Saucony Launches the 500 Mile Challenge High School Cross Country Training Program

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XC Champions Are Made In the Off-Season−Now With Extra Help From An Innovative Digital Training Initiative That Encourages High School Runners To “Find Their Strong” Through Summer Training

via release 

LEXINGTON, MA (June 12, 2014) – Saucony, committed to inspiring the human spirit through running, knows that a strong cross country team is built in the off-season. To ensure that scholastic runners are better prepared for the in-season, Saucony, in collaboration with DailyMile, Inc. and RunBlogRun, today announces the launch of the Saucony 500 Mile Challenge.com high school cross country training program.

A new, innovative, digital training initiative, the Saucony 500 Mile Challenge.com leverages a smartphone-optional website to allow high school athletes and their coaches to track their all-important summer base mileage online as they prepare for the start of the fall cross country season. Along the way, athletes will be motivated to reach training benchmarks and unlock rewards as they pursue a 500-mile summer training goal. For added inspiration, runners will receive training tips and support from Saucony athletes Ben True and Olympian Molly Huddle, two of America’s top cross country all-stars. Starting today, athletes and coaches can sign up by going to Saucony 500 Mile Challenge.com.

“As high school cross country participation continues to grow for both boys and girls, we’re committed to supporting and inspiring these passionate young athletes as they ‘find their strong’ during preseason,” said Mark Bossardet, vice president of sports marketing for Saucony. “Building a base is a simple but very important and frequently overlooked part of training for all cross country runners. The 500 Mile Challenge is an innovative and truly fun way for us to connect with the athletes and support this great sport.”

“We’re excited to continue our long-standing partnership with Saucony as we leverage our digital training platform to help motivate the scholastic runner,” said Kelly Korevec, chief executive officer of dailymile, Inc. “Saucony’s continued commitment to the high school runner helps to further grow the sport while inspiring athletes to set goals and keep running.”

“It’s great to see Saucony further its commitment to cross country after six strong years of support with summer training programs,” said  Larry Eder, editor of RunBlogRun and publisher of the Running Network. “Building a mileage base during the off-season is the most effective way to gain long term improvements in-season. The Saucony 500-mile challenge is the perfect summer training program.”

The Saucony 500 Mile Challenge.com will offer three levels of programs for high school cross country athletes: The 300-Mile Challenge; The 400 Mile Challenge; and The 500 Mile Challenge. Each program runs for twelve weeks, with daily, weekly and monthly goals.

For more information, please contact Sharon Barbano at Saucony® (617-824-6126), [email protected]

About Saucony: Saucony, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, is a leading global running lifestyle brand that fuses performance, innovation and style to create compelling footwear and apparel with its widely recognized brands Saucony and Saucony Originals.  Founded in 1898, Saucony continues to inspire runners everywhere with its award winning innovations, including the “Geometry of Strong™, PowerGrid™, and ViZiPRO™ apparel. At Saucony, a good day is when we get to run. A great day is when we inspire someone else to run. For more information, go to www.saucony.com.

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