The month ahead is all about Rs...Reduce, reduce, recycle? No. Reading, writing and arithmetic? Nope. These four Rs are Running, Relay, Ragnar and Reebok.
Recently I decided that in the year ahead I would spend less time on voluntary race ambassadorships. You can read about it here. Of course I was still completely committed to helping Allison and our team Endorphriends with preparing for, and talking up Ragnar. It's honestly been so fun and totally easy since our team has already been so focused on all things Ragnar...what to pack, timing, exchange points, learning about the safety guidelines, van decorations and selecting emergency supplies of cookies and chips. I've never had a race with more things to plan and figure out than Ragnar! It truly adds a whole new element to the experience besides 'just' the racing part.
In the midst of all this preparation, Reebok Canada contacted one of our team mates about following us throughout our Ragnar journey! It just so happens that our team is jam-packed with runners who post videos, photos and blogs on social media about all things running. Combined, there were literally thousands of followers who would be hearing about the good, bad and smelly details of our race. Reebok Canada was increasing its focus on running, and by partnering with Ragnar and now team Endorphriends, we'd be able to help them get the message out to our running friends that they should seriously take the time to check out Reebok!
Recently I decided that in the year ahead I would spend less time on voluntary race ambassadorships. You can read about it here. Of course I was still completely committed to helping Allison and our team Endorphriends with preparing for, and talking up Ragnar. It's honestly been so fun and totally easy since our team has already been so focused on all things Ragnar...what to pack, timing, exchange points, learning about the safety guidelines, van decorations and selecting emergency supplies of cookies and chips. I've never had a race with more things to plan and figure out than Ragnar! It truly adds a whole new element to the experience besides 'just' the racing part.
In the midst of all this preparation, Reebok Canada contacted one of our team mates about following us throughout our Ragnar journey! It just so happens that our team is jam-packed with runners who post videos, photos and blogs on social media about all things running. Combined, there were literally thousands of followers who would be hearing about the good, bad and smelly details of our race. Reebok Canada was increasing its focus on running, and by partnering with Ragnar and now team Endorphriends, we'd be able to help them get the message out to our running friends that they should seriously take the time to check out Reebok!
Several of our team members had the opportunity to attend a meeting at Reebok's fun Woodbridge head office to learn more about the company's core values, partnership with Ragnar, product details and even get a sneak peak of what's coming down the pipes for 2018! You may be like me and think of hockey when it comes to Reebok. And more recently, Crossfit. But our team had the chance to see how Reebok is making their way into the running world with some very cool products and technology (not to mention totally inspiring and breath catching commercials!). Thanks to Reebok, our team has the opportunity to try many of these products during our Ragnar training and the race itself.
One of the first things Reebok did was help team Endorphriends coordinate a few fun runs in the community to create excitement about the upcoming race. These runs that we jokingly called 'Floatruns', also gave us a chance to try out and tell others about their new running shoe called the Floatride. More about the Floatrides in a moment...
I must say that besides the social media skills and running ability of our team, we also have a lot of creativity! Within a day we'd coordinated plans for three runs in May, before the race.
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Anyone is welcome to join in on these fun runs. There is a theme for each.
The first is Better Together, which is a hashtag used by Reebok. We often realize that with the inspiration and motivation of friends, we are better runners together. What else is #bettertogether? Milk and cookies...which we served after the run, held this morning! Runners were also given a special gift from Reebok!
The second run is great for anyone racing the Mississauga Marathon or the Goodlife Toronto Marathon (or any others, or none!) It's a very, very easy shake out run meant to loosen up those stiff muscles and hopefully celebrate our accomplishments of the day before. It will be held in the evening with glow bracelets distributed to runners so we have the opportunity to #lightupthenight!
The third run will be held in Ajax, where the Ragnar route will be taking us the following week. The theme of this run is Be More Human, another of the hashtags Reebok has been using. In addition to our run, we will be accepting donations of children's pyjamas and toiletries to a local emergency women's shelter. There are a limited number of gifts for runner at this run!
In all three of the fun runs you'll have an opportunity to chat with members of Team Endorphriends about the Reebok products they have / are trying including the Floatrides.
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And here is what Reebok hopes to have runners drooling over. The Floatrides!
These shoes are meant to deliver comfort while allowing you to push your performance goals. These are unique looking shoes. The seamless ultraknit upper is similar to a sock in softness and comfort while still providing breathable flexibility and support. The EVA support rim provides balance in your gait. The foam base has a consistent cell structure that delivers cushinoning and responsiveness. It's the float, in Floatrides! Not only are these shoes engineered to provide balance, comfort and endurance, they are very distinctive and get a lot of looks because of their unique and eye catching appearance!
If you'd like to check out the Floatrides, you can find them at select Running Room locations (our team has seen them at Rosedale and Whitby) or online at Reebok.ca for $180.
We hope to see you at one of our fun runs!
