Trudy Gets a Close-up Look at Adidas

Posted by Nicki | July 02, 2012

Norwich sports shop manager Trudy Deacon was invited to Adidas HQ to test out some of their latest running gear.

Here she shares her experiences with Gear-Zone.

“Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Adidas AT3 event in Manchester.

About 70 members of staff from running shops across Britain were invited by Adidas to an evening dinner with guest speaker Derek Redmond, an inspirational athlete who achieved world, Commonwealth and European Gold medals in the 400 metres sprint.

His one remaining goal, an Olympic Gold, was cruelly taken from him when he tore a hamstring half-way round the track during the semi-final in Barcelona in 1992. Although he was in extreme pain, and could see that his race was over, the Olympics meant so much to him that he limped to the finishing line, aided by his father who ran onto the track to help him.

You can still view the footage on YouTube - it is a very poignant moment.

Optional Three Mile Run

At the end of the evening Greg Andrews, who organised the event, announced that there would be an optional three mile run at 6.30 a.m. the following morning. Looking round the room, I could see that most of the guests were half my age and looked incredibly fit – I don’t mind being at the back of a group, but the thought of getting lost as the last runner disappeared over the horizon was a bit of a concern – should I go or should I save any embarrassment and have an extra 30 minutes lie-in?

I was there at 6.25 a.m. along with about 30 others, all wearing the Supernova Sequence running shoes, leggings and T-shirt that we had been given to test. Yes, I was near the back, but there were three or four people behind me, I didn’t get lost, didn’t show myself up and really enjoyed it.

After breakfast we went to the Adidas headquarters and had a talk about Adidas as a company, their achievements, and their sponsoring of the 2012 Olympics.

The head designer of Sports Footwear came over from Germany to explain how their shoes are developed and designed, using feedback from the athletes that they sponsor.

We then had a Tech Master Class from Mike Antoniades, a coach who works with all the top international athletes and footballers, who explained about the biomechanics of running. 

Our staff have experience of foot gait analysis, and he showed us how we can point out to customers any problems that may show up on the video analysis, thereby helping to make their running more comfortable and less stressful.

Look Out For the Boost

We were also introduced to a new running shoe – the Boost, which has revolutionary cushioning giving ‘energy return’ – look out for this on Gear-Zone next year!

After lunch we went to Wood Bank Park where we tested the Adizero xt4, an off-road shoe.

We had an orienteering competition which tested the shoes - and us! - on mud, steep hills, grass and ruts. These were the lightest shoes I have ever run in, and I was seriously impressed.

By now I was exhausted, but we were off again to Wood Bank Park Athletic Track - where we had a 30 minute track session with Mike Antoniades. I felt really privileged to be there and learnt so much in that 30 minutes.

By this time we were totally spent, the fun was over and we returned to Adidas to give our verdict on the shoes and clothing we had tested.

Everyone had a great time and we went home with the kit that we had tested - and I was lucky enough to win the raffle prize – two tickets to the triathlon final at the Olympics – WOW!”

Here at Gear-Zone we stock a large range of Adidas products, for running, football, tennis, swimming, cricket and rugby.