THE BROOKS BLOG

Jeff Powers (3000m), Jordan Fife (1500m), Ty Davis (800m), Derek Scott (1500m / 3000m), and Stephen Haas (3000m) will compete at the 2009 USATF Indoor National Championships this Saturday and Sunday in Boston.

For Powers and Fife, it will mark their second year in a row competing at the US Indoor Nationals, with both hoping to improve on their 8th place finishes from 2008. For Davis, Haas, and Scott, this will be their first appearance at the US Indoors. Haas is a multi-time competitor at the USATF Outdoor National Championships in the 5000 and 10,000m, and Davis was a semi-finalist in the 800m at the 2008 US Olympic Trials.

Results can be found at www.usatf.org, and interviews can be found at www.flotrack.org

–Altitude camp after US Nationals

Six members of the group will head to Flagstaff, Arizona for 5 weeks of altitude training immediately after the US Indoor Championships. This will be the second year that the group will be in Flagstaff. Last year’s altitude camp was very successful, with five athletes setting seven new personal best marks in the 4 weeks after the camp. Look for blogs, photos, videos and updates on www.teamindianaelite.com and www.flotrack.org

For more information on Brooks Team Indiana, visit www.teamindianaelite.com

It was a great weekend in Landover, MD for high school running! Brooks is the official footwear and apparel sponsor of the Maryland Indoor Track & Field Championships and we are always looking for fun and exciting ways to reward these outstanding individuals.

This year www.flotrack.org came to town to cover the meet and also launched our new “mugshot’ contest. Check out http://www.flotrack.org/brooks/mug_shot_view_photo/258861

We also had a graphic artist at the event to “tag” Brooks Podium shirts for a few lucky athletes!  See you at in Baltimore for the Outdoor Championships!  Check out all meet footage-  http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view/234514-maryland-state-indoor-champs

Last year, Brooks introduced the first-ever biodegradable running shoe midsole: BioMoGo,

How’s it work? Adding a non-toxic, natural additive to our MoGo midsole compound encourages anaerobic microbes to munch away once it hits the landfill. Traditional midsoles can last up to 1,000 years in a landfill — but BioMoGo breaks down 50 times faster, biodegrading into reusable byproducts within 20 years!

BioMoGo made its debut in the Brooks Trance 8, but is now also available in the Adrenaline™ GTS 9 (M’s/W’s), Glycerin® 7 (M’s/W’s), Defyance 2 (M’s/W’s), Infiniti 2 (M’s/W’s), and Cascadia 4 (M’s/W’s). Watch for more Brooks shoes with BioMoGo to hit the shelves later this year.

To learn more about BioMoGo, visit the Brooks Green Room.

Every year Brooks sponsors some of the best cross country and track meets across the country! We want to support the sport in it’s purest form and it doesn’t get any better than high school running!

To add a little excitement to our events we are partnering with Flotrack to cover these meets and bring these athletes an enhanced experience during and after the competition! To find out where Brooks will be in 2009, the enter contests, and to learn a little more about our athletes check out www.runbrooks.com.

Here is just a quick look at the Brooks NCAA Pre-National meet from last October…..

Brooks made its first-ever appearance at the Mardi Gras Marathon Health & Fitness Expo, January 30-31. As a part-sponsor of the event, our EZ T’s, Podium 1/2 Zips, Equilibrium LS, Aireplex Jacket, Run Skort, Epiphany Shorts, and more, were used to create the official race gear. The logoed pieces looked awesome–kudos to Varsity Sports, and sold quickly. There were lots of fresh new running shoes available for purchase and try-ons. Local retailers Phidippides and Southern Runner Sports, Brooks Sales Reps, and Brooks Marketing Guru Gabriel Rodriguez were on hand to help customers find the “perfect ride for every stride.”

Brooks’ “Go Card” decoration table and Run Happy Mardi Gras bead distribution table were bright spots at the Expo (if I do say so myself). It didn’t take much encouragement to get hundreds of kids and adults to stop and make signs of encouragement for Moms, Dads, friends, and other loved ones who were racing Sunday, Feb. 1. “What a fun idea!” and “Thank you guys so much for doing this” were just two of the comments heard frequently. Smiley face stickers and glitter glue on hand for sign embellishment were a huge hit.

See local coverage of the event here.

Brooks T6 Racer

Now available for hungry road racers everywhere: the Brooks T6 Racer and Racer ST 4.

Simply put, these two shoes define performance for racing flats on all competitive levels. At the United States’ 2008 Men’s and Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials, roughly 30% of the athletes in the men’s race and 25% of the finishers in the women’s race were sporting Brooks racing flats.  Brian Sell’s shoe at the Olympic Marathon was a special version of the T6 Racer, and Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington captured her second world title in Kona last year in some Brooks T5’s. Now you can get the latest versions of these blazing fast shoes.

So what’s the difference between the T6 Racer and Racer ST4?

The T6 Racer provides an ultra-lightweight (6.1 oz), minimal, unrestricted, neutral ride. It’s designed for runners with an efficient stride who don’t need “a lot of shoe” when competing. The Racer ST 4 offers a bit more substance and stability for those wanting some medial support.

What changed compared to the last versions?

The uppers for both shoes were tweaked. The T6 Racer had the overlays in the toebox eliminated, which aided the flexibility in the forefoot. The updated upper of the Racer ST 4 focuses on even better securing of the foot to the base of the shoe, ensuring there is no wasted motion and that all energy is spent moving forward.

Of course, both shoes have cool new colors too!

Brooks Racer ST 4