Tag Archives: sneakers

Aerobics First Sneaker Auction for GO Gambia!

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Global Outreach (GO program) is a school twinning program hosted by Run For Life, a Canadian based not-for-profit running organization.  The program links schools in Canada with schools in the developing world.  The overseas school communicates to the Canadian school through a donated smart phone.  The program demonstrates the value of connectivity and the active learning environment.

I am proud to be a Run For Life Ambassador and during my Love4Gambia run, I’ll be taking my ambassador role to The Gambia as we set up 2 GO Gambia projects.  You can read more in my exciting appearance in the July/August issue of Canadian Running!  

an elementary school in The Gambia

St Charles Lwanga School, The Gambia

Harbourview Elementary School will be twinning with St. Charles Lwanga Lower Basic School in Kanifing.  Read more about this exciting partnership here!  

My high school, Prince Andrew High, also wants to be twinned with a high school in rural Gambia. Our involvement grew organically out of PA’s support for my Love4Gambia run.  When I asked my youth runners if they wanted to  partner with a Gambian high school, the answer was a resounding, “Yes, we do!” 

In order for Prince Andrew High to take part, we need to raise $150 to pay for our Gambian high school’s cell phone plan. The smartphone was donated by Run For Life.

You can help our youth make this happen!

Running store Aerobics First logoProud Love4Gambia sponsor, Aerobics First , has generously provided the GO Gambia Project with a free pair of sneakers to auction.  The winner gets to pick their sneaker of choice, valued at $150-190 (obviously I recommend pink Asics Speed Stars!) 

I am accepting online bids for these sneakers until Friday, June 24 at 4:00pm.  You can email your bid to me @ erinecallaghan@gmail.com

Please be dollar and cent specific!

3 teenagers run on a sand track in The Gambia

The Gambia

Thanks for supporting youth running in Nova Scotia and in The Gambia!

Asics Sponsorship & Eating Pink Words

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My “campaign CEO” Luke MacDonald came up with another Love4Gambia campaign win for me this week.  He pitched my campaign to run across The Gambia to Asics and together they are sponsoring my footwear.  This sponsorship begins now, in my Boston Marathon buildup, which is totally sweet!  Luke For The Win!

I met Luke at Aerobics First today.  I’d shared with him that I needed a new pair of lightweight racers asap.  My racers usually last me 400-500km and my last pair’s life expired 2 weeks ago.  I’m lucky to be a light runner and am pretty biomechanically efficient so I can take advantage of lightweight performance trainers for speed training and racing.  My left foot does pronate (rolls inward) a little bit so I need to use Arch Molds (click here for more info) in my racers to maintain biomechanical efficiency.

Some of you may know my pink-running-thing.  Thing being don’t wear pink.  I can’t really explain where this came from, it’s just always been my thing.

So I meet Luke at the store and he’s really excited to show me the performance trainers that he’s ordered from Asics for me.  “There gonna be really fast!” he announces.

“Are you ready?” he asks.  And he opens the box:

Asics Speed Stars

“Oh. My. Gawd.” I say.  I look at him with a mix of disbelief and laughter in my eyes.  “Those sure are pink!”

“Asics Gel Speed Star! Couldn’t find a more perfect shoe for a sponsor to put you in” he says happily, very satisfied with himself.

Gotta agree with him here.  Probably these racers will start a few conversations.

The Speed Stars fit like a dream.  They feel like light and bouncy cocoons on my feet.  They sit close to the ground which I like for speed and response but, at the same time, I can feel the gel cushioning that I so love Asics for.  They also have asymmetrical lacing- a feature I also like a lot for smooth fit.  And “Speed Stars”- totally cool name.

Luke, Erin and PINK

I can’t wait to try these out tonight.  My workout is long marathon-pace intervals, a perfect beginning for Speed Stars.  I have the PEI Road Runner’s Freeze Your Gizzard Half Marathon next weekend so I’ll look forward to sharing a review of my Speed Stars’ racing debut with you on my blog.

Now here is what I think (while I eat every single anti-pink word ever spoken). Pink is the new fast.  Just call me Pink Panther.

Asics Speed Stars

Asics Speed-Stars made Runners World’s 2010 honour roll, see the review here

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Aerobics First Joins Team!

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Aerobics First is our premiere community running store.  It  is locally-owned, community driven, and is dedicated to both promoting active lifestyles and supporting active individuals through their own athletic challenges.  I have a special affinity for the store because I ran with Matt Sheffield’s A1-based running club in 2010 and set personal bests at distances from 5k to 42.2k. It seems only natural that they be the road-running gear sponsors for my community driven running expedition, even though the community I am talking about is across the world in Africa.

Part-owner Luke MacDonald agreed to meet with me to talk about my campaign and I was pleased.  He agreed to meet with me at Harbour View Elementary School where he helps run an after-school Running & Reading program through KidsFest.  Actually, he agreed to meet with me while the program was running… i.e. while I helped out with the program.  What can I say, the man is wise!  And it was fun!  When is the last time you watched 10 year old kids run in circles, giggling wildly, waving their arms and stopping occasionally to jump up and down because it’s fun?  It’s impossible to watch kids do this without feeling joy.

My running expedition fit with Aerobics First’s community philosophy and I’m happy to welcome them as an in-kind sponsor.  Although, little did I know that I could easily welcome Luke as my fundraising CEO.  He knows everyone, he’s well connected, he’s energetic and he’s generous in spirit and is generous with his time.  After meeting with him, my inbox began to fill and my phone began to ring.

If you join my Love4Gambia Bluenose Marathon Charity Team, you’ll also have a chance to benefit from Aerobics First’s generosity.  You’ll be eligible to win 1 of 5 pairs of Asics running shoes if you are one of the first 5 team members to raise $500 (team fundraising minimum = $100).

A few members of Aerobics First's Matt Sheffield group at Bluenose 10k, 2010

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