Pace Creative: How To Win Really Awesome Shoes

Skechers? Running? Really???

Those were the first things that popped into my head when Skechers Philippines invited us runner-bloggers to the launch of their minimalist shoe, the Skechers GO RUN series. To be honest, I was so used to associating Skechers as a lifestyle and "street dance" shoe rather than an athletic brand, that I was a bit skeptical and a lot curious.

Being the early bird in the bunch, I was able to browse through their selection of running shoes in peace. Aesthetically speaking, Skechers GO RUN is actually in the running (pardon the pun) for being one of the best-looking athletic shoes in the market. The collection boasts of rainbow hued trainers- one for each day of the week and more! My eyes quickly gravitated towards the neon blue ones, and I remember thinking "Yep, I want you".

Skechers GO RUN features SmartShoe technology for a mid-foot strike.
(Notice how the shoe doesn't lay flat? Now that's smart.)

Impulse sensors are strategically placed for enhanced sensory feedback.

As soon as the rest of the runner-bloggers arrived at the Skechers store in Market!Market!, the event started with Skechers GO RUN endorser and Runner's World Philippines' cover girl, Michelle Estuar, giving a testament on how awesome Skechers GO RUN is.

(Continue reading and you'll see how I became a convert...)

Michelle Estuar

After all that technical talk, it was time for a few fun and games. Apparently, those treadmills sitting around the event area wasn't for a demo, but for a running contest! And since I was already clad in my running outfit (there was a dress code), I naturally volunteered. ;) Natch! (Okay, maybe there was a little bit of that competitive spirit hovering too.)

I was grouped with fellow long distance runners, Gigi (32K) and (102K), all of us admittedly competitive, but more importantly, loved the would-be prize: a pair of Skechers GO RUN shoes. Those alone were reason enough to get on that treadmill and run as fast as we could to be the first to reach 500m.

Gigi and me hamming it up.

Let's get rrrready to rrrumble!!!

My heart was pounding so hard.

I haven't been the most diligent runner lately, so to be paired with accomplished runners was both a thrill and a threat. But, hey, I've never been one to back down from a challenge, and it's all in the spirit of fun anyway.

But yes, I do have a gameplan. Since this would be a race to finish first, I kind of decided that pacing would be out of the question. Half a kilometer of intense running was, umm, doable...

The countdown begins, and off we go!

I started off on #5 speed on the treadmill for a few seconds and quickly leveled up to 10. I was feeling strong. 11... 12... 13... Whoa, this is kinda fun! 14... 15... I think I can do more. 16... aaand then hurriedly went back to 15. Oops, no I can't. I was laughing so hard in my head. Whew, almost flew off the treadmill there! I stayed on level 15 until I heard the spotter yell out Done! Then immediately stopped and jumped off the conveyor belt (Kids, don't do that at home!). What a rush!!! I felt exhilarated. It didn't even register right away that I had already won.

This is what exhilaration looks like. A little unruly, but great!

I walked around to cool myself down afterwards. Truthfully, I kind of saw spots for a bit, but that was such a trippy experience. Not to mention so cool that I won really awesome shoes! They were surprisingly really soft and comfortable. It was like running on air. I'm definitely a believer.

So to sum the night up (and I'm pretty sure everyone else felt the same thing too), win or lose, it was a good run!

Bernice of Skechers awarding the winners with a pair of GO RUN shoes.
Yay! Congrats to everyone!

Thank you, Skechers, for the awesome event. Can't wait to use those baby blues on my next road run.

P.S. Blog post on my Skechers GO RUN shoe review during the Condura Marathon 2012 coming up!