The base for the Salomon City Trail event in Manchester was the Up and Running Store on Deansgate in the City Centre. Weather wise, the day couldn't have been more perfect with bright sunshine right from the early hours.Alongside the superb range of demo shoes to test out, the Salomon technical team were on hand to offer excellent advice about the different shoes available and Martin the U&R store manager was present all day to discuss the full range of kit available in store.
The other key item that all runners need is a good GPS watch and a super range of Suunto watches were provided for runners to test out - any questions they had were answered by Ian Yeates the Suunto rep. http://www.suunto.com/en-GB/ Matt from Superfeet insoles was also kept busy throughout the day explaining the benefits of different cushioning and support that Superfeet insoles can provide. http://www.superfeet.com/
Physiotherapy advice and treatment was also provided throughout the day helping to treat running niggles and offering advice to those who required it.
A steady stream of runners flooded the shop all day long and all of the runs were well attended. The local shoppers must have thought there was an actual city centre race on for some of the loops. The Salomon guys were kept very busy and a vast array of brightly coloured (occasionally illuminous!)Salomon shoes were pounding the streets and trails of Manchester City Centre. Our expert running guide for the event was Matt Ward who had set out a great 2.5k route around the city incorporating the main shopping street, obviously to provide plenty of promotion for the lovely range of shoes that were sailing past the city centre shoppers.
We then moved down onto the canal path and past the MOSI (Museum Of Science and Industry) Not an easy acronym for a Welsh man to remember! Then through one of the local green spaces in the city, good to test the trail shoes on and back into the city centre to the hub of activity in the shop once more.
After the run, people were treated to their goodies for attending the event, Salomon socks, Buff and Bracelet. A yummy 9Bar for refuelling www.9bar.com and a discount voucher for any purchases from the shop. People could then go and run further loops or chat about kit and shoes, possibly deciding their future purchases, although with the phenomenal range of colour options for Salomon shoes this would always be a difficult task.
Each run was a group run with a friendly vibrant atmosphere and people of all abilities were catered for. A front runner and a runner at the rear ensured that no one was lost on the loop and that everyone, irrespective of how easy or difficult they may find running the distance was looked after and had a thoroughly positive experience.
Around 100 runners took part in the event and it is fair to say that it was a fantastic day. Lots of happy runners enjoyed the sunshine, the kit testing, the advice and the opportunity to explore some new trails in the heart of the city in which they lived and may not have even known existed.
A big thank you to Salomon in particular and their partners for providing a superb event.
Check out the other City Trails on offer at
http://citytrail.salomonrunning.com/en/
and if you are looking for new shoes take a look here.....
http://www.salomon.com/uk/
Vicci Mousley
