The Running Front

Ironman Canada Race Recap

Sir Isaac — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:20:51 +0000

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.

Ruff Fitness’ Natural Running Clinic

Sir Isaac — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:59:12 +0000

Many of you who do not live in the cities we have visited have been curious about what exactly goes on in our Natural Running clinics. This clinic shown in this video was not put on by us, but it is taught by Dr. Mark who makes frequent appearances at our events and will give you a pretty good idea about how to get started changing to a more natural form. It took place in Hagerstown, MD at Ruff Fitness.

Newton Retail Summit Recap

Sir Isaac — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:25:36 +0000

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!

Winter Vinecki Wins IronKids Boulder Race

Sir Isaac — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 05:44:11 +0000

“This is for you Jerry”

Congratulations to Winter Vinecki, who won her age group in the IronKids triathlon in Boulder on Saturday and dedicated her win to Jerry Lee, Newton co-founder. She put the competition to shame in the 300 yard swim, 4 mile bike, and 1 mile run. Nice work, Winter!

The World is Flat if You’re a Foot

Sir Isaac — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:14:04 +0000

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella just passed us along a document outlining foot anatomy and biomechanics, barefoot motion, the effects of heel lift, shoe design flaws and myths, and proper toe alignment. It makes for an interesting read—especially for any science nerds out there. Click the link to download the full document. The most interesting part is that it lays out the facts about how a foot works and is not Newton marketing material, but comes to the same conclusions that we believe in when it comes to proper footwear.

The World is Flat….if You Are a Foot

Tuesday Race Hangover

Sir Isaac — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:23:16 +0000

A few highlights from Newton Running athletes racing across the country last weekend:

Newton’s original superfan Brandon Wood finished 38th overall and 12th in his age group at the New York City Triathlon. Here’s what he had to say about the race:

“About 1/3 of the way through the swim I took in an enormous gulp of the Hudson River. As a result, I had a bit of nausea on the bike and though I was going to lose it a few times, but everything stayed down. By the time I hit T2, the heat and humidity was really setting in and a lot of people were really feeling it especially on the shade-less run on W. 72nd Street. I really felt good on the run and kept dumping as much cold water on my head as I could get my hands on. Thankfully, the uppers of my Gravitas trainers are so open, the water just ran out. I finished with a time of 2:14:45 grabbing my elite qualifying time by a whopping 15 seconds.”

Congrats B-Wood! We’re proud of ya and one day we’ll say “we knew him way back when…”

Tatiana Vertiz raced the Vineman 70.3 yesterday and got first in her age group (20-24).

Dennis Meeker finished the Roth Ironman in 8 hours and 57 minutes.

Ryan Sutter, of ABC’s The Bachelor fame, raced the Xterra Beaver Creek, CO in Newtons last weekend as part of his 10.10.10 campaign against cancer.

Team MOFR also had a strong showing for Newton at the Beaver Creek Xterra as Greg Abrahamson got the top podium spot in his age group.

Congrats folks!

Maryland and Pennsylvania Events

Sir Isaac — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:10:35 +0000

We would like to announce 3 more Natural Running Symposia—click on the images for full details.

Tuesday, July 20th (TODAY!): Fleet Feet Sports in Gaithersburg, MD (255 Kentlands Blvd)

7-9 pm: Natural Running Presentation and Form Clinic, swag bags and raffle

Saturday, July 24th: Charm City Run in Timonium, MD (2045 York Road)

8-11 am: Natural Running Presentation and Form Clinic, swag bags and raffle

Saturday, July 31st: Second Sole in Seven Fields, PA

4-6 pm: Natural Running Presentation and Form Clinic, swag bags and raffle

“My legs don’t feel beaten up”: Ian Adamson and Team Newton’s Badwater Recap

Sir Isaac — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:10:33 +0000

Last week Newton had three athletes competing in the Badwater Ultramarathon, the 135-mile run sufferfest that rises 13,000 feet from Death Valley to the portal of Mt. Whitney. Claiming to enjoy “hills, heat, and headwinds” Ian Adamson won the masters category (45+) in his first Badwater race ever with a total time of 34:32:38.

Is that snow on the horizon? Must be a desert mirage.

This year’s race was particularly hot, resulting in times that were 4-5 hours slower than usual.

Ian describes the role that his shoes played in his successful race: “Badwater provides conditions most human’s can’t, or shouldn’t, run in, which in turn provides an opportunity to see how Newton shoes hold up. I ran primarily in the Distance racer, a light-weight racing shoe, that performed remarkably well. I already had 400 miles training on them, so another 100 or in extreme heat confirmed their resilience.” He also claimed that his legs didn’t even feel beaten up at the end, which we find hard to believe!

Also running for Team Newton was Pam Reed, who finished in third place overall for the women with an overall time of 32:23:34. Jim Smith rounded out the trio and made the tough but safe decision to quit around 100 miles in. We also learned that this year’s finishers included a 75 year old man, a crazy guy who ran “the double,” i.e. he turned around and ran all the way back upon finishing, and Marshall Ulrich, who finished for his 22nd time.

Congrats to all the finishers, you guys are a tough group.

On a related note, Ian is still accepting donations on his Badwater page:

Donate $50 or more to Racers Against Childhood Cancer (RACC) and receive a coupon for 40% off a pair of Newton Running shoes (any model.) Here’s How:

Browse to Ian’s Badwater donation page.
Make your donation.
Newton Running will send you unique coupon code and instructions on how to redeem it for your discount shoes.
Purchase your shoes at NewtonRunning.com and enter the discount code.

The Fine Print

Offer is available on-line only.
Coupons code will be issued after donation and can only be redeemed at time of purchase.
Coupons are valid unill July 31st, 2010.
Models subject to availability.
Shipping and taxes will apply (shipping via UPS Ground.)
Anyone who purchases two or more pairs of shoes on-line in a year can become part of “Club Newton” and will receive an additional item of value such as tech socks, hat, shirt and more with each purchase.

“I Just Love my Newtons!”

Sir Isaac — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:29:45 +0000

Newton co-founder and CEO Jerry Lee with Jenny Budget whom he ran into at the open water swim at Dachet in the UK. Jenny qualified for Kona in Newtons after trying for 9 years. Congrats on the huge accomplishment Jenny!

Athlete Update: Nato Amaral

Sir Isaac — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:50:31 +0000

Known as “Queen of the Ultras,” the 56-mile Comrades road race attracted over 16,000 runners to Durban, South Africa. Brazilian Nato Amaral finished the race for the 9th time despite debilitating stomach cramps every step of the way. He decided to cross the finish line hand in hand with some Brazilian friends he met along the way.

Nato then went on to race in the Johannesburg RAC 10K just two weeks after the Comrades. We asked if he got to see any soccer while he was down there to which he replied? “Any soccer? I saw seven games.” Including three Brazil games. Sounds like we found out his real motivation behind his extended South African stay