adidas Urban Run San Francisco is saved!

adidas America, along with the assistance of adidas Sport Performance Store in San Francisco, has agreed that adidas Urban Run San Francisco should continue as the premier running club in San Francisco on Monday nights! Warren and I received the good news on Monday and it was a final decision that was made in the eleventh hour. Thank you for everyone for your undying support and thoughtfulness! Your emails have truly made a difference and have been a direct reflection of what the Urban Runs mean to you. Store managers, Wil and Bryant, and Lindsay of adidas in Portland believe firmly that with a strong reception from the runners, there is a huge potential to bring out the adidas brand name that had lost its flavor in the past. Unfortunately, not all news is good and the Urban Run program in Santa Monica, Irvine, and NYC will all be inactive as of April 1st.

We hope that you will continue to run with us and have fun. The Bay to Breakers 12K training runs will begin next Monday and the routes are up. Also note the starting time as we will begin early on certain weeks for the “longer runs” if you choose to run that selected route.

Some changes that will take effect are the following:
· 15% off for ALL Urban Run members on ALL shoes and apparel in the store. You must sign up with us in order for the discount to apply.
· A reduced weekly budget, which means that certain food/drink items won’t be the same.
· The current system of Urban Run T-shirts and sackpacks may not continue. A new platform for free schwag is in the works, however.
· The monthly raffle may not be limited to adidas running shoes. An option of choosing adidas running apparel may be a possibility.
· Each week we’ll have either Wil or Bryant discuss the new line of cool adidas shoes, apparel, and accessories in addition to any new promotions. Get to know them well as they are the experts, who are friendly and willing to assist with any questions you may have.

I strongly suggest taking advantage of the 15% discount. A number of high performance shoes are on sale. The adidas adizero adios, the lightweight racing flat that Haile Gebrsellasie used for his world record win at the Berlin Marathon, is currently 50% off at the adidas Sport Performance Store. Use your additional 15% discount to make it worth your while!
Finally, special thanks to Mercedes for her meat pastries, Raymond and Warren for the pizzas and salad, Kate for her cupcakes, Chikara for the Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Aileen for her glazed cake, and Hu family for their noodles. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out and a sincere thank you to all adidas Urban Runners.

I guarantee we won’t be eating like that for a while because we are running HILLS for the next few weeks to get in some great training!

adidas Urban Run SF - Final Shoe Raffle Night and Community Dinner - March 30, 2009

FINAL SHOE RAFFLE NIGHT (previous rules apply: you must run once this month and be present on March 30th)

We will host an adidas Urban Run San Francisco Potluck Dinner Party on Monday, March 30 immediately after the run at Sean Lee's house again.

Please invite all your friends and fellow runners to be with us for perhaps the last time on Monday evening. New runners are strongly encouraged for this occasion. As much as we are committed to running and the deep respect of adidas and its products, we are also a community that supports and embraces everyone's efforts and abilities.

We will have pizza, salad, and drinks. You are also welcome to bring other food options such as appetizers, entrees, drinks, and snacks as well but it's not necessary. We had a strong showing on March 23rd, in fact it was our biggest night ever with 41 runners! It's a pity that at even at our best efforts, we must submit to orders from adidas America.

adidas Urban Run San Francisco is still slated to be cancelled after our final run on Monday. We will do our best to reverse this action with adidas. On a sidenote, I have also encouraged Urban Runs in NYC, Santa Monica, and Irvine to have them send emails to adidas as well.

Hope to see everyone on Monday, no excuses will be accepted!

All Good Things Must Come to an End --PLEASE READ!

It is with much sadness that our final adidas Urban Run San Francisco EVER will be on March 30. adidas America and cip Marketing believe that during these obvious difficult circumstances, the budget can be allocated to other outlets and incentives that bring in greater revenue to the store and the company. The entire adidas Urban Run project will be cut; that means our sister Urban Runs in New York City, Irvine, and Santa Monica will all be gone.

In any case, we received the news with bittersweet feelings. On the one hand, we can actually focus on running and not worry so much about setting up the routes, food, and other cool things each week. On the other hand, we're also sad about not having an excuse to set up routes, post-run food, and other cool things each week. I, at the very least, hope that you have gathered enduring friendships and helpful running tips that will make your life much more enjoyable.

There is one thing that I hope some of you out there can gain from this. For those who have promised to come run with us so many times, you have only a few more times to rock out with us and have a great time. Make a promise to show up and do it! I don't understand how we have so many fans on our Facebook page, yet I don't even know who many of you are! We'll even exceed our budget for a couple more surprises to make you guys and gals show up! Yes, a bribe, but why not? What's the worst adidas can do to Urban Run now?

Track practice and long runs will ALWAYS go on as planned, and Warren and I will always be at your disposal for running advice and other concerns you may have.

adidas couldn't be happier with the level of support and exposure you have given to the store and the company. Thank you everybody for more than three years of running with us! Take a step back and look at how you've all changed...we're so happy that we were a part of your journey.

If you'd like to voice your opinion about adidas Urban Run San Francisco and what it means to you, send an email to the following:

Ace Rice (ace.rice@adidas.com)
Wil Britton (wil.britton@adidas.com)
Caren Forbes (Caren.Forbes@adidas.com)

A new chapter unfolds...make it great!

-Adrian

Give-away: FREE Emerald Race Across the Bay Entries

Zola, a Brazilian Superfruit beverage company will be sponsoring the Emerald Race Across the Bay 12K on Sunday, March 15 in San Francisco and have graciously given us TWO free race entries to give-away to our readers. Now, you’ve run out of excuses (pun intended) - get off your butt and leave us your best/worst race story!
To enter for a chance to win, all you need to do is leave us a comment (with a valid email address) about your WORST/BEST race experience - whether its running, swimming, biking, inline skating, potato sacking or even racing to meet a deadline. Whatever it is, leave us a comment describing the experience and you’ll be entered for a chance to win.
We’ll pick two winners on Thursday, March 5th at 12:00 pm PT and sent a notification via email.

All you have to do is leave a comment on the blog, http://www.ilikegranola.com/ . It has some grea recipes and healthy tips for an active lifestyle.

Link to adidas Urban Run SF running routes: March_2009