Track and Field Blogs - Mike Morgan

This past weekend, I had an excellent opportunity to participate in the inaugural Brooks ID Camp. This camp was unlike any other that I have ever attended. The camp took place at a mountain resort just outside Seattle, next to Mt. Rainier. While there were certainly some elite athletes in attendance, that wasn't the purpose. Instead, Brooks pooled together 65 people in the running community that 'inspire daily”. These people included athletes, coaches, race directors, doctors and physical therapists from all over the US. It was a great mix of ages and personalities.

While a wide variety of topics were discussed, the key purpose of the camp was to provide feedback to Brooks regarding future footwear and appearal products. From wear-testing and color schemes, to new materials, and presentations from the actual designers, Brooks took feedback from real runners to make sure that they have great future products. Let me say, the technology that Brooks has looming in the future is awesome and will play a major role in the future of running performance, I can't wait!

Here are a couple of highlights from my trip:

1. The collection of stories. With so many different types of people, the stories were amazing. Two that stick out are Bill Hoffman's triumph over cancer, and Dan Shaw being captured in Columbia by some cocaine drug lords. Both are lucky to be alive, and their stories really inspired me.

2. We took a trip up the mountain for a really nice dinner. It was supposedly summer solstice, however, at the top of this freaking mountain, wind chills were below 30 degrees, and I froze my can off. It was definitely the first time that I have ever felt snow and temps. like that in June.

3. We got to tour the Brooks headquarters in Bothell. Believe it or not, they actually do a ton of research on every part of a shoe and every piece of appearal. I didn't think that it existed!

4. Right now I have a little injury, so to get some exercise, I decided to climb the mountain. It was around 50 degrees and pouring rain. After hiking strait up for 40 minutes, I started to get a little freaked out when I ran into snow and could see my breath, I started to think that I might get hypothermia and end up stuck on this mountain. I was picturing CNN covering a rescue effort for this moron runner who decided to defy mother nature and climb this mountain. However, I made it down and everything worked out fine.

I hope that you enjoyed my blog, special thanks to Brooks for having me out, and thanks to the 65 athletes for the inspiration to get back on the horse once I heal up.

-Mike