Nike Shoe Recycling Program

Nike goes green with the Nike Shoe Recycling Program or as Nike terms it - Reuse-a-Shoe. With millions of athletic shoes being thrown in the garbage every year, Nike decided to take the green road and do something about it. Through the Nike reuse-a-shoe program, Nike encourages people to drop off their athletic shoes at one of the shoe drop-off locations located in many Nike outlet stores, other retail stores, sports clubs and schools in Canada, UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. Alternatively, Nike also provides an address where your shoes can be mailed in. Go to: http://letmeplay.com/reuseashoe/locations/ to find a location near you.

What Usefulness Do Old Worn-Out Athletic Shoes Have?

Nike takes the pairs of shoes and grinds them down into what is called Nike Grind. Nike Grind is composed of rubber from the outsole, foam from the midsole and fabric from the upper and are used in:

• basketball courts
• running tracks
• soccer fields
• tennis courts
• playgrounds

And Nike is continuing to explore new and innovative uses for Nike Grind. If your wondering what Nike Grind looks and feels like, visit a Nike store where you will likely see it in the footwear aisles.

It’s nice to see Nike in the positive press for what they are giving back through this great community program.

Please do your part by remembering to donate your old athletic shoes.

Innovative Fitness Half-Marathon

The Innovative Fitness Half Marathon, Ekiden Relay, 5K took place yesterday in “sunny” White Rock. This is a great community event with lots of local runners taking part. I enjoy going out to a race with so many familiar faces. Along with the Half Marathon that we took part in, is a relay event with 4 legs and also a 5 K, so there is really something for everyone. With the relay exchanges throughout the course there’s loads of encouragement along the way and varying speeds of runners. Just when you thought that you were into your run and found your pace, you’d be overtaken by a speedy relay runner with fresh legs.

It really is a well organized event with plenty of food, coffee, juices before the run and more than enough water and Gatorade stops along the run course. You started at the new South Surrey track with a loop of the track in the beginning of the run and at the end of the run, which helps the spectators to become more involved and cheer on their runners. The course was very scenic taking you through South Surrey and White Rock, twisting and winding and keeping the runners quite challenged. After the run, again there was loads of food and drinks and I really liked that the awards got underway promptly. No waiting around. All the volunteers were gratefully recognized with prizes. The grand prize was a mountain bike donated by Penninsula Cycles which you had to be there to claim. It just so happened that the woman that won the bike was walking the half marathon course at the time of the draw. I was delighted to see that the race organizers overruled and decided to make an exception and awarded the bike to her even though she wasn’t present at the drawing. Kudos to the organizers!!

Half Marathon winning times were:
Men - Drew Nicholson - 1:17:34
Female - Mary Walsh - 1:29:12

My Race(???)

I was very excited when I woke up yesterday morning to cloudy but clear skies – what a relief after the pouring rain that we had all day Saturday. The temperature was about 14 C. I felt well rested, not having run for 3 full days. I was ready to run.

The half marathon fell perfectly 3 weeks before the Victoria Marathon, so was a no brainer to include in our marathon training schedule. My last long run was 1 week ago, where we ran 23 miles and I felt great – mentally and physically. I was looking forward to running the half. I haven’t run a half marathon for six years now and have never clocked over 2 hours. I didn’t want today to be that day but feared that it could be. I think my times have gotten a bit slower over the years. However, my run went great. I felt strong for most of it and I was determined to beat that 2 hour mark. I was ecstatic when I crossed the finish line at 1:58:43. Roll on Victoria Marathon – I’m ready!

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