New Balance and The Freidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy have teamed up to form "Children in Balance: Tufts Childhood Obesity Initiative." New Balance has agreed to fund and support a 10-year initiative. Do you agree the new studies linking childhood obesity to nutrition and behavioral issues? Many programs are forming for children in the community to help obese children. Many are looking to the schools to improve their nutrition and activity for kids while they are at school.

An increase in obesity amongst children is being blamed on the lack of activity after school due to video games and computer usage. Also, busy family lives are not allowing time for family dinners. Yet other may blame the food industry for target marketing children with characters and celebrities to sell their products to children. It will be very interesting to see what these initiatives revel.

Runningtimes.com has some great reviews on New Balance running shoes. The following models have been tested and reviewed. New Balance trail shoes 781, 906, 871 and 1100. New Balance running shoes 856, 1221 and 900.

Besides the pain factor what can we learn from a sprained ankle? That shoe laces are very important for many reasons. Primarily, you want to prevent heel slippage. Do not let a sprained ankle teach you the lesson of how important it is to properly lace your shoes.

Toe Issues
If you have toe issues such as hammer toes, bleeding toes or toe nail problems, you want to tie your shoes so that the toe box is lifted.

High Arch
If you have a high arch you want to tie the shoes so that there aren’t any pressure points on the tongue.

Foot Pain
If you have pain on the top of the feet, you may need to leave some space when you lace.

Narrow or Wide Feet
Even if you have a narrow or wide foot, there is lace lock technique that can provide a good heel fit.

This is a great visual aid to help you tie your shoes according to your needs.

As if the 811 walking shoe from New Balance wasn’t already available in a variety of widths. I guess New Balance decided to add one more, for obvious reasons, somewhere out there someone needs narrow, narrow shoes, more narrow than the 2A width.

New Balance has made the WW811WT available in a 4A width. We are talking about extra, extra narrow!!! The WW811WT is in the New Balance Pink Ribbon Collection for Lace Up For the Cure® and is an OssaTron® Recovery Shoe: Which means that it is recommended by podiatrists as an acceptable shoe for post-Orthotripsy treatment. What is that? I know it is a treatment for heel pain. I’ll expand on that later this week!

I have been made aware that the New Balance Pink Ribbon Race for the Cure Kinetic Jackets are super hot and are hard to find.

If you’re having trouble locating them, I found them in stock, in white, WJK1317R. The jacket is white with a pink ribbon embroidered on the left side of jacket. There is a pink and black panel on the side of the jacket.

While we are on the topic, don’t forget to check the Spring - Race for the Cure Events for an event in your area.

Blisters hurt, and it can be just as much of a problem as strains and shin splints. When one has a blister they may run in a way that is not normal to them.

While running, the pain of these blisters can cause your running form to alter and cause problems to your hips and legs. The key is to prevent blisters from ever occurring.

Here are some Blister Prevention Tips.

With the New Balance 810’s being discontinued and made into the 811’s, many customers are stating that the 811 doesn’t fit them any longer. They're complaining that they are too wide. The reason is because the 810 was made on a SL-1 Last and now the 811 is on a SL-2 Last. In a SL-1 Last the heel widths, instep heights, toe box height and forefoot height in the 810 are all normal. However, the SL-2 Last will have a narrow heel width, high instep height, deep toe box and wide forefoot height. Well, no wonder the 811’s fit different.

Hey, I found some discontinued 810’s floating around the Internet. Check out these sites, they just might have your size.

Women’s 810’s
WW810BK, WW810WT and at Fogdog.com and also at Brown’s, WW810BE, WW810WT.

New Balance has a program that works like this. When a new shoe or garment is developed, a wear test is requested. This means that the product needs to be tested in real life conditions. New Balance has a database of testers and they will pull information from the test database to match the product to testers who fit the needs of the test on the basis of sizing, geographic location, activity profile etc... Right now New Balance is looking for testers in Adventure, Cross-training, Basketball, Business and Casual, Walking, Kids and Tennis. Take a look at the Wear Test Program if your're interested.

Hey Luke, I where's my Christmas Card? Luke and his schoolmates in association with the YEA sent out 4000 Christmas Cards to New Balance customers.

New Balance is promoting the Fast Forward jacket on their home page this morning.

What's interesting about this jacket is the impressive amount of technology stitched in.

• Stretch Hydro jersey fabric


• Diaplex wind resistant overlay front and back yoke


• Reflective zipper, logos and piping


• Zippered hand pockets


• Adjustable waist

Wow this is a really good thought provoking question. If you have 30 seconds take a look at the latest New Balance TV ad.

New Balance continues to give back to the community. I just read about Woodrow Wilson High School winning the 6th. annual New Balance Marty Glickman Award for recognition in outstanding academics, school spirit, team spirit and service to the community.

So what's the big deal? Well for starters Woodrow Wilson High will receive a check for $10,000 from New Balance. Secondly, they are the first High School in the state of New Jersey to win this award.

Hey if you"re not doing anything on Saturday you might want to check out the New Balance Games. Once again they'll be held at the Armory Track & Field Center in NYC.

Don't think anyone will be there? Guess again. Last year over 350,000 athletes, coaches, parents and fans attended.

Visit here for complete details.

Here are 2 games for Kids available on the New Balance web site.

Make your own Trading Cards with Sports Card Maker. It comes in 2 flavors; for the PC and the MAC. Download here.

Run yourself silly with the I Like Relay. The game instructions can be found here.

I'm willing to bet a nickel that you don't know which New Balance models are made right here in the USA.

Here's a few:

The Vancouver Island Runners' Association just posted the Island Race Series Schedule. Nine races in all. You can get in on the fun for an economical $115 (all 9 races). If you register online then you have a chance at winning $1000 according to this.

Register here.

Did you know that New Balance won the National PETA Award (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for giving leather the boot? The award was for Best Cruelty-Free Athletic Shoes. You can review the other winners here.

We'll we've been getting blog spammed to death by some very determined spammers. So I had to turn of the comments until we can get some filtering in place.

Here's some really good news for you parents out there.

New Balance now offers Kid's Running and Cross-training models in grade school sizes going up to size 7. Previously, New Balance made their kid's shoes in sizes up to 6.5. One extra size can make a big difference for parents purchasing shoes for their child. Considering once a child's size goes past a 7, he or she is put in an adult shoe. Adult shoes can be double the cost of kid's shoes.

Thanks to New Balance, they are giving these parents a little extra savings for a little bit longer.

Here are some of the new models in the Grade school size 7. KX482PLG, KX482WN, KJ991GRG, KJ991PK, KJ991RDG, KJ991LAG, KJ604NV, KJ642LS, and KJ642NO.

New Balance has a question for Kids. "Are you a good sport? Prove it." The sportsmanship awards contest lists the 10 habits of good sportsmanship. New Balance would like you to submit an 11th habit for a chance to win a Cruise Vacation.

Forty eight winners will be selected.

I'm going to tell you and you’re not going to believe how simple this is either.

In the Kid's category, New Balance actually offers three types of sizes. There are Grade School, Preschool and Infant. The model description will always indicate which types a particular model is available in too.

So how can I tell what I need? Ah, to determine the proper size type the model runs, simply take a look at the end of the model number. There you'll see a G, P or I.

Can you guess what these are?
I = Infant
P = Preschool
G = Grade school

What about sizes? How do they run for these three types? Infant sizes run 2-10, Preschool runs 10.5-3 and Grade school runs 3.5-7.

Models that do not end in one of these letters typically come available in both Preschool and Grade school.

New Balance also makes the kids shoes in widths ranging from medium, wide and extra wide. Here are some options.

New Balance gray 991’s are considered by many the original classic model in the New Balance line, the signature model. Since the inception of the gray 991 New Balance has expanded this model by making it in new colors. When women starting purchasing the gray 991’s in Men’s sizes, New Balance decided to make this model available to Women. New Balance now makes the 991 for Men in Gray, Navy, Black and now Brown. The Women’s 991’s are available in Gray, Navy, Black, Carolina Blue, and White with light blue combination. I have this model and think they are the best looking, most comfortable shoe I have. I love to wear them to run in or just hang out in with my jeans.

New Balance shoes run short in general – in my opinion. You will need to go up a half size from your current size. It’s been my experience that if someone wears a 10 ½ in one New Balance model – they would wear a 10 ½ in all of New Balance models. The only difference may be in the width of the shoe depending on the Last that it is made on. New Balance has SL2 Last and SL1 Last. The SL2 would give you a deep wide toe box and a narrow heel (for people with a high arch). SL1 give you a narrow instep – toe area and heel.

This Fit Form System chart demonstrates that various New Balance Lasts.

Have you ever purchased a New Balance shoe that you’re now unable to locate anywhere? Occasionally, a model will be produced for a limited time only. The CMX336Z is a perfect example. This particular model was made for a short period of time and is no longer available in the marketplace.

So, if you’re on the lookout for a pair of New Balance CMX336Z then I recommend you try the MX620WT.

The 620 available in widths D, EE, EEEE comes equipped with Absorb ® for pure cushioning in the heel and forefoot in addition to an IMEVA Midsole.

Did you know that New Balance manufacturers footwear that specifically addresses the needs of a supinator?

These New Balance models are good for supinators:

Mens Walking
» MW925BR - Brown Leather
» MW925BK - Black Leather
» MW925WT - White Leather
» MW925DB - Nu Buck Leather
» MW925GR - Gray
» MW925VK - Black w/Velcro
» MW925VW - White w/Velcro

Womens Walking
» WW925BR - Brown Leather
» WW925BK - Black Leather
» WW925WT - White Leather
» WW925VK - Black w/Velcro
» WW925VW - White w/Velcro

Mens Running
» M587NV - Navy
» M1122MC

Womens Running
» M587WB
» W1122MC

Posture Dynamics has a great picture of the wear pattern here.

Glad to see that Jerry Lanson, commentator for the Christian Science Monitor didn't give in to peer pressure to wear something trendy to the gym.

He's planning on sticking to his "white New Balance cross-trainers after all". Read what Jerry wrote here.

After all, New Balance shoes are trendy!

I found 1600 fairly recent blog entries mentioning New Balance tonight while searching BlogPulse.

The Tsunamis occurred 8 days ago and many organizations have pledged support. I read on Robert Scobles blog about the Microsoft employees in India all giving 1 days pay. Apple has devoted their home page to donation links. So too has Microsoft in addition to committing 3.5 million dollars.

So here we are 8 days later and I'm surprised that there hasn't been a relief effort from the footwear industry. This morning I visited the New Balance, Nike, Reebok and Adidas web sites and there is no mention of the Tsunamis or a relief effort. I really believe that some of these organizations should be stepping up and providing relief. Especially those that are manufacturing in that part of the world. Help the communities that help you succeed.