Sneak Peek at What’s New for runDisney in 2014 from New Balance

This weekend, New Balance gave fans a highly anticipated sneak peek at the new design for the official 2014 runDisney shoe. The 2013 design, which featured Mickey (men’s) and Minnie (women’s), was officially retired during the Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend. The new design will feature Sorcerer Mickey (men’s) and Pink Minnie (women’s). Although New Balance will not fully unveil the new shoe until the Health and Fitness Expo during the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January, they did offers eager followers enough of a teaser glimpse at their new design.  It looks as though the men’s shoe will be red and feature Sorcerer Mickey on the back. The women’s shoe appears to be a bright pink and has pink Minnie on the back. New Balance also unveiled the addition of  runDisney shoes for kids. The kids’ shoes will be the same design as the adult shoes, so Sorcerer Mickey for boys and pink Minnie for girls. idea, not only for

The New Balance runDisney shoes are only available at Health and Fitness Expos during runDisney event weekends. It has not been revealed if there will be any changes in price for the 2014 shoes or what the cost might be for the kids’ shoes. The price for the runDisney shoes in 2013 was around $125.

In addition to the 2014 shoe design, runDisney also announced the addition of other shoe accessories that devoted runners can purchase to customize their shoes and commemorate their endurance accomplishments.  Race specific shoe inserts, shoe box sticker to record race date and finish time, and a lace keeper type decoration have all been designed to allow runners to celebrate their accomplishments long after they have crossed the finish line.  At all of the runDisney events throughout the year, these packages will be available for purchase and runners can collect these little extras as they rack up their runDisney miles.

MY TWO CENTS: I was really excited about the news, not just about the new design or the added accessories–although those aspects are really enticing. I think the addition of the kids’ shoes is what is really newsworthy. New Balance and runDisney have recognized the growing community of families that run. Sure some nay-sayers would proclaim that this is just another way for Disney to make money. I won’t argue. It’s a great marketing strategy to not only make money on the shoes but on runDisney events themselves. But Disney is a company and companies need to make money to remain a viable business so they can stay in business (and continue to provide jobs for MANY)–but that is a topic for another time…..

Offering a Disney running shoe for kids is a great way to get kids excited about running.  If your kids are like mine and want to be just like mom and dad, these shoes are a great incentive to get your aspiring runner off the couch and out running consistently.  With the runDisney kids races, family 5k’s and now the addition of a kids running shoe, Disney has done a fantastic job of not only acknowledging and accommodating kid runners, but is also helping parents to lay the foundation for life long love of running. Just another reason to love runDisney 🙂