with their team mate(s), so if you’re dying to run the whole 26.2 miles, you can!

For more information about the Relay Race, click here.

Giveaway Rules:

1. Leave a comment on this blog with the name of the person you vote should win. (Recruit your family and friends to comment and vote for you!)

2. One vote per person. Must be 18 years or older to enter giveaway.

3. The person with the most votes wins the Relay Team Entry and will act as team captain by forming the team.

4. Completed entry forms (one per person) must be turned into the GOAL Foundation (2491 Washington Blvd.) by Monday at 5:00 PM. (The $250 entry fee has been waived. This is a FREE ENTRY!)

5. Bonus: Each person may earn a second vote by adding Sonora Grill’s blog to your blogroll. (Private blogs excluded.) To have your second vote counted, post a second comment on this blog with the link to the blog that has added Sonora Grill to the blogroll AND the name of the person you are voting for.

6. Giveaway ends Friday, February 4 at 10:00 PM MST.

This is a nice little article from the Deseret News about the Sundance Film Festival in Ogden:

Sundance 2011: The sun shines on Ogden

Bonus: A ticket stub from Tuesday evening’s film, The Music Never Stopped, gets you into the 1960s-themed  opening reception party at the Eccles Conference Center held just after the movie, complete with directors and actors from this year’s films.

Double Bonus: The article recommends eating at Union Grill or Bistro 258. We’d like to provide our own recommendation: Sonora Grill. And to sweeten the deal, we are offering a SUNDANCE SPECIAL:

Come to Sonora Grill before or after your movie and show us your ticket (or stub) for a FREE DESSERT. One free dessert per couple. Offer valid Sunday through Thursday.

2 for 1 Salads!?! Are you serious?

Check the facebook page for more information.

Look what we just got from American Express:

Thank you for helping make the first-ever Small Business Saturday a huge success! Over 1 million people joined the movement on Facebook and Cardmembers across the country came out to ‘shop small’ on November 27th.

So to keep the momentum going, American Express is extending the promotion through December 31, 2010.

Want in on the deal? Click here to register.

Check it out. American Express is giving registered Cardmembers a $25 statement credit when they shop at small businesses on Small Business Saturday! See their facebook event for more information.