Urban running encouraged by Nike GRID scheme

by Jayga Rayn

Thousands of young people across London are out on the streets excersicing thanks to a new concept called ‘The GRID’.

Nike have inspired the youth of London to "claim their postcode" through an event emphasising urban running culture.

Forward thinking advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy have shown that getting the young to be active isn't difficult, if marketed correctly.

They were the brains behind the 'The GRID'.

Competitors register, receive a unique code and then use their speed, stamina and knowledge of the streets to register the fastest time between two phone boxes.

'King of an area'

With London divided into 40 postcodes (ten each for North, East, South and West) there is plenty of local pride at stake for athletes, free runners and people who think they deserve to be king of their area.

The facebook group for the ‘GRID’ already has over 3,000 members and is rapidly increasing.

Prizes range from winners having their names on billboards, bus stops and phone boxes to free Nike footwear.

There are more than just leader boards at stake though; pride and ownership of their postcodes are on the line too.

Tarik, one of the competitors for the postcode SE1 said: "Grid was a fantastic opportunity for me to get engaged with running on a different level. I'm an active guy, but I mostly just play football."

Throughout the game all of the players are tracked online.

This presented a real time leader board, documenting the progress of each player and postcode.

Users can run as many routes as they like as many times as they like. Runners had the choice of trying to perfect a single route or trying to be crowned in as many different areas as possible.

The succes of ‘GRID’ can surely prove that innovations such as this can be a great way of getting people off their sofas and active.

Look out for more like this in the future.