You know I love new finds AND running AND companies that have a great mission. So here’s a three-fer for you! Meet KindRunner.com.
I saw a few teasers on Facebook and on Running Bloggers and became intrigued.
What is Kindrunner? And why are they different? I went to their website for the answers.
Kindrunner is a new online running store. OK – why is this new? Well, they have a mission and it is multi-faceted. They want to:
- Make running as fun, enjoyable, and injury and stress free as possible for all of their customers.
- Reduce the running community’s impact on the environment as much as they possibly can.
- Help people in need all around the world by repurposing used running shoes.
That all sounds good to me! I wrote in to ask them how it will work (they launch in June 2013.) Patrick, their General Manager wrote me back quickly to explain. They plan to achieve these goals using a few unique methods and policies that are “virtually non-existent in online shopping for running shoes” at this point. He says:
“1-We bring years of expertise to our website that will help ensure that our customers end up in the perfect running shoes. All of our employees have worked on specialty running store floors and helped 1000s of runners. We are all runners who have been racing for years, dealt with injuries, and know what works for what type of runners. We plan to have an “expert product review” for every single product. These 60 second videos will review the product and what type of runner it’s best for. We will also have live chat options, experts on the phones at all times and our “asktheexperts@kindrunner.com” email to answer any questions our customers have.”
“2 – The average running shoe sits in a landfill for 90-100 years before it starts to decompose. This alone makes the carbon footprint of the running community enormous. Obviously runners go through their shoes at a faster rate than your average individual, and something needs to happen to these shoes. We want to “repurpose” old running shoes so that they can still be used and not end up in a landfill just taking up space and contaminating our environment.”
“3 – While running shoes with 500 miles on them can’t be used to run anymore (even though some people try to make it work!), they can still be given to people that have nothing else to wear on their feet. By giving footwear to people in poor areas such as Haiti, Africa, and even some areas in the United States, we can help transportation, reduce illness and injury, and increase productivity of entire families and villages.”
KindRunner will also offer free three-way shipping on all shoes and donated shoes. They send you shoes, you send your donations and they send donations to partners like Soles 4 Souls and The More Foundation Group at no cost to you. They plan on using UPS Carbon Neutral Shipping to reduce their footprint on the environment as much as possible, too. They are also working on a rewards program to reward customers every time they buy a pair of shoes and send an old pair for recycling.
I am really excited to see how this will develop and to try KindRunner. Aren’t you? I will keep you posted on what I hear and will provide you with links to reviews and giveaways. You can sign up for their email newsletter HERE and you will be entered to win 3 pairs of shoes for you and a training partner and like them on Facebook where they will do giveaways once they get to 500 “likes” (they are more than half way there!). You can also follow them on Twitter.
Stay Tuned: Being a kind and conscious runner is important and it is about to get easier!
PS. Want another way to be a kind runner? Enter the Run for Boston 5K virtual race raffle. What is a virtual 5K? What is the Run for Boston 5K? Check out Marcia’s post for the 411 on this and other great prizes for a great cause! And if you are in Chicago, please consider running the race on June 15 in Libertyville or volunteering. Learn more HERE.