Jeff has just returned from Nike’s International Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon where he was invited to participate in a Running Summit. Jeff and representatives from select running stores throughout the world were part of roundtable discussions with Nike management and advanced shoe designers.

The purpose of a Summit like this is to connect the influential running industry leaders to have open discussion as to product development, injury prevention, and methods to address performance.

Jeff was very excited to see that Nike’s major focus is “Natural Motion Engineering”. Nike has spent a great deal of time and energy studying runners’ foot strikes and gait cycles. These studies clearly reveal that the most amazingly engineered item in the world is the human foot and footwear should be very flexible to allow the foot to properly progress from heel strike to toe off.

Nike also reviewed and demonstrated its new Lunar technology which involves a new closed-cellular foam encapsulated in Phylite. Shoes containing Lunar technology are lighter, more cushioned, more flexible, and inherently more stable than their counterparts. Very Cool Stuff!!!

Jeff was also shown ideas and designs that will be on the market in the years to come, but is not at liberty to discuss, but he can say that Nike’s direction mimics much of what he has been conveying to others during his thirty years in the running industry. This is why RUN IN is the single busiest running store in the U.S.

Following the Summit meeting, Jeff and his good friend John Sell, (Erskine College Cross-Country Coach) participated with 1400 other teams in the “Hood to Coast” relay. This is a 197 mile relay race from Timerline on Mt. Hood to the Pacific Ocean at Seaside, Oregon. Suffice it to say that it was a tough race, but a good time was had by all. By the way, their team, Southern Mafia finished 34^th overall.