When I was invited to the launch of the brand new NIKE FREE 5.0 and the NZ edition of Nike FREE YOUR RUN, my first thought was panic. I never seem to run except at sports shoe launches.
When I was invited to the launch of the brand new NIKE FREE 5.0 and the NZ edition of Nike FREE YOUR RUN, my first thought was panic.
I never seem to run except at sports shoe launches. My training regime seems to consist of waiting for a sport shoe launch and panicking then running out of time (no pun intended) to train for it and then running anyway (and really enjoying it) and think I should do this more regularly, not just at launches.
So it was with Nike FREE 5.0 and the New Zealand FREE YOUR RUN event, which took place in Auckland’s Britomart on Friday 12 April.
The FREE 5.0 launch took place at Ebisu, where media got to hear in detail about the benefits of the muscle-building 5.0 shoe that simulates running barefoot, followed by an epic group run with over a hundred members of the public inlcuding their weekly run club members, on the ‘Nike FREE YOUR RUN’ run at 6pm – 7pm.
Below: Gorgeous Nike talent Lydia and Gabs.
In the cool Japanese restaurant Ebisu – over some oishiii fishy snacks – we got to meet Mr Running himself, Hamish Carter, the New Zealand Olympic trialthlete. He has been running events in the Nike FREE 5.0 and loves it and says it is a shoe for everybody, but we should start off slowly interspersed with our regular shoes.
Just when I was about to get anxious I read; "Don’t fret! The run will be social and will capture the beauty of Auckland, plus will feature a number of surprises along the way – it’s not too serious!" so I felt encouraged to go.
And it was great. I run for about 40 minutes over the 7km course (36 minutes according to the posh Nike timepiece of The Style Insider Leonie Barlow who is one doing the Sydney free run event on 4th May.)
The scenery of the run itself made it all go by so fast, along with the various fun stations they had organised along the route. These included glowstick neckbands to wear, balloons to carry, a men’s dance group at the Victoria Tunnel overbridge and letting off light lanterns into the night. Stunning.
With any luck, I will be running free myself in my fabulous new Nike Free 5.0s. I won’t wait until the next shoe launch to get motivated!
Follow the action on their Twitter hashtag #RUNFREE
Words and photos Megan Robinson
12 April 2013
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