TO ALIGN with their long-running mantra that fitness is for everyone, adidas unveiled a new campaign that tapped local runners united under a common fitness goal: to jumpstart a healthy physical and mental lifestyle amid the pandemic.
In the global apparel brand's 'Girls Can Run' campaign, 15 girls, ages 20 to 40 years old, went zero to hero in a span of three months as they went deep into physical training sessions, done in both virtual and physical programs.
Fitness experts and professionals served as their mentors during the campaign, which ran from June until August 29, 2021.
"In a span of three months, there are girls who couldn't even run 1-K in the beginning, and were able to do 10-K by the end of it," triathlon coach Nylah Bautista, who spearheaded the program, shared in a mini presser.
All kinds of runners signed up for adidas' Girls Can Run campaign
In the program, adidas provided the group everything they needed to start their running habit: shoes, active wear, even water bottles. Safe venues for physical sessions were also arranged.
With a program that ran the gauntlet from training, mentorship sessions, weekly workouts, running, and nutrition workshops, Bautista shared that 'Girls Can Run' actually suceeded in fostering a change in lifestyle among the participants.
"We have different profiles, some are working, there is also a mom. Some have zero experience, while some are former veteran runners," she said. "We wake up early, started as early as 5:30 a.m., so we were able to convert them to early birds. All of us made sacrifices for the same goal."
As the first of its kind, they aim to conduct more programs under GCR, to touch on more individuals for an improvement in their fitness habits.
Bautista shared: "This is also a way to alleviate mental health issues because we created a family, a sisterhood, that's important for starters, having a safe community to belong to."