SNEAK PREVIEW......40% OFF SUNWISE SUNGLASSES SOON!

Having very sensitive eyes my Sunwise Rush sunglasses are an essential on my kit list.   Coming with a set of 3 interchangeable, lightweight, shatterproof lenses they are kept handy throughout the year.  The yellow lens lifts the spirit on dullish, grey  days when the sunlight is quite weak.  The orange lens provides glare protection in medium light conditions and the smoke mirror lenses are fitted on the very brightest of days.  Very easily changed from one to another.

 

Useful obviously also for keeping flying insects out of the eyes. Quite a nuisance, particularly at the start of a run.    Essential wear at this time of year if you get caught in a blizzard.  Snow tends to sting the eyes, doesn't it!   Besides the Rush and Odyssey  interchangeables  they have a great range of single lens models including the Sunwise Marathon

which I'm keen to try out as it's said to be the lightest pair sunglasses around. Developed for the London 2012 Olympics. the shiny red  frames will match the band on my Sale vest! Check others out below. 

Full details on THE COMPLETE RUNNER website very shortly! 
I've lost expensive sunglasses in the past.  I've had expensive sunglasses which misted up within minutes!   I think the SUNWISE range, with high quality optical lenses  providing  100% ultraviolet protection,  offer such great value for money,  we stock them exclusively in both shops.
                             But as with shoes colourways change and so 
              LOOK OUT FOR A LIMITED QUANTITY
                           FOR A LIMITED PERIOD ONLY 
                                     AT 40% OFF 

SUNWISE TITAN IN CRYSTAL GREY

 

SUNWISE BREAKOUT IN BLACK/ YELLOW

ASICS. Healthy mind, healthy body.....healthy business!

 Aficianado....defined as "enthusiastic fan of something or someone".   Running shoes being no exception.

Most of the top brands can claim to have thousands of devoted "followers" ,including non-runners, who buy their shoes religiously to the exclusion of others.   Fellrunners who  have worn WALSH for decades and refuse to try anything else,  retro shoe buyers looking for another blast from the past from NEW BALANCE or ADIDAS. Holiday makers who wouldn't dream of stepping on that plane without a brand new pair of Reeboks on their feet.  

 Perfect business of course is having a large part of the "retro" market  for street wear plus thousands of runners eagerly awaiting brand new product.  ASICS  are in that position.  Founded in 1949 in Kobe, Japan

as ONITSUKA CO.LTD,  it was 1977 that the acronym was chosen based on the Latin  " Anima Sano In Corpore Sano (A sound mind in a healthy body) and they have gone from strength to strength ever since.

 First company out of the blocks with their 2011 shoes, the new GEL KAYANO 17   (white/onyx/red)

and new GT-2160  (white/black/royal)

had no sooner been unpacked when the customers were asking for them in the shop and over the phone.

 The KAYANO 17 is the lightest version with several tweeks to make a great product even better.  Improved ride, improved lacing system, better memory foam to the heel collar,  better sockliner.

 The GT-2160 similarly sees several enhancements.  New memory foam really "locking down" the heel, tested improvements to the forefoot overlays and better flexibility in the midsole.

  This version will maintain the top flight standing of ASICS via their 2000 series.    A top flight position which I would suggest became established when ASICS was "chosen" as the shoe of the London  Marathon.

Whilst established runners were well aware of the brand, it was this partnership which really made ASICS a running shoe brand which everybody knew.  Work done, it could be suggested they were then clever enough to pull out and save expenditure.  So many will think of ASICS as a new kid on the block compared with say adidas, Puma or even reebok.

But it was really their shoes,  alongside Reebok offroad,  which  we raced and trained in in the 1970s  albeit 

under  the ONITSUKA TIGER label; now  recreated to meet the demand from aficianados for vintage product  branded as the originals.

 Today's minimalists would heap praise on the ONITSUKA TIGER MARUP.  In the early 1970s we were all training and racing in them.  I recall going into
a sports shop in Manchester with  my £6.50......and buying 2 pairs!
  In America, the Japanese brand was retailed sold by Blue Ribbon Sports,under Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight,who went on to establish NIKE.  This picture shows the ONITSUKA TIGER shoe alongside their
NIKE MARATHON SHOE.  Almost identical.


The Japanese company could be guilty of having helped NIKE get started!  Big mistake?

By 1976, the company had merged with 2 others to expand into sports apparel and ASICS was formed.   The shoes were branded ASICS TIGER but later the Tiger aspect was dropped.   I started buying their shoes from UK distributor Starcraft in London in 1979.   Modest advertising from them in those days including this half page mono in Athletics Weekly,  December 22 1979.

 For me a major landmark in the history of ASICS is the  indelible image of double Olympic champion, flying Finn LASSE VIREN pictured after his
victory and holding aloft his ASICS Tiger shoes.
  This was despite having fallen after 12 laps on the Munich track.
  Was this a deliberate marketing ploy or just relief for feet having completed 25 laps of the track?
  Whatever the truth of the matter it was a gesture
which was guaranteed to bring the Japanese to the attention of the world.  


ASICS....healthy mind, healthy body....healthy business

COMPLETE RUNNER CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE OVER FOR ANOTHER YEAR

SENIOR MEN START THEIR CROSS COUNTRY SEASON OFF IN NUNROYD PARK

 Whilst numerous other events in the north were being postponed or cancelled altogether, due to the snow, the last of 4 COMPLETE RUNNER cross country league fixtures went ahead at Wakefield on December 5th, albeit with some adjustments.  In fact the number of mens finishers exceeded the number at the 3rd Bramley Falls event.

 There were many excellent overall performances but for me the abiding memory of this season will be the manner in which Leeds City dominated the Senior mens races.  As if 6 in 12 was not good enough at the first Nunroyd Park event they put 9 in 12 at Fartown, Huddersfield in the second race; continuing their form with 8 in 13 at Bramley Falls and finished with 6 in 12 on the snowy fields of Thornes Park, Wakefield.  Let's hope the club can maintain this show of strength through to the Yorkshire, Northern and Nationals.

 Individually, ANDREW PEARSON (Longwood) shown here

was the class act winning races 2,3 and 4 but being MV35 the mens individual title went to SIMON DEAKIN (Leeds City) who also missed the first race but was first open in each of the remaining events.

 KATIE WALSHAW (Holmfirth) pictured here showed excellent form in winning races 1,2,3 and must have been disappointed that JULIE BRISCOE (Wakefield) turned out on her home turf to deny her of a clean sweep; but not her Holmfirth team who were undefeated throughout.
 The Holmfirth club won all of the youngest age groups as well.
U/11, boys and girls, U/13, boys and girls. So with the senior ladies the club  won 5 of the 10 age groups overall.   The winning clubs  being U/15s City Of York and Wharfedale;  under 17s Skyrac girls, including COMPLETE RUNNER's DAISY AGAR, and Wakefield.
 Individually, STELLA CROSS (Wetherby) dominated the U/11 with a clean sweep of 4 wins.  CHARLIE  LOWRIE (Wharfedale)   missed the last race but it didn't matter; he'd been first in the first 3.
Not so easy for ELLA EADON (City of York) (U/13 girls,who needed to win the last event and did so to complete a trio of victories.  LEWIS BYRON (Holmfirth) , U/13 boys, was an excellent champion also with three wins and a second.  In the U/15 girls, ANNABELLE MASON (Wakefield) ) had a slender one point overall win with early two victores and a second.  U/15 boys champion MAX WHARTON (Halifax) went the other way coming through  to win the last 2 races after a 2nd and a 3rd.
The under 17s were the relatively weak events with only 13 girls and 23 boys scoring in 3 races;  CAROLINE LAMBERT (Wetherby) overall champion with a 2nd, 3rd and 1st.  MAX KAYE (Holmfirth) won no races but showed best overall form with a 4th and 2 seconds.
  But the least supported category of all, not surprisingly, were the juniors.  Of only 7 who scored in the junior girls, CARLY ROBERTSON (Bingley) had a win and 2 seconds; with MICHAEL WOOD (Leeds City)  overall junior boys champion with two wins and a second.
  Once again, GORDON AGAR,  MIKE SHERMAN, BOB JACKSON and their great team of officials have to be applauded for putting together yet another highly successful season and one we are very proud to be associated with through the efforts of ALISTAIR DAVY, our Marketing manager,  in conjunction with 1000 mile.
 Particularly as the league was my first involvement with Yorkshire athletics when i came over from Lancashire way back in 1969 when I started studies at Trinity & All Saints Colleges in Horsforth.