Corporate news / 05.01.2011
How do you achieve a difficult goal? How do you accomplish what you set out to do? ECCO Xiamen has the answer.
Sunday the 2nd of January saw a blustery, cold start to the 9th Xiamen Marathon. Among the 64,000 runners who joined the race this year, 664 were sporting the special ECCO team shirts from ECCO Xiamen. Runners could choose to complete a half marathon, a full marathon, 5K or 10K. The ECCO Xiamen team covered a combined distance of 6,871 km, raising 68,710 RMB for the ECCO Love Charity Fund.
Participation in the Xiamen Marathon is beneficial in many ways. The event unites co-workers of all levels and promotes fitness and giving in the workplace. Gary Smale, Production and Technical Director at ECCO Xiamen, helps to create the enthusiasm, drive and heart and soul behind the ECCO Xiamen Marathon Club:
“For so many of our people to participate in the event is fantastic. This is truly becoming an ECCO tradition. Over 700 ECCO shirts and caps were handed out to runners and supporters, and the ECCO flag was carried along the route by many runners, creating a true family feeling.”
A Team that Plays Together, Stays Together
The running club trains together and planning for the event starts months in advance. A kick-off meeting is held already in September to discuss training programmes and nutrition tips.
“I don’t have the motivation to train by myself, so it’s very good that ECCO Xiamen organises the training sessions. Gary Smale gives us a training schedule and organises the Sunday runs. There is so much enthusiasm that we have the motivation to keep running. We have a team spirit to compete and we encourage each other. People never drop the group training unless they really have something important to do,” explains Wu Xingcai, joining the race for his second year.
“This year was my first time joining the 5K run, as I usually cheer from the sidelines,” says HR Manager Zena Zhang. “The atmosphere was very good, to be among so many of our work colleagues participating in the event and raising money for a local charity only added to a great ECCO day out. It was a true family occasion. Next year, I will commit to running the 10K.”
As agreed before the race, all marathon runners waited at the finish line for the last runner to cross, providing that extra little incentive for the runners to make it through the gruelling distance. The inspiration and team spirit built up during the club training sessions gave the runners an incentive to meet up with their teammates at the finish line.
Corporate news / 04.01.2011
ECCO sponsored ultra runner Jesper Olsen sets out on the second half of World Run II with ECCO BIOM.
On January 1, 2011, 38-year-old Danish athlete Jesper Olsen set out on the second half of World Run II from Punta Arenas in Chile, South America. Jesper completed the first half of World Run II (21,449 km) – and the first documented run through the African continent - in Cape Town, South Africa on 15 March 2010.
“I feel motivated about following in the footsteps of great explorers like Vitus Bering and Roald Amundsen. Crossing tundra, desert and tropical rainforest – the world’s unique ecological systems that we must strive to protect. I’m also motivated by setting records, but that’s not my main reason for setting out on this journey of discovery,” Jesper Olsen explains.
The Route
The 40,000 km distance of World Run II is run in stages of 50 km per day. For the first half, Jesper Olsen ran from the North Cape of Norway, through Scandinavia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey and the length of the African continent. On 15 March, 2010 Jesper reached Cape Town, the halfway mark.
On 1 January 2011, Jesper set out from the southern tip of South America and will run up the west side of the continent before running up the length of the east side of the United States, ending up in Newfoundland, Canada in July 2012.
High Altitude Record
Jesper Olsen is expected to set a new world record for the longest high-altitude run. Ten days before reaching the 4,000-metre peak of the Andes, Jesper will start on a unique running routine to help his body adjust to the high altitudes and low oxygen levels. Jesper will spend the first five nights at an altitude of 2,000 m and the last five at 3,000 m, returning to the lowlands each morning to continue his run.
World Run I
World Run II marks the second time the political science graduate is tempting fate and setting off around the globe. Jesper Olsen’s previous project, World Run I, took place in 2004, when Jesper covered 26,000 km running east to west around the globe between 1 January 2004 and 23 October 2005. World Run I was the longest run ever documented.
Equipment
Jesper Olsen will be running in ECCO BIOM B, a shoe which is entirely developed according to the “Natural Motion” philosophy, allowing the foot to move as naturally as possible without excessive cushioning or motion control. Jesper runs up to 1,000 km in one pair.
Jesper will be equipped with a GPS providing online broadcasting of live images and sound for the entire distance of the run. Jesper will also have the opportunity to reply to e-mails and will be available for interviews with the press.
To follow Jesper Olsen’s historic run
click here or visit Jesper’s own website
worldrun.org