Health & Fitness

A Tale Of Two Runners

Local U-M grads discover new purpose for old shoes.

Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News

A

s Brad Stulberg trained
this spring for his first
marathon, his outworn
running shoes began to pile up.
"I should give these away:'
Stulberg, then in his last semester at
the University of Michigan, thought
to himself.
So the Farmington Hills native
teamed up with running partner
Nate Fink, a fellow graduating U-M
senior from West Bloomfield, to find
a solid use for old running shoes.
For the month of June, and hope-
fully beyond, the Running Fit stores
throughout Michigan will offer cus-
tomers a $10 discount toward a new
pair of shoes in exchange for their
used ones. The used shoes will be
sent to people who otherwise would
be barefoot in underdeveloped coun-
tries.
"We offset each other very well:
Stulberg says of his partnership
with Fink that led to the trade-in
program.
His classes in corporate respon-
sibility and public health both
inspired and dovetailed with their
project. "I was doing the modeling;'
he said.
Fink utilized political skills, honed
in U-M student and Oakland County
Democratic politics and during a
Brad Stulberg and Nate Fink partner in running and in finding a use for used running shoes.
summer internship with U.S. Sen.
Carl Levin, D-Mich., in Washington D.C.,
waste, lives in the soil and enters the body business that aligned with recycling run-
to research who they might partner with.
most often through the feet.
ning shoes; a way to distribute the collect-
And, "We've done a ton of Israel stuff on
Its symptoms — anemia, malnutri-
ed shoes to individuals in the developing
campus:' Stulberg says. "Our activism kind tion, diarrhea, chronic infections, stunted
world where hookworm is most common;
of helped us organize this. We learned
growth and poor mental development
and a sponsor who would foot shipping
when to push hard and when to lay back." — contribute to keeping people impover-
costs.
ished, his research showed.
The Genesis
Guided by U-M public health professor
Soul Filled
Their first thought was to collect used
Jane Banaszak-Holl, Stulberg worked to
Armed with used shoes and statistics, they
running shoes and distribute them within
quantify the costs of hookworm. Results
approached the owners of Running Fit, a
the United States. But they changed direc-
showed that each pair of shoes could have
specialty running store with area stores
tion after discovering that hookworm was
an impact of $733 given the $4,500 cost of in Ann Arbor, West Bloomfield, Novi and
causing a public health crisis in the devel-
each hookworm infection.
Northville.
oping world that could be offset merely by
"He really pulled together a lot of data
"They were super receptive Fink says,
wearing shoes.
from different sources;' Banaszak-Holl
of Randy Step and Steve Angerman.
Hookworm is a parasite that afflicts
says. She finds it very exciting "to see it
It was just great timing:' says Step,
over 740 million people, primarily in Asia
applied in a program. The response in Ann who had just returned from a running
and subterranean Africa, Stulberg says.
Arbor [to the shoe trade-in] is very good." convention where a non-profit group,
The hookworm, which thrives on human
Their three-point plan was to find: a
Soles4Souls, had made a presentation.

Although the company has been
involved with various charities over
20-plus years in business, "We were
due for a good program."
Fink and Stulberg were impressed
by Soles4Souls and their record of
direct distribution of used shoes in
over 40 countries. "They go there to
distribute them on the ground, hope-
fully bypassing corruption:' Fink
says.
Ann Arbor dentist Dr. John Farah,
who recently ran his 100th mara-
thon, stepped up to cover shipping
costs. Ironically, Fink remembered
Farah from an Ann Arbor trail race
in which Farah, who is three times
their age, breezed past Fink, 22,
and Stulberg, 21, with a "C'mon you
young guys. I ran Boston last week."
Come fall, the two newly minted
graduates will part company.
Stulberg heads to Washington, D.C.,
to work for McKinsey & Co., an orga-
nizational consulting firm. Fink will
enter Wayne State University School
of Law in Detroit.
Stulberg, Fink and their organi-
zational partners will evaluate the
shoe exchange at the end of June.
"Hopefully, it will be continued per-
petually," Stulberg says.
Lex Williams, who captains the
U-M cross country and track teams,
has offered to oversee the program
for the two years he has left in Ann
Arbor. ❑

A Perfect Fit

What: Shoe trade-in program
When: Month of June
Why: To reduce public health prob-
lems such as hookworm in the devel-
oping world
How: Customers get $10 discount on
re-usable shoes to apply to new pair
of shoes (One discount per store
visit)
Where: Running Fit stores, West
Bloomfield, Ann Arbor, Novi,
Northville, Traverse City.
Who: Sponsored by Running Fit,
Soles4Souls, Enspire Dental (Ann
Arbor).

June 12 • 2008

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