Last weekend at Ironman Canada it would have been impossible not to notice the Newton presence. We had one of our biggest company showings ever—around 30 Newton staff and athletes showed up to race, spread the Newton word, and raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Here are some highlights:

Jerry Lee and Winter Vinecki at the Expo

Beautiful race day in Penticton, BC—we lucked out.

Dennis Meeker was the first finisher from Team Newton with a time of 9:22.

Scott Burrow, Tory Oakland, and Ricky Jeffs cross the finish line showing off their Newton colors.

We want to extend a big congrats to Jerry Lee, who finished his first Ironman.

In total, Newton raised over $70,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation through Athletes for a Cure, and hopes to raise that total over $100,000 by the end of the year.

If you happened to be around Pearl Street in Boulder at the beginning of this week, you probably noticed lots of neon green Newton bags on people’s shoulders. (A couple of people tweeted asking what was going on) Or perhaps you saw colorful armies of runners all wearing our new green or aqua trail shoes taking over the Boulder Creek bike path.

Good looking group of runners!

At the start of this week around a hundred of Newton’s retailers descended on Boulder for three event-packed days. Amidst breakout sessions, form clinics, runs, and lunchtime discussions, the highlight of the week was definitely the Natural Running Industry Panel.

The Panel included Irene Davis, Mark Cucuzzella, Danny Abshire, Zola Budd, Danny Dreyer, and Jay Dicharry and was moderated by Brian Metzler.

Zola recounted her childhood where it was normal to walk barefoot to school, the mall, etc. She suggests keeping your kids out of shoes as long as possible so that their feet have time to develop correctly.

The clinics involved plenty of barefoot drills on the track.

Thanks to all who attended this weeks events, it was even more of a success than we had hoped for!

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella’s store, Two Rivers Treads opened last week in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. As described in last week’s post, the store is unique because it is teaching better running form and fitting runners and walkers in more natural shoes.

Here’s a quick recap from Dr. Mark:

“The day started with the 5k Cougar Challenge. Brandon Doughy, a 4:12 miler and West Virginia state mile and XC champ, won the race in 16:10, taking 30 seconds off  my old course record on a brutally hot day. I hung on for third in a field full of young running talent. Eric Graf out-kicked me by three seconds to come in at 17:07. Not wanting to be beat by a 43-year old guy, Eric dug deep and commented after the run, “that was the hardest race I’ve ever run.” For me, the fun of being able to mix it up with runners almost 30 years my junior is as good as it gets.”

Mark raced in his favorite Newton Distance shoes that have over 1,000 miles (and just a little shoe goo) on them.

After the race, the store hosted its grand opening where new and experienced runners alike learned about Newton and our philosophy from sales rep extraordinaire,Tom Curran, as well as the experienced Two Rivers Treads staff. At the end of the day, 35 new pairs of Newton shoes left the store and the staff was left with nothing but positive feedback on the shoes, teaching and service. Read more about the opening here.

Next week we are holding two Natural Running Symposia in Florida. (Click on images for full details)

Wednesday, July 7th at Runner’s Depot in Davie, FL we are holding a Natural Running Presentation and Discussion from 6:30-8:30 PM.

Thursday, July 8th at the Western High School Track in Davie, FL there will be a Natural Running form clinic from 6:30-7:30 AM.

Thursday, July 8th at Footworks in South Miami there is a Natural Running Presentation and Discussion from 6:30-8:30 PM and on Friday, July 9th from 6:30-7:30 AM there is a Natural Running Form Clinic from 6:30-7:30 AM also at Footworks.

Interested in knowing if Newton is coming to your town? Our event page is constantly being updated, so check in often!

Have a happy 4th!

Sir Isaac

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella (center) outside his storefront with business partners Tom Shantz and James Munnis

Loyal readers of this blog recognize the name Dr. Mark Cucuzzella. He’s a family physician who has completed over 60 marathons and ultras, and continues to compete as a National level Masters runner. His marathon best is 2:24 and he has run under 2:35 for a marathon 22 of the last 24 years including a 2:34 in the 2010 Boston Marathon at age 43. He’s also an expert on running biomechanics and a big fan of Newton (but not on our payroll). We’re excited to share the news that Dr. Mark’s new store, Two Rivers Treads in Shepherdstown, WV is having its grand opening event this Saturday, June 26. If you live in the area you should definitely check it out.

Two Rivers Treads should be of interest even to those of you who live far away because of its unique approach to the business of selling shoes. Dr. Mark and his team have carefully selected only shoes that work with the foot. Instead of carrying the entire product range of popular brands, they’ve choosen individual models that facilitate natural running and walking styles. If you visit the website, you’ll see that they provide detailed information on each shoe, including the heel height and toe height in millimeters so that you can determine each shoe’s ramp angle.

Two Rivers Treads is the first shop of its kind – a shoe store that promotes spending as much time barefoot as possible and provides products and education that help people realize an efficient and injury-free style of running. It’s an exciting experiment in the otherwise stale world of running retail and we’re proud to be a part of it.. The store is also the headquarters for Freedom’s Run, an event that Dr. Mark started in 2009 that winds through four separate national parks, and serves as a center of confluence for the outdoors, arts, and healthy-living local communities.

In addition to the grand opening event this Saturday, Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot will be speaking Tuesday evening (June 29). The talk is titled “100,000 Miles and Going Strong: How to Run Smart and Healthy for Life.” Check it out!

If you live in the NYC area, please join us for our next Natural Running Form Clinic and Symposium. The Running Form clinic will be hosted by Newton co-founder Danny Abshire and Director of Research & Education Ian Adamson, and will start from the Central Park Boathouse restaurant at 6:30pm on Tuesday the 15th. The Natural Running Symposium (and cocktail reception) will be at the Track and Field Store on Madison Avenue on Wednesday, June 16. Ian and Danny will lead a discussion on how to run faster, stronger, more efficiently and with less injury.

And as always, a bag o’ Newton bling to the first 30 people at the Symposium plus a free shoe raffle. Hope to see you there!

Also for those of you on Long Island we are hosting a back-to-back a symposium and clinic on Thursday evening, June 17.

June 17th: Runner’s Edge, Farmingdale, NY 6:30-7:30pm Symposium, Q and A 7:30-8:30pm Form Clinic

The Woodway Desmo treadmill at RnRSD turned for eight hours last Friday and Saturday, and the official number of steps are tallied. Pam and Ian got a solid training session in for Badwater and logged the following numbers while raising awareness for Trickle Up:

Ian Adamson: 82,015 steps, 47 miles

Pam Reed: 87,777 steps, 43 miles

Ian had the following to say of the event: “Running on a treadmill for eight hours is not particularly fun, but it’s much easier than the challenges faced by the countless millions of people in poorer countries without a stable (or any) income. Last Saturday I ran 47 miles in Newton Gravity Trainers on a treadmill to raise awareness for Trickle Up. Trickle Up gives grants to develop micro-enterprise for folks who live on less than $1 a day. “Dreadmill” running is challenging since there’s no change of scenery, or the smells, sights and sounds of the countryside. Fortunately plenty of people stopped by at the expo to chat and gawk. As Ben from Woodway pointed out, it’s akin to being a human hamster—only I’m neither cute nor furry.”

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our expo booth to try on shoes, and congrats to all the marathon finishers. Now for the announcement you’ve all been waiting for, the winners of the contest. Because we added Pam last minute, for the online contest we chose to pick the two closest guesses for Ian. The expo winners were determined by the closest guess for Ian, Pam, and the combination of the two.

Here is the list of folks who will be receiving a free pair of shoes:

Sheli Auteh guessed 82,600 steps for Ian at the expo

Judy Kniss guessed 87,600 steps for Pam at the expo

Yvonne Faucher guessed 170,000 for the combined number of steps at the expo

Lewis Fowler guessed 81, 568 steps for Ian online

Jeff Kaldahl guessed 82, 222 for Ian online

Winners: email us at media@newtonrunning.com if you have any questions.

7-time Ian adventure racing world champion Ian Adamson and ultra-running legend and 2-time Badwater winner Pam Reed both seem to have certain penchant for pain and suffering and are training hard for the Badwater Ultramarathon in a couple of months. As part of their training, and more importantly to raise awareness for an important cause, both Ian and Pam are going to spend eight hours on a treadmill at the Rock’n'Roll Marathon in San Diego this weekend. To honor their pain, we’re going to give away some Newton shoes to a couple of lucky winners.

Since we launched the company about three years ago, Newton has proudly supported the Trickle Up Foundation with a $1 donation for the sale of every pair of shoes. Trickle up was created to help poverty-stricken people in developing countries to launch micro-enterprises by providing seed capital grants and business training – it’s a small non-profit that’s making a big difference in the world.

In order to raise awareness about Trickle Up, Ian and Pam will be running on the treadmill for eight hours straight wearing pedometers to train for Badwater. (Ian is running Friday for eight hours, Pam is running Saturday for eight hours).

Here’s how to win FREE SHOES.

Guess at the number of steps they will each take over the course of the day. Two winners (for the closest guess for Ian) will receive a pair of Newtons of their choice. There are four different ways in which you can enter:

1. Stop by our expo booth and write down your guess.

2. Leave a comment on this blog post with each guess.

3. Tweet your guesses and include the hashtag #NewtonRnRSD

4. Leave a comment on the Facebook post announcing the contest.

The contest will run until the end of the day on June 5th, when we will pick the winners, and break ties via a random drawing. You can read the full contest guidelines here.

Sweating it out for eight hours of running in place will be good training for whats up next—both Ian and Pam will be running Badwater in July as part of  the seven-athlete Newton team. Stay tuned for more updates on the team.

If you live in the LA area, please come join us for our next Natural Running Symposium at Runnergy in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday, June 2. Newton Running’s Director of Education, Ian Adamson (who is also a 7-time adventure racing world champ), will lead a discussion on how to run faster, stronger, more efficiently and with less injury. Immediately following the Symposium, Ian will take the group outside for a running form clinic, offering individualized advice and feedback to participants.

Oh, and a bag o’ Newton bling to the first 30 people at the Symposium plus a free shoe raffle! Hope to see you there!

And here’s a quick look at some of our upcoming Natural Running Symposia (had to look up the plural of symposium) around the country. More details here.

June 12th: Newton Running  Symposium, Newton Running Lab, Boulder, CO 5:30-7:30pm

June 13th: Running Form Clinic, Newton Running Lab, Boulder, CO 9am-10am

June 15th: Newton Running Form Clinic, Central Park, NY Meet at the Boathouse 6:30pm

June 16th: Newton Running Symposium, The Track and Field Store (997 Madison Avenue, NYC) 6:30-8:30pm Symposium, Q and A

June 17th: Runner’s Edge, Farmington, NY 6:30-7:30pm Symposium, Q and A 7:30-8:30pm Form Clinic

This morning the Newton crew joined 500 elementary school kids in running a race around a one-mile loop that weaves around the playground and local neighborhoods of the Columbine Elementary School. The kids train for the event a few times per week leading up to the big race day, which has been occurring annually for 33 years. In an era of defunct phys-ed programs and skyrocketing computer and video game use, the event is vital in exposing kids to the benefits of physical activity, and from the facial expressions it looks the kids were have a great time.

Danny Abshire, Newton co-founder, tries to keep up

Jennifer Abshire encourages one participant on to the finish

Jerry Lee, Newton co-founder, getting in the thick of it

What percentage of these kids had perfect natural running form? Lots. You can read the full event report on the Running Times website.