Believe In The Run » Charm City Running

Social Media and Customer Service Done Right.

Thomas Neuberger — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:01:58 +0000

2009 Baltimore 10 Miler in Newtons

Being part of the marketing community, I hear both sides of the story/argument about social media and branding. My personal feeling is that if the company uses it correctly, they can boost their brand ambassadors and stay connected to their hardcore fans. Done incorrectly, it is another way to fail and fail FAST.

This is an example of how a company is doing it right and has won an ambassador.

I have run in Newtons for about two years. The shoe is designed for the way I naturally run with a mid-foot strike. For more information on the science behind the shoe watch this video. I first purchased the Newton Gravitas online. They did not carry them at my favorite independent running retailer – Charm City Running (at the time.) The shoes cost more than your average running shoe so my first encounter with @SirIsaac on Twitter was to see if maybe I could get free shipping, after all I was making an $185 investment in a shoe I had never even tried on. I got a quick response, “No.” Hmm, I didn’t really like that there was no budge, but I thought if they won’t budge for me they probably don’t budge for others. I got out my card and ordered the fire red Newton Gravitas.

It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with them. Weighing in at 10.3 oz, they feel light and fast right out of the box. I wore them Spring and Summer 2009 during training and races, the longer I wore them the more I loved them. When it was time to retire them and buy a new shoe, I admit I couldn’t get over the price. I could buy two pairs of Brooks or Nikes for the price of one pair of Newtons. I tried several different shoes trying to find the cheaper alternative to the Newtons. Some shoes worked out fine, but when I bought a pair of the Brooks Defyance 3s, after being fine in the Defyance 2s, well I hated the 3s so much one morning I did something I had never done before. I reached into the back of my closet and pulled out the Newtons. I figured I going for a short run anyhow. Wow! Even a pair of beaten up Gravitas were better then the clunky Defyance 3s.

At this point Charm City Running was now carrying the Newtons. I stopped in and tried on the Sir Isaacs. They felt great and I went on a ten mile run and was back in love with Newton. The Sir Isaacs have a great ride and feel very efficient. I like to switch out shoes so every other run I was wearing the Nike Lunar Elites. This was a pretty good combo of shoes for me. It seems to keep my legs fresh and stretch out the wear and tear on the shoes.

The Newtons have lugs on the tread that help focus your foot strike. Because of the lugs protrude they start to wear. This is a good thing, they become less noticeable and also act as an indicator of where and how your foot is striking. The Sir Isaacs however, started showing unusual wear along the lateral edge. I only had about 70 miles on the shoes (I track my running shoe miles on dailymile.)

I tweeted to both @CharmCityRunning and @SirIsaac that there was some unusual wear on the shoe. Right away @SirIssac got back to me and asked me to shoot a picture of the wear on the shoe and email it to Newton’s customer service rep Tory Oakland. I took pictures of the wear and emailed Tory giving her the relevant details. Tory asked if she could see some pics of the wear on my old Gravitas. I gave her pictures of the tread and included some of the Nike Lunar Elites too. The way my foot strikes and the way the Newton Gravitas wore appeared to be a better fit for me than the Sir Isaacs. After a short round of courteous emails Tory told me that she would figure out a solution and get back to me. She ended up giving me two options: 1. Keep the Newton Sir Isaacs and get a really good discount on a pair of Gravitas, or 2. Exchange the Sir Isaacs for a new pair of Gravitas. Since the damage to the Sir Isaacs was starting to get into the structural part of the shoe, I opted for the second offer and exchanged the shoes.

Wear on the Sir Isaacs

Wear on the Gravitas

Tory and I started talking about the Newton trail shoe scheduled to be launched around August 2010. I was interested in seeing if they might come out earlier so I could use them for the TransRockies in August. Tory ended up putting me in contact with the Newton wear tester program. Fingers crossed, I filled out my application. Who knows I may be putting 113 miles across the Rockies this Summer in Newtons!

2010 Newton Gravitas

Yesterday, the new pair of Newton Gravitas arrived with a return UPS label for the Sir Isaacs! I strapped on the Newtons this morning and went for a four mile run before hopping on my bike to commute to work. I always log my runs on dailymile, today I dedicated my run to Tory.

Newton makes a great shoe, and they put thought into the way they handled a small issue. I am very vocal about my likes and dislikes when it comes to gear. Newton took a potential brand disconnect concerning product quality and solved the issue. This will not be my last pair of Newtons, and I will be spreading the word about a great minimal shoe that promotes a healthier way to run. Everyone I came in contact with at Newton helped solve the problem.

-Believe in the Run

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2010 Mt. Penn MudFest 15k

Thomas Neuberger — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:23:02 +0000

Juda & Thomas (me)

2010 Mt. Penn MudFest

Juda charging a downhill

Through the Trees

Post Race with Darryn

Cindy and Juda

Finisher Pint Glass

Cindy getting the fire going

My TransRockies teammate Juda McGannon put a post up on Facebook a few months ago about a race that was taking place on her birthday. The Mt. Penn MudFest. The name was intriguing enough, upon reading the description I was sold. The guy that puts these races together has a pretty good sense of humor.

Cindy and I decided to make a weekend camping trip out of the race. We had the grandparents watch Theo while we took the Westy to PA. Camping makes the run feel so much more like an adventure. We stayed at the French Creek State Park a short distance from the race.

After getting my Starbucks pre race meal in Cindy and I headed to the packet pick up. The gathering mass was an eclectic group. This was a different crowd then what you typically see at a road race. Crazy group of folks some in costume.

The Mt. Penn Mudfest race was pretty technical, jagged rocks, mud, three stream crossings and a whole lotta up and down on steep inclines. I would start closer to the front if I were to do this race again. Once the race started you were locked into single track pretty quickly, so if you were in a pace slower than you would want you are trapped there until the trail opens up again. This was not a course to run barefoot or in Vibrams Five fingers, the rocks were sharp and gnarly enough to cause discomfort through my Adidas Adizeros. I can’t imagine what they would do to you in less of a shoe or no shoe. When there was only about 2.5 miles to go there was an alternative beverage aid station that handed out beer and margaritas. I chugged down a 6 oz. beer and picked up the pace for the rest of the race. The finish opened up to a grass field and I had plenty left in my legs, so I pushed strong across the field and finished with confidence. The race had 750 runners and 713 finishers. This was my third organized run/race in three weeks, HAT 50k, Whitehall 15k, and the Mt. Penn MudFest 15k. I am feeling great, and loving the run more than ever. A big part of the race experience these days is the social aspect. Between dailymile.com and the Baltimore Road Runners Club (BRRC,) I am getting to know a lot of runners. When I go to the races I now have friends running them with me and celebrating at the finish.

- believe in the run

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HAT 50k Run Re-Cap

Thomas Neuberger — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:15:37 +0000

HAT 50k ReDux from Thomas Neuberger on Vimeo.

For a really detailed great review of the race read Jeanne’s post
Here is Steve Speirs’ recap
Andy O’brien’s HAT 50k post

Here are my thoughts a day after the run:

Crazy hard! My favorite part of the race other than finishing it was meeting and hanging out with Andy and Steve. This was a tough hilly course (9,800 feet of elevation) and it took everything I could give it. at one point I even ran .2 miles in the wrong direction whoops! The ultra marathon has such a different vibe from every other run I have ever done. There is a lot of camaraderie at the HAT. There were so many steep inclines and declines in the race, it really sapped your legs. While it did get hot, I don’t think it effected my performance. I drank a ton of water. We were able to stop at the pavillion a little more than half way through. I took advantage of this and changed my socks, shirt, applied more body glide, and got something to eat before heading back out for the second long loop.

On the second loop I filled my water bottle with ice water, I think it saved my life and gave me the strength to finish. I ended up making friends with a woman that I ran the last 5 miles with. We really helped each other finish the race. We ended up finishing side by side with the same time. We high fived and gave each other a hug. It was a great way to finish. Andy, Steve, Jeanne, Jeanne’s BFF Coleen, Matt, Adam, and some BRRC members hung out after the finish line. We had beers, hot dogs, and french fries to celebrate. It was so much fun to hang out with the DMers after the race.

I will probably run another 50k someday, but I don’t think it will be the HAT, it was tough! It made me rethink my TransRockies run this August, but only for a little bit. If they had an emoticon for Brutal or kicked my ass, I would use that. -believe in the run

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The Brian A. Hill Challenge

Thomas Neuberger — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:27:14 +0000

Brian A. Hill Challenge from Run Talk Radio on Vimeo.

Brian lives in the 3rd city Chicago so, we will run a minimum of 3 miles for this challenge. There are not many hills in Chicago, but you need hills to make you stronger. This week do a 3 mile hill work out. If like Brian you don’t have hills near you, head to the treadmill for a hill workout!

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Now for some fun. Run an Andy!

Thomas Neuberger — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:13:08 +0000

Okay, to fully understand the “before” and “after” image, you first have to follow @AndyO22 on twitter or Andy O. on dailymile. Andy is an inspirational runner that regularly clocks wicked fast times for his runs (mostly in the 7′s if not faster). He is also a great sharer all around positive nice guy that is fun to interact with over the social networking landscape. The funny thing is, I have never actually met Andy. We are scheduled to run the HAT 50k on the same day in March, but at his pace I would be lucky to see him at the beginning of the run or at the end. Anyhow, back to the explanation of the image. A few weeks ago Andy wrote “How many times do I have to run 6.52 miles to trademark it? 3, 10, or 100+?”, to which I wrote, “From now on a 6.52 will be referred to as an “Andy.” ie: I am going to go run an Andy.” And so it started and the “Andy” caught on. Others began to reference Andy’s 6.52 mile runs as “Andys”. Fun, right? Well, yesterday Andy ran another “Andy” and when people were leaving comments for Andy like “There you go with another nice ANDY.” -Jeanne B. I decided that I would create a challenge on dailymile. The challenge was simple, RUN AN ANDY! (6.52 miles) on Jan. 7, 2010. I thought a few people might sign up for the challenge, after all, Andy is a popular figure on the site. To my surprise over 40 people signed up! The virtual turn out was great! I decided as a tribute to Andy I would transform myself into Andy. How would I do that? In all the pictures I have seen of Andy, he wears a yellow tech shirt and a white doo rag. In the picture you can see how the “Andy” affected me.

Andy's profile picture

Check out some of the responses to the posting of the before and after pick:

“LOL! You definitely look better in the after shot.” – Andy O.
“Now I am really nervous about my run later. My wife might leave me if I start trying to rock a doo-rag.” – Caleb M.
“This made me LOL OUT LOUD VERY LOUD!!!” – Michelle
“This is pure awesomeness.” – David D.
“Good one Thomas. Great challenge you set up here….inspiring a ton of people in the process.” – Steve S.

I had a lot of fun with this and it was great to connect with all these runners. I am still amazed at how these social media tools can be used to connect with people that in our offline lives we would never meet, and how those people can touch our lives. I love me some dailymile. – Believe in the run

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Happy New Year! Charm City Running’s Resolution 5k

Thomas Neuberger — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:10:06 +0000

Resolution Run 5k

This was an interesting day, and the most unusual 5k yet. It had nothing to do with the event itself. The event was well organized, I liked the course, and everyone looked quite happy. I do wish they had early packet pick up at the Charm City Run store in Timonium. I hate the extra stress of getting the numbers at the race.

So, I will give you a little back story first. Earlier last week I signed my wife and I up for the race with the idea that I would push Theo in the B.O.B. Stroller. We went over to a neighbors house on New Year’s Eve and I asked if they would be interested in running the race with us. The wife Mara is a runner and her husband Brett is getting interested in running. They also have a 2 year old and a 4 month old child that they would push too. The race starts at 2 in the afternoon so you can drink and still clear your head before the run. So now everyone is in and it sounds like we will have a lot of fun.

So we make it to the race and Theo is not interested in being in the stroller but, he accepts it for the time being. Mara, Brett, Rachael, and Colin (The Shaws) are all doing great with their stroller. We rush over to registration to get our numbers and while I am pinning my number on I hear the horn go off three minutes early. We all hustle over to the start and join the runners. Theo did fine for the first mile and then he started pitching a fit. The only thing that calmed him was letting him out of the stroller so he could run too. Theo is one year old, while I am a proud papa, he is not that fast yet. Let me clarify, if there is a room you don’t want him to go into or an open refrigerator, he is lightning fast, a blur! But distance events he is not that fast. We told Mara and Brett to go ahead and we walked with Theo for about three quarters of a mile. Then I put him back in the stroller with his screaming protests and just suffered the “Why did you bring your kid out here on this frigid day” looks from the other runners. We eventually finished, snapped a quick photo with the Shaws (see below), and tried to make it to the post race chili. Theo would not have it so I skipped the chili (groan) and headed back home.

The funny thing is, although it did not go as planned and was all around out of control, we had a good time. It was fun to go out on New Year’s Day and do something as a family with some friends. Theo did great in the stroller for the 5 mile Turkey trot on Thanksgiving so, we will give it another shot again and see if maybe it was a fluke.

Rachael, Mara, Cindy, Theo

Colin, Rachael, Brett, Mara, Me, Cindy, Theo

-believeintherun

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Training, Speed Work, Baltimore 10 Miler

Thomas Neuberger — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:24:18 +0000

I found out that the training program I was following was NUTS! I am going back to the “Less is More Training” plan. I used this plan when I trained for the National Marathon, it is a great training program. I recommend it for anyone at any level, check it out.

I have been doing the Charm City track work outs with Juda on Tuesday nights. Juda knows how to kick your ass, and you like her for it. The group is made up by about 20 runners in flux every week. It is a nice group of people from elite to newbie, best of all it is free. ” Those workouts give just as much back to me.” – Juda Campbell McGannon

I will be running the Baltimore 10 Miler this weekend, hope to see you out there.

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