Shameless advertising, but totally worth it!

If you can haul your butt out of bed early on a Saturday, the group run in Central Park is always a great way to start the day. It runs a little differently than the weeknight runs, going the opposite direction around the park, and meeting at the 72nd Street Transverse instead of Engineer's Gate.

Today was even more different than usual. The run started at the NYRR offices on E. 89th Street, where New Balance had set up tables and temporary "changing pods", and kindly offered the Flyers a chance to try out (and keep) some new running shorts in exchange for feedback on how we liked them.

The turnout for the event was predictably high. I mean, who doesn't like new stuff for free? The last time I checked on the sign-in page, there were something like fifty names listed. And while some Flyers slept in and missed out, there was still a good crowd gathered.

Everyone, even late-comers, as far as I could tell, got a short, although some ended up with a different color than they preferred. NB was particularly interested in feedback about the men's inner lining of the short. I was actually glad to hear this, because I already own a pair of NB shorts that I bought a few years back and the main beef I have about it is (you guessed it) the inner lining. Sufficed to say (your appreciation for me not going into detail on this is understood) they're uncomfortable and I therefore rarely wear them. The new shorts, on the other hand, were totally comfy, and I expect to be wearing them a lot. Other comments that I heard from my fellow runners included that the sizes (men's and women's) ran large (I didn't find this) and that the men's short was a bit too long. I felt that the length of the short was in keeping with current styles of other shorts out there that seem to be going in the direction of the baggy basketball style. It didn't bother me but I can see how some people might prefer a shorter length, merely out of personal preference.

I myself am guilty of only attending the Saturday morning runs sporadically. I always enjoy them when I do make it out, and today was no exception. I started running with Celia K. and Kate M. for a bit, then caught up with Lara K. for a while, before spending much of the run with our esteemed club president, Glen W.  I also met some new Flyers, Mark and Dave, who seemed thrilled at the idea of having just joined a club that gives you new gear at each group run. Conversation covered everything from very untanned legs to returning to running from time off to, well, of course, blogging.

The good people at New Balance put up cute signs playing on their latest "NP" collection of apparel (Nice Posterior, runners!) and we did actually discuss the fit and style of the shorts. Oh, and by the way, just in case you weren't paying attention, NP = New performance.

On the return to NYRR's office, our hosts further surprised us with additional gifts on filling out the (much-shorter-than-I-expected) survey. Everyone received a very nice NB top and nylon bag - perfect for taking a change of clothes to the races. They even threw in some lip balm, sunscreen samples, and an ice pack.

All in all it was a great time, and everyone appreciated the goodies. Thanks go to Glen for organizing the event, and coordinating it with group run leaders Scott S. and Jim S.

An additional note: Surely some people will read this post and be frowning on us (well, me) for so blatantly advertising NB's products. We have a pretty strict "no advertising" policy on our website, and I'm proud that we haven't taken on an exclusive sponsorship contract like other clubs in the city. However, I like to keep things a little more loose and flexible on the blog. From my perspective, if any other running companies (are you listening?) are willing to treat our members to freebies of their products or services, I'm more than happy to provide them with a review or recap of the event on the blog (but be warned: if it's bad, you'll hear about that, too). The event today didn't only help bring attention to a sports merchandiser, but also brought attention to our Saturday morning group run, and got our members out for a run together, and that's really what this club is about. Comments, of course, are welcome.

Have a great run.  - Eric S.