Nike Training Club LIVE launches

Lucky lil’ me was invited to the launch of Nike Training Club Live! Nike Training Club Live is a competition encouraging us gals to get involved with sport, then celebrate all our hard work with a big party! (My kind of sport)

The party will be held at London’s Old Billingsgate Market on July 7th and will combine sports and music with guest DJs, a live performance by Katie B and group and one-to-one work outs too.

To attend all you have to do is collect points by doing the Nike Training Club work-out! If you attend the classes in Nike stores in London, Manchester and Glasgow you’ll receive a points card, which your trainer will add points to after each session. For those who can’t make the classes, you can download the free NTC app and work out at your convenience. To collect the points, you just have to sync your app with your computer and every minute spent working out will count towards you total.

I’ll be heading to the park this weekend to work-out in the springtime sun and earn my points to be there on July 7th!

(A post work-out glow and grin with Mixmag Crissy, Mummy Running and Darkroom Lulu) 

 

During my marathon training Nike Training Club was an integral part of my routine and I attended the class every week. When I was travelling I would use the IPhone app and work out in my hotel bedroom instead, and during the summer months I upgraded to NTC alfresco style! - My friend Jayne and I went to the classes in sunny Regents Park.

Since then I haven’t used it as much, until the other day that is… When we attended the launch and did a workout with Nike Master Trainer Sonja Moses and singer Katie B, who’s an NTC ambassador.

I’d actually forgotten what a good workout it is, and felt really good for having an allover stretch and buuuuuuurn! I’m so used to running being my only exercise, so it felt good to work my whole body, rather than just my legs. It’s a completely different way of working out, and the fact that it’s entirely customizable makes it more accessible too.

The Nike Training Club Live competition is OPEN NOW and closes on July 2nd

For further details visit facebook.com/niketrainingclubuk

The view from the launch!

Me and Lulu showing off our new trainers

 

Nike Master Trainer Sojna Moses talks with Katie B 

And then the workout begins (No idea why I've got a screw face on!)

  

And stretch...

 

Mixmag Crissy's too tired!

 

Official merchandise!

run like 'elle and #MakeItCount

The month of April

I opened the month by running the Berlin Half Marathon. I ain't no April Fool!

Then it was back to London to watch the Oxbridge Boat Race and celebrate Easter with my family 

Before flying to Brazil on Easter Monday, to cover Dragao Fashion Week. 

One of the many amazing views I saw

And many many models...

My Fortaleza crew included Indira from XXXX Magazine and the wonderful Leitmotiv boys

Then it was back to London to cheer on my friends in the marathon

I went to Harvey Nichols to help my old boss and friend Anna, launch her World of Prism pop-up shop

Then I was country bound, for a Hen weekend in the Cotswolds 

We prepared a 1950s champagne tea party...

and got all dolled up for it too!

This is me pulling off the 'picture of domesticity' pose :-)

And gradually it descended in to debauchery... Apparently I'm excellent at air guitar after nightfall?!

Then I came home to discover my brand new Nike iD's waiting for me! 

run like 'elle

The Global Marathon Twitterthon

26 marathons connect with one another over 26 days via Twitter.

On March 19th The Global Marathon Twitterthon - a project aiming to connect marathon organizations around the world, was launched via Twitter.

The Milano City Marathon was the inaugural Tweeter to send ‘a message of hope’, and each participating marathon sends a message to following in its own language, with the final message being Tweeted back to the Milano City Marathon on April 13th.

The messages will be written on lanterns, which will then be released into the sky on the eve of the Milano City Marathon.

Participating marathons include the weird and the wonderful. A few of my favourites are:
Reggae Marathon
Miracle Match Marathon
Great Wall Of China Marathon
Polar Circle Marathon

Solar Eclipse Marathon
Petra Marathon


Thus – it’s a Twitterthon!

To view the messages, visit twitter.com/#!/search/%23MCM2012

run like 'elle

Have you heard of Hashing?

Today I stumbled upon the seemingly secret world of Hashing – a type of running club, which doubles as a drinking club and secret society.

Members – referred to as Hashers, Harriers or Hounds, follow a trail of cryptic signs left by the leader – Hares, in formations of circles and X’s laid in flour, a mixture of flour and sawdust, or flour coloured with chalk.

A few example markings… Though permeations are plentiful and often include triangular markings and the letters YBF, QZ, BN, SV, SC & CB

Trails can be urban or rural, leading Hounds through a veritable assault course during the run (participants are advised never to wear new trainers!) Runs are testing, but cater to people of all fitness levels.

Hashers are never referred to by their real name, instead a Hasher name is invented – often one which is nonsensical. Hashers are known to run in red dresses occasionally too, but that’s a whole other story!


The history of Hashing

Hashing originated in Kuala Lumpur in 1938, when a group of British colonial officers and expats founded an informal running club to run of the weekend’s excesses.

The group was informed by the Registrar of Societies that they needed to register their group, and so it was suggested that they become the Hash House Harriers, so called after the Royal Selangor Club – their member’s club, which served notoriously bad food, and was fondly referred to as Hash House.

The reward for their sporting pursuits were beer, ginger beer and cigarettes.
Due to the outbreak of WWII and the invasion of Malaysia the sport virtually died out, but regained popularity in the 1970s and now boasts around 2,000 chapters spanning every continent.

Original club manifesto:
To promote physical fitness among our members
To get rid of weekend hangovers
To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer
To persuade older members they’re not as old as they feel

Hash facts

• The activity: HHH, H3 or Hashing
• Hashing group: Chapter, Kennel
• Members: Hashers, Harriers or Hounds
• Management: MisManagement
• Leaders: Hares
• Dead end trails: Check
• Most clubs are free, though some charge a small fee: Hash Cash
• As a running and social club fusion, after parties often occur: Hash Bash
• Hashers are known to gather under full moons: TONIGHT'S A FULL MOON! 

 To find your nearest chapter: www.gotothehash.net

Hooooooooowl!!! run like 'elle

Mount Kilimanjaro says run like 'elle

My friend Jay climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest mountain in Africa, and carried the weight of a run like 'elle sticker or two, to stick them at the top!

I'm particularly proud of him, because - like me, Jay's a somewhat unexpected athlete. More accustomed to shoe shopping and bar hopping than mountain trekking.

He's raising money for an admirable cause, FOCUS - Focus Humanitarian Assistance, and 100% of the money raised will go directly to improving the lives of people affected by natural and man-made disasters.

If you'd like to support his cause, you can donate to his Virgin Money Giving page

All love to Jay. Mount Kilimanjaro will forever say run like 'elle!

New year fear

After a yule tide spent having fun, I fear that my first run of 2012 may look a little like this...

Will report back and let you know.

Happy New Year ya'll!

run like 'elle. x

The month of November

At the beginning of November I came back to London after two weeks away in California. It was a month of seeing old friends and family.

I went to see Tinie Tempah play at the Greenwich O2 Arena, as my good friend DJ Redlight was supporting him on his UK tour.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the press view of the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery, where several of his drawings - and those of his apprentices, are shown alongside his few finished paintings.

I partied with my friends in Brighton

And I returned to Run Dem Crew!

Best birthday

Earlier this month I celebrated my 2?!th birthday, and my work team gave me this amazing, sarcasm fuelled birthday card. 

A parody of the recent Grazia magazine coverage I was in, the card is an imagined running magazine cover, which reads 'Dancer, surfer (Grazia magazine misquoutes, which were met with much amusement by my friends, as I'm a notoriously undextrous dancer) and marathon cat lover runner (I hate cats - the girls in my office love them), Elle Hankinson shares her top 10 tips (an article type I write for work) for looking haute (Grazia quote) on the treadmill (I recently fell off one).

The card goes further to say...

'Win your height in hummus' (I eat a whole lot of hummus) 

'Running with the stars. Run like 'elle speaks out about those Cavalli rumours' (Giorgio Armani, Garavani Valentino and Roberto Cavalli hold a strange superstardom in our office - most notably for their deep mahogany tans)

Anyway, the card made me laugh a lot - so I just wanted to share it with you. x

A splash of reality

After a week of sizzling my socks off in Madrid, I was a little dismayed to be greeted by heavy rain in London, especially as I had to ride my bike to little photo shoot I was doing in town - and by the time I arrived I looked less a sporting gazelle and more like a drowned, dried out, then re-drowned rat.

Needless to say, it took a little while in hair and make-up to get me looking half normal again. I can't show you any more pics yet, but in the meantime - here's a picture of the photographers repping run like 'elle!

Thank guys, I had fun fake-running along the Embankment, and can't wait to see the shots!

Team Bangs On The Run

Running’s great, but hours of training can get a little lonely. Occasionally I used to cajole friends in to joining me for a training run, and I was accompanied by friends on foot, on bicycles, in cars and even in a baby in a buggy. But I seem to have exhausted all those options now, and was back to running solo – until I joined a running team...

Meet Team Bangs on the Run 2, a group of inspiring women who have been handpicked by Bangs And A Bun, a fellow former sportsphobe turned running enthusiast, to run the Run to the Beat Half Marathon in London on September 25^th.

Since her initial foray in to sports, Bangs has run a half marathon and has more races in the pipeline, and somehow she has found the time – and inclination to organise, encourage and support us gals to train hard and enter into what can only be described as some sort of sorority. 

Bangs And A Bun

I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly girly type of girl, but being a part of this team has catapulted me in to a world of friendship – albeit friendship conducted largely over email and Twitter.

The team is made up of writers, office workers and everyone in between, and each woman’s reason for running is very personal. I hope this doesn’t sound crass, but it’s pretty humbling to read and talk about some of those reasons, and it’s given me a fresh perspective on how running changes – and ultimately empowers people. There’s got to be something in that dynamic action of thrusting your arms back on forth, covering ground faster than you would normally and being ok with looking like absolute sin that hooks people.

 Team Bangs on the Run 2  

The team is spread out around the country, so our chances to train together are minimal, though the other day Queen Bangs and I went for a long run together. From here on in I’ll be keeping you updated with our training and progress.

In the meantime, if you’d like to donate towards our fundraising for Refuge, then please do so here.

Looking forward to reorting on the latest.

run like 'elle.