When one thinks of St. Patrick's Day, they may not think of fitness. However, it you are going to drink your daily caloric value that night, you might as well make some room by running a St. Patties day race. Good thing there are dozens of races around the country. You can run a 5K in St Louis with the parade or a 10K in Colorado Springs. You can Dash about in Seattle or if you are ready for the big time, the 65^th Annual St. Patrick's Day Race in South Boston. There is nothing like P-Day in Boston, but all of these races will be great fun.

I've noticed that many people have been searching for the 1061 on the site lately. This is a great high-end performance trainer, which has been wildly popular both in the store and on the site. If you were interested in 1061 I'd urge you not to wait. The updated 1062 has already been issued. It too is a high-end neutral runner, that 1061 wearers would transition to well. That means the 1061 is in limited supply and the 1062 is not available online. If you have questions about the new 1062 or the availability of the 1061 please call us Toll Free: 877-628-2672

Lacing is half the battle in the fight for the perfect fit. The good old crisscross is not the only option for a snug and comfortable fit. Check out these videos from our friends at Runner's World to help you find the lacing that is right for your feet.

Road races are fun, but if you're looking for something a little bit more daring why not try an Urban Dare race. Urban Dare is the team race that's part photo hunt, part trivia and part dares. Teams of 2 must solve clues to find checkpoints throughout the city. Each team must determine their own route to the checkpoints. Most teams will cover about 5 to 7 miles and finish in about 3 or 4 hours. One wins by being the first team to cross the finish line after successfully completing checkpoint dares and getting required photos. This is great to do with your friends or kids. Best of all there are races all over the country so go find one near you.

The 1223 has been New Balance most popular shoe and will be updated to the 1224 around September, but fear not, the update is great. The 1224 will feature the TS2 medial post and extended stability web, just as the 1223 did. 1224's will have the brand new, and eco-friendly, Cocona Phantom Liners. Cocona is a naturally anti-microbial material made from coconut fibers. This will also be the first shoe with a Cocona liner. The biggest difference is a reforming of the Abzorb DTS in the heel, which will provide more cushioning and a sleek look.   

I was talking with a buddy of mine about all the people we see that wear New Balance and he asked why New Balance doesn't do endorsement deals. It's a good question. New Balance has an "Endorsed by no one" philosophy. Basically, we would rather spend our money on the technology we put in to our shoes then on celebrity-athletes wearing them. We do help sponsor some professional runner, running events, and charities like Girls on the Run. Which New Balance thinks is a better way to spread the word then lots of flashy ads. The bread and butter of our business is not the pro-athlete but the real athlete that's up a 5 am trying to beat his personal best. That's why we're endorsed by no one!

We'll the Gasparilla 5K is over but another fun race that will be coming up next month is the Ocean Drive 5K. The Ocean Drive will raise money for Mount Sinai Caner Center, and be darting through fabulous Miami Beach. The race concludes at Nikki Beach with after-race party and messages. Raising money for cancer research and getting messages on the beach, why wouldn't you run this race on March 8th

The race was great! Despite some confusion on seeding and corrals, it was a great race. Everyone was warm and friendly and the race was scenic with nice weather. Everyone in the team crossed together though we peppered back and forth during the race. I haven't gotten our chip times yet but it was about 40 minutes on the clock. We may not be the fastest but by gorge we had a good time. So good in fact that a few of us have decided to run the Ocean Drive 5K in Miami on March 8^th. Hope to see you there

Friday the Gasparilla Expo opens. If you are a runner in the Tampa area, you should check it out. There will be lots of deals and cool new things to check out. Not to mention that New Balance Tampa will be out there and we got some nice deals. Besides a possible shin splint issue, the team is looking good and hopefully we will not make fools of ourselves

5K Update: The Gasparilla Marathon will be on Sunday the 10^th, but the 5K will be on the 9^th. The teams looking good and we've raised almost $5,000. Now we just have to ride a few more training miles, go to the expo and have fun at the run. Hope to see lots of people at the race. If you see a group of girls decked head to toe in NB gear give a hello.