THE BROOKS BLOG

Name : Nijah Twigg

What is your job at Brooks : Customer Specialist—part of a newly developed customer-support focused team.

Pets : Only child, spoiled rotten, center of our universe, Duncan. All-white beautiful mutt of a dog!

Favorite movie : Princess Bride and Count of Monte Cristo—equally enjoyed.

Explain your love of Zumba : I love this class because I am sore in all of my target muscles the day after, yet during I feel like I’m just dancing.

Your favorite Spring 2010 apparel item : Glycerin T

Why it’s awesome : Soft, luxurious, easy flatter fit, cool breathability and everyday wearability. Transitions from sleep to exercise to casual mall wear. Love it, love it, love it! Perfect with Viva Flare or my fave pair of jeans.

Olympic marathoner and Brooks-sponsored athlete Brian Sell rendered in pasta:

Here we see the finer details of the pastafication: Please note the mustache.

The Brian Sell macaroni sculpture/shrine is housed in "The Beastro," our Brooks HQ employee dining area. An Adrenaline™ candelabra provides just the right lighting.

Hi all,

My name is Andre Kriwet and I am the Director of Footwear Merchandising at Brooks Sports. I have been working on and with running shoes for the last 22 years. My team and I are responsible to set the direction of the running footwear line for the future. So with that said, I can only tell you that I love to read the passionate comments you guys posted: Thank you for caring!

I will not take sides on the barefoot discussion but rest assured that we hear you and are super excited and inspired by your thoughts and ideas. We at brooks do only one thing: running. No tennis, no football or climbing. Our only goal and success is when we get it right for YOU! If we learned that we can reduce injuries by putting the left shoe on the right foot and vice versa we would do just that. It is a unique time right now, a time of new beginnings in a way, a lot of questions and great discussion like in this blog: Minimalist shoes, how you run, how you train, why you run, and how the footwear industry goes about reducing injuries.

I cannot tell you too much here right now (you know, our competitors will read this as well: Hi there J, by the way) but we, as one of the leading running shoe brands, have a lot of innovative stuff cooking that will excite you and answer many of the questions you have today. So please trust us, we hear you! And we really care about your opinion since you help me shape the future of the footwear line.

>> Read Brooks’ Perspective on Barefoot Running here .
>> Read trusted experts’ opinions here .

The Switch 3 for Men and Women has it all: Good looks, great price, and just the right amount of support.

Here are the updates:

• Overlays : Dialed-in wrap through the arch and a higher mudguard improve the fit and offer better arch support.
• Midsole : Grooves on the midsole sidewall enhance articulation for a natural heel-to-toe transition.
• Heel : A more assertive heel bevel provides a smooth lay down.

Who should wear the Switch 3?

This is a perfect shoe for runners who want mild support in a good-looking shoe at a great price. The Switch 3 sits in Brooks’ Guidance category, a sweet spot for runners who don’t require the full-on stability offered by shoes in our Support category, but need more support than is offered by our Neutral shoes.

Guidance category a perfect fit, but you want something cushier? Try the Ravenna for Men and Women .

Just before 2009 came to a close, The Washington Times Communities’ online running column "Run, Karla, Run!" honored ultra runner Scott Jurek by including him in a post titled "The Best Runners of the Decade."

Runner/journalist Karla Bruning ranked Jurek 8th on the 10-person roster, which also includes Catherine Ndereba, Tirunesh Dibaba, Usain Bolt, Haile Gebrselassie, and Paula Radcliffe. Of her highly personal, yet star-studded list, Bruning notes:

"My picks are completely unscientific and subjective, and I’m sure they will incite at least a little grumbling. But these 10 runners have dazzled the world with feats of strength. . . and racked up the hardware to prove it."

About Brooks-sponsored ultramarathoner Jurek, in particular, she writes:

"There’s distance and then there’s distance. In the burgeoning field of ultramarathons, Scott Jurek is the king of the road."

>> Read "The Best Runners of the Decade" online column in its entirety here.

As a champion ultra runner, running coach, and physical therapist, Jurek was one of the experts whose opinions we sought in preparing our Perspective on Barefoot Running . Jurek was also one of the runners featured prominently in Born to Run , the bestselling book by Christopher McDougall.

In his expert section on barefoot running, Jurek states:

"Personally, I have used barefoot running before and/or after a speed workout by warming up and cooling down in 10- to 15-minute sessions on grass or artificial turf for technique training. I have also used it to prevent injury or rehab a foot-ankle injury, such as plantar fasciitis, by running on grass or sand for one to four miles. As a running coach, I have recommended running barefoot for the same reasons I have used it in my own training program. The key is proper progression and integration (i.e. avoiding too much, too soon) to allow the athlete’s body to adapt appropriately."

To see Scott Jurek’s "pros" and "cons" of barefoot running, along with the rest of his remarks on the topic, please read his expert statement.
>> See the rest of our experts’ statements
>> Read our Perspective on Barefoot Running

January 22, 2010

An Open Letter to the Running Community ,

For many of us, running is an inseparable part of our lives—we need it. When we run, we improve our health, relieve stress, achieve personal goals, compete, raise money, and have fun. On any given weekend, check out a running event in any city across the globe and you’ll be inspired by runners spanning ages, speeds, motivations, and goals—each with their own stories. At Brooks, inspiring everyone to run and be active is our reason for being.

Given the passion felt about our sport, it’s easy to understand how everything about the run is actively studied, critiqued, debated, and questioned—including shoes. People strive to run faster, longer, healthier, more efficiently, and injury-free mile after mile, and they’ve traditionally looked to their footwear to deliver that. But many people have recently questioned whether running barefoot is better, so we feel it’s time for Brooks to join the public dialogue.

Let’s call a spade a spade. We make running shoes: High-quality, biomechanically mapped, performance running shoes calibrated for runners’ unique needs. We hope runners buy our shoes and we’re confident they’ll enjoy them. But this isn’t about selling shoes. And, quite frankly, this isn’t even about running barefoot.

So what are we talking about here? First and foremost, we’re all talking about running, and that’s a great thing because we believe to our core that running is a positive force in our world. We want everyone to run and be happy. But to get there, whether you should run barefoot is not the great debate. We are all unique. The focus should be on how you run and train, and then finding the right shoe that addresses your unique biomechanical needs. "The Perfect Ride for Every Stride," as we say at Brooks. Let’s look at a snapshot of the running population:

• At one end of the spectrum, we know there are runners who lack foot strength leading to severe pronation. They may strike heavily and need a great deal of support to run injury- and pain-free. We hear repeatedly from them that the Brooks Beast "saved their lives."

• At the other end of the spectrum are the biomechanically blessed (and/or conditioned through training) who have natural healthy gaits and enjoy great efficiency. These gazelles may wear shoes, they may not.

• The vast majority of runners (including this middle-of-the-packer !) fall in between. And for us, we strongly believe most of our mileage should be logged in a performance running shoe, not barefoot . For us, supportive, cushioned footwear is not only beneficial, it also plays an essential role in delivering a comfortable, injury-free running experience.

Elsewhere on our Web site, you’ll find a robust discussion on this topic (or you can view it as a downloadable PDF here ) from our Brooks footwear team. We also asked people we respect in the running industry to chime in with their perspectives on the barefoot running discussion. These experts include accomplished runners, coaches, researchers, doctors, and specialty running retailers, who see more runners (and their feet) each week than many of us see in a lifetime.

Join us in this conversation and be active in your decisions. We were all born to run. But the ultimate goal, of course, is to keep running for the long haul.

Run Happy,

Jim Weber
President & CEO
Brooks Sports, Inc.

How do you follow up being a contestant on OXYGEN’s hit show Dance Your Ass Off ? For Karla Guy, the next challenge is P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona ½ Marathon on Sunday, January 17. Karla is running in the Adrenaline . We’re so excited to be part of Karla’s first ever race.

Have a great race, Karla! You’ve done the training, now enjoy the ride—and Run Happy®!

UPDATE: Karla finished strong. Read about her race strategy here. Congrats, Karla!

>> Follow Karla on Twitter @KarlaGuy .

>> Check out Karla’s sweet dance moves at KarlaGuy.com . Scroll to the bottom and watch the video of her winning the first competition.

We are on a roll! Runner’s World has given the new Glycerin® 8 with Brooks DNA its prestigious "Editor’s Choice" award in the Spring 2010 Shoe Guide in the March issue—on newsstands February 2, 2010.

The award was announced during the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2010 in Salt Lake City, UT, at a Brooks-sponsored industry gathering (i.e. a Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series-themed cocktail party!) on Thursday evening, January 21. Warren Greene from Runner’s World made the announcement. A giant banner was unfurled. And the cover band rocked on!

>> See the Men’s Glycerin® 8
>> See the Women’s Glycerin® 8
>> Learn more about Brooks DNA

Woo hoo! We are thrilled to announce a multi-year partnership with Chrissie Wellington, world-renowned British triathlete and reigning Ironman World Champion, as her official footwear sponsor.

That’s right. Those Brooks T6 Racers Chrissie wore and won in during the last three Ford Ironman® World Championships ? She chose to run in them because she liked the T6 and they worked for her—and boy, did they! In 2009, Wellington set a new women’s world course record of 8 hours, 54:02 minutes in Kona.

“With that trademark smile she flashes even after finishing a grueling race, Chrissie Wellington embodies the strength, passion, and drive to succeed that we look for in brand partners,” said Jim Weber, president and CEO of Brooks. “We’re pleased to welcome her and proud to have such an inspirational athlete representing our brand.”

Wellington is the first triathlete to join Brooks’ strategic group of professional athletes.

>> Read the full press release here .

T6 Racer (6.1 oz, Unisex): Our lightest racing flat is great for the biomechanically efficient runner. Hyperpod construction on the outsole gives this shoe maximum flexibility, while a minimal socklike upper keeps it light. Ford Ironman World Champion and new Brooks-sponsored athlete Chrissie Wellington won her third consecutive world title in Kona last year in Brooks T5s—setting a new course record in the process. Many members of the Hansons-Brooks ODP team, including Brian Sell, sport the T6 when they race. The new 2010 color (shown here) debuts 2/1.

*****

Green Silence (6.9 oz, Unisex): The Green Silence is our most environmentally sustainable competition shoe. Like the T6, it has flexible hyperpod construction in the forefoot and minimal overlays. A wider based aids stability. Post-consumer recycled materials, BioMoGo midsole, water-based inks, and non-toxic dyes are just part of the package we’ve put together in the Green Silence. Learn more about the Green Silence here .

*****

Racer ST4 (8.6 oz, Unisex): Light enough for the 5K, but sturdy enough for the marathon, the Racer ST4 is the racing flat for those seeking added support. A Diagonal Roll Bar (DRB®) in the midsole and a rigidity piece (DRB® Accel) on the underside midfoot add stability and encourage correct body alignment. The new 2010 color (shown here) debuts 2/1.

*****

Launch (Men’s 9.3 oz, Women’s 7.5 oz): The Launch is substantial enough to be included in our neutral training category, but minimal enough to be considered by those who want a light shoe for tempo runs and races. Compared to the other shoes in this list, the Launch offers a greater energy return enhanced by its highly resilient midsole and sockliner. The outsole provides constant ground contact and also includes blown rubber in the forefoot for added grip. The Launch has received kudos from Brooks ID members, elite runners, and was awarded "Best Debut" by Runner’s World in its Winter 2009 Shoe Guide.

>>Unisex and Men’s weights are based on a Men’s size 9. Women’s weights are based on size 7.

>>NOTE : Women ordering Unisex racing shoes should size down 1.5 sizes.