Saturday, February 28, 2009

Shoe netting


Shoe netting, originally uploaded by shersteve.

What's with the nylons?

The new brace creates a couple of pretty good gaps between the brace and the shoe, enough for pebbles to slip inside on the run.

Not a good thing as the pebble will then create pain in a greater preportion than its size would normally indicate as it presses against the brace.

Fortunately, the nylon (cut from some of my wife's older ones) creates a lite and effective screen. I had been using the old reliable, Duct tape to seal and hold the nylon to the shoe/brace until I could find these velcro like hooks. With a little luck, they'll stay in place and I can then stretch the nylon over each time.

Should be a little more sustainable than the duct tape. Tried today for the first time and learned that I need to keep the velcro sticky side on the plastic or leather. It doesn't hold well against the cloth parts of the shoe.

Monday, February 23, 2009

One World Running


One World Running is an international program promoting an awareness of health, fitness and nutrition by providing running shoes to those in need in the United States and around the world.
More from the website:

Since 1986, a group of runners in Boulder, Colorado, has collected, washed and sent to Third World countries new and "near-new" athletic shoes, T-shirts and shorts, along with medicine and school and art supplies. Shoes for Africa was started after sports journalist Mike Sandrock returned from a coaching and racing trip to Cameroon, West Africa, sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency. Many of the runners from Cameroon ran barefoot (and were still able to beat Sandrock), and afterwards, a group of Boulder elite runners including Lorraine Moller, Steve Jones and Arturo Barrios began shipping shoes to West Africa. Since then a group of runners in Boulder has collected, washed, and sent shoes, T-shirts, and shorts to needy athletes and children around the world. The project continues to grow with shoes and athletic equipment being sent in from around the United States. Now called "One World Running" the group is a 100-percent volunteer organization, and the program has now expanded globally.

I have boxed a bunch of shoes for shipment to a regional collection site.

Do you have shoes hanging around that you could send?