The 420 Games Appeals to ‘Go Go Go’ Athletes Like Jackie Subeck | Civilized – March 2017

Jackie Subeck is one of the most productive people she knows. And yet the CEO of consulting firm Hey Jackpot and avid hiker still finds herself combatting the tired old stigmas of cannabis use every day.
 
“I’ve always been a go-go-go kind of person and I’ve never had any trouble with using cannabis and continuing to be incredibly productive,” Subeck told Civilized over the phone from her home in West Hollywood.

“I’ve had arguments with people close to me who are still really living in a stigma-driven world, who know how [high energy] I am and still call me names or suggest I’m lazy or unmotivated because I use cannabis… it’s really frustrating.”

It’s no surprise, then, that an event like the 420 Games would resonate so strongly with Subeck, who will compete this weekend in the first cannabis-friendly athletic event of the season. The now annual event founded by Jim McAlpine aims to challenge the stereotype that cannabis consumers are necessarily couch potatoes.
 
While participating athletes are asked not to imbibe on-site, the events are focused on celebrating the many ways cannabis can contribute to an active lifestyle. For Subeck, cannabis allows her to fully lean in to her workouts, whatever form they may take.
 
“Cannabis is something I do prior to a workout because it helps balance my system and lets me quickly remove the stress of the work day… it allows me to connect with my body and the athletic part of me a lot quicker and a lot easier because otherwise I might be stressing 90 percent of the time while trying to decompress,” said Subeck, adding that the 420 Games allows the public to see this positive side of cannabis consumption.

“I think there’s a lot of normalcy in cannabis use and active lifestyles that people just don’t see. I think it’s a lot more normal than people realize.”

For Aaron Silverman, cannabis has been a normal part of exercise for more than a decade, ever since he started using the plant for pain relief from multiple knee surgeries spurred by a sports-related injury. He wouldn’t – and essentially couldn’t – have it any other way.
 
“I’ve been disabled for a long time although you wouldn’t know it because I have a pretty regular cannabis diet,” said Silverman, a long-time cyclist who used cannabis to wean himself off pharmaceutical painkillers roughly 11 years ago and never looked back.

“I love events like the 420 Games because they allow me to challenge myself amongst a bunch of other people who understand that what I’m doing before and after the event not only helps me enjoy the event, but allows me to do it.”

The 2017 tour of the 420 Games launches on Saturday, April 1 with a 4.2-mile run from the Santa Monica Pier, with more events planned throughout California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada in coming months.
 
The launch will see several NFL players (including Kyle Turley, Eben Britton, Boo Williiams and Nate Jackson) along with XGames athletes and yoga instructors, on-deck for the day. Several companies will also be on site to offer attendees the opportunity to obtain a medical cannabis evaluation and recommendation.
 
Civilized readers can get one of a limited number of free tickets for the April 1 event here.
 
Banner image: (from right to left) Jackie Subeck, Jim McAlpine, Lisa Sweeny 
 
Original URL: https://www.civilized.life/articles/420-games-athletes-jackie-subeck/