Run Happy!!

I am very proud to be affiliated with Brooks and what they stand for.

Little critters eating away at the Brooks BioMogo

Brooks is arguably the most "green" shoe company on the market: the BioMogo midsole found in many of their shoes breaks down in the landfill--get this--50 TIMES faster than the EVA which comprises most non-Brooks running shoes, without compromising the integrity of the product. The average running shoe takes 1,000 years (yes, you read that correctly) to disintegrate after you've thrown it away. In 2013 there were over 50,000 participants in the New York City Marathon weekend and over 40,000 in the Ottawa Marathon weekend: that's roughly 100,000 runners and therefore 200,000 running shoes in these two races alone. If you extrapolate that to the number of runners in North America, you can imagine how many shoes get tossed each year!! Now consider the environmental impact of a shoe that takes 20 years to biodegrade as opposed to a shoe that doesn't break down for 1,000 years! Pretty significant! Also, check out their CMP midsole manufacturing process, which further adds to their eco-friendliness!

Brooks is also committed to environmental consciousness when it comes to their packaging, namely their shoe boxes, which are made from recycled and recyclable materials, using energy-conserving methods (remember, every one of the 100,000 participants in Ottawa and NYC this year wore a pair of shoes that came from a box...thats a lotta boxes!) Plus, Brooks encourages you to be creative with your shoe boxes once you've removed your awesome footwear. They recommend creating dioramas, and I am in full support of this idea (stay tuned for Brooks shoe box dioramas!)

One of the things that drew me most to Brooks was my ability to connect with their philosophy: "Run Happy!"  There are a lot of great slogans out there, but its hard to beat this one, because what would this sport/lifestyle/challenge be without a deep sense of passion, love and happiness! There have been periods throughout my running career when I've been pretty down, and these are things we can all relate to: being sidelined by injury, feeling overwhelmed in our personal lives, being sick or just plain tired! But striving every day, through every run, with each high and especially every low, to find peace, love and satisfaction in this great sport of ours...well, that's what pulls us through and makes every stride worthwhile. I try to "run happy" every time I lace up, and although some runs--and some days--are tougher than others, this philosophy has really helped me to appreciate my body, mind and soul and develop a beautiful relationship with running. I wish the same to each of you, my dear readers!

May you always RUN HAPPY!!!

Now, in the spirit of this inspiring slogan, I have partnered with Brooks Canada to launch my RUN HAPPY tab. You can find this on the upper right tab of my website, and checking it out will not only provide you with regularly-updated info on products and events, but will also feature some awesome contests and give-aways! In fact there may be one happening right now....