As a runner, I go through 3-5 pairs of running shoes a year. I try and wear the old ones to work or around the house but there comes a point where I have 5 or six pairs just lying around. Although they may no longer be good for running they’re good for something. Here are a few great recycling ideas for your shoes, either how to make good use of them or to how to make some new ones out of recycled material.

If there is one thing in this world that there is plenty of, it is plastic bags. And this young lady took her crochet skills and made the finest pair of sandals that can be built with the catchings of a Wal-Mart fence

Meet the girl who made them

Your local city has you dividing up your recyclable materials into little bins only to have a guy come by and dump them into one truck. Then they go through and pick through them and keep the stuff that’s worth recycling and throw the rest in the dump. The one thing they don’t take is one of the most useful, the soles of your shoes. They easily can be made into thousands of products including the obvious, more shoes.

Shoes make some of the best planters you’ll find. They drain well and hold the perfect amount of dirt to grow a nice flower. I’ve planted up one pair of my daughters shoes each year and have her plant up her favorite plant in each. Both the plants and my daughter are growing up so fast.

Necessity is the mother of invention. 3rd world countries often have a lack of shoes. Ideally you would donate your shoes to a charity that will distribute them but most seem to go to Africa leaving South America to come up with these cool shoes. They’re made of old tires and seat-belts.

Nike has a fantastic program called Reuse a shoe. Athletic shoes (not just Nike) are broken into three parts. The fabric top, the foam, and the rubber sole. Then are then ground into the “Nike Grind” and made into athletic surfaces. It takes roughly 2500 shoes to make a basketball court but can take up to 75,000 shoes to make a full 1/4 track surface. Ironic, running with my new shoes on my old shoes.

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — The Olympic marathon in Beijing won’t be tarnished by world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie’s decision to skip the event because of pollution concerns, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday.

“While I regret the absence of Haile Gebrselassie, I respect his decision,” Rogge said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But the Games are far stronger than the individual. The marathon will be a great success and there will be a great champion.”

The 34-year-old Ethiopian runner, a two-time Olympic 10,000-metre champion, said earlier this month he won’t run the marathon at the Beijing Games because of the city’s air pollution, heat and humidity. He may still run in the 10,000.

“It’s going to be the hardest marathon in history,” said Gebrselassie, who holds the world record of two hours four minutes 26 seconds.

Pollution - in addition to the violence in Tibet and other human rights issues - has been a major concern for China and the International Olympic Committee in the leadup to the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. Some athletes are reportedly considering wearing masks to ward off the bad air in Beijing. » Continue reading “Olympic Marathon Will Still Be a Success Despite Controversy Says IOC President”

I am an age grouper, plain and simple.  As a matter of fact I am the 3rd fasted runner in my age group in the area despite the distance.  How do I know this?  Because I have come in 3rd in my age group in 15 out of 20 races.  In two years I will move to 5th unless someone get hurt.  This is one of the things you learn as a regular on the local running tour.

You get to know every guy your age group that races regularly.  You start to categorize them them into 3 categories.  Guys I always beat.  Guys I will never beat.  Guys that it depends how the day is going if I can beat them.  When you get to the race you take a look around and count them out.  I usually know what place I’ll come in before I even run.   On races with good swag I pray that the category two runners have a little league game to go to so I can get the $2.75 trophy. » Continue reading “The Life and Time of an Age Grouper”

In order to try and get you guys to come back each day, I am going to post 5 funny or interesting links each day.  Here’s the first day.  Could be running, could be funny

 24 Ways to Improve Your Vision

 Redneck Mansion

A great article on the importance of strengthening your core 

A bummer of an allergy.  This girl is allergic to water

World’s Toughest Bikepath 

 ”Irony”

» Continue reading “New Daily Links”

credits

                   Early Trail Runners