"As I walked up to the crowd of 400 runners on the sweltering SoHo street, the nervous buzz felt like the first day of school: the happy sound of friends reuniting after the offseason, the chatter of newcomers connecting. It was the first day of the NoName Program, a marathon training regimen "powered by Lululemon" in which New Yorkers from every walk of life spend 16 weeks preparing for the absurdity of running 26.2 miles. We were far from alone."
"In the sport's new golden age, more people are running than ever, and more records are falling faster than ever. Advances in technologies like carbon-plated shoes have allowed marathoners to reach times that would once have felt superhuman. But as elite runners are reaching new heights, many average runners like me are being bombarded with endless social media promotions for untested and pseudoscientific running gear purporting to help us become more like the elite."
""I love to race, but running's not about the racing," Nicholas Thompson, CEO of the Atlantic, avid marathoner, and author of the forthcoming memoir "The Running Ground," tells me. "Running is about just heading up the mountain, heading out the door. And to do that, all you need is any pair of shoes, any pair of shorts, and any shirt.""
A crowd of 400 runners gathered on a sweltering SoHo street for a 16-week NoName Program powered by Lululemon, where New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds train for a 26.2-mile marathon. Running participation has surged nationwide, and elite performances have advanced thanks to technologies like carbon-plated shoes. Mainstream runners face relentless social-media marketing for untested and pseudoscientific gear that promises elite performance. Some products offer benefits, many waste money, and a few may create safety risks. The expanding marketplace exploits participants' insecurities and supports over $4 billion in annual US spending on running gear.
Read at Business Insider
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