Finally!

After a year and a half of group runs with The Super Runner's Shop I finally made it to my tenth group run and a free pair of shoes! (Insert angelic chorus here.)

Here they are, my brand new, 100% free Brooks Adrenaline 9s:



Things are just prettier when they're free, aren't they?

Now, while these shoes came at no dollar cost, there were definitely not without frustrations. In the middle of yesterday's group run the group leader/pacer asked how far along everyone was in their quest toward free shoes. The other two people with us were at three and seven times. I mentioned that this was my eleventh group run of the year and probably my 20th ever with the group--and that I was still waiting on my shoes.

The group leader suggested that I tell them at the store that I've done the 10 runs so that they can check the sign in sheets--which I had asked them to last week. Turns out they won't check the sign in sheets unless you ask them to. Then one of the other runners chimed in and said the store staff is very disorganized when it comes to tracking your runs and that my best bet would be to come in with the dates I ran with the group so that they can pull up those specific sign in sheets.

I slowly realized that I didn't get my free shoes earlier not because they start everyone at zero at the start of year, but because no one at the store was keeping track! Sheesh.

When I got back to the store the group leader told the manager that I was past the 10 run mark and then he provided me the hook up with the free shoes. That easy.

About the shoes? I haven't run in them yet--but trying them on felt really nice. The fit is a bit more snug around the toes, which might be a bad thing since I usually need a big toe box (sound dirty, right?). Also, they streamlined the design elements so it looks more like a running shoe and less like a flux capacitor. These are the second shoes in line to be rotated in, so it'll be a while before they get tested for real.