Apparently it is convenient to stop in Houston when flying from Detroit to Seattle (it’s on the way, right?) so I get to spend most of my day sitting in an airplane anxiously awaiting the next five days that I get to spend with my boyfriend. Knowing this ahead of time, I was sure to pack lots of reading material. I packed a couple books and the latest Triathlete magazine that was graciously given to me in my bag of Christmas presents from the Inch’s. I’ve paged through Triathlete magazines before, but never realized how much reading material they contain! This single magazine kept me busy during the entire 2.5 hour flight from Detroit to Houston. Not only was I glad to have something to do, but it also kept me distracted by the situation I was dealing with; super obese man whose rolls engulfed half of my seat. His stomach made my arm rest turn into the middle of a fat sandwich. Yeah, you get the picture. I was a little uncomfortable, but still thankful that I got a seat on the severely overbooked flight. Anyway, this magazine was filled with great info, but there is one thing particularly that I want to share:
New Uses for Your Old Kicks
If you’re replacing your running shoes at a healthy rate of every 3-5 months, you’ve probably amassed quite a collection of “painting sneakers.” Put your shoes to good use anddonate them to one of these programs.
Shoe4Africa will take shoes with at least 100 miles left on them to be used for the prevention of hookworm and to promote health and fitness programs in Africa. Learn how to ship your shoes at Shoe4Africa.org
Nike Reuse a Shoe recycles every part of the shoe: The rubber of the outsole is melted down for running tracks, the upper fabric goes into padding under basketball courts and the foam from the midsole is used on tennis courts. Find drop-off locations at Nikereuseashoe.com
Started in 2004 after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia, Soles4Souls collects new and used shoes to help with crisis relief and eliminating poverty. Find drop-off locations at Soles4souls.org
You can donate the shoes you just raced in (you’ll receive a pair of replacement flip-flops) to Give Your Sole, an organization that gives moderately worn shoes to local shelters in the town of half and full marathons. Giveyoursole.com
Ask if your local running store has a shoe donation program. Many will often partner with an organization. More programs can be found at Recycledrunners.com
I didn’t know about any of these programs and I am really excited to visit their websites and send off my old shoes! I am extremely lucky to be able to be a part of the Runners World shoe testing, which basically involves getting free pairs of brand new not-yet-released shoes, running in them, and then evaluating them. However, this program has completely turned me into a shoe hoarder. Every runner knows that you only run in one pair of shoes at a time (for the most part), so what do I do with 15 pairs of running shoes? After receiving a new pair of shoes, I always run in them right away to make sure I can give a thorough evaluation. After I’ve put 15-20 miles on them, I decide if I like running in them, or if I don’t care to ever run in them again. If I don’t like the way the feel or the way they fit, I put them in another category; “to walk around in”, “to wear grocery shopping”, “to wear to the pool”, “to wear with certain outfit”, “to get dirty”, “to get rid of asap”. As you can probably tell by all of my categories, I have way more shoes than I need. I usually have a hard time parting with running shoes; however after reading about these different organizations that send shoes to people in need, I can’t wait to get rid of them! I urge you to do the same.
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