Nike has a lot of money

Gotta love Nike and Apple and their mission to Nanonize the world. A month or so ago, Bec "modeled" at the launch of the new Nike+iPod Sport kit, a running shoe-Nano combo that does basically everything but actually run for you. She got to keep the Moire running shoes (they hold a small sensor that triggers a wireless receiver, thus recording everything from time, distance, and speed) but not the Nano. I was intrigued by the product--naturally, I latch onto any gadget that'll make me forget that I'm slogging through miles in July heat--but was ultimately turned off by the eyepopping cost of the whole rigamarole ($100 for the shoes, $29 for the sensor, and oh yeah, a few hundred bucks for the nano).

But perhaps to further entice naysayers like me, Nike has not relented in their guerilla marketing of this product. Tonight, Niketown hosted a FREE five-mile group run, offering all participants, including Patty and I, access to brand-new Moire shoes, a Nano and an armband, plus a DriFit t-shirt. About 500 runners of all shapes and sizes laced up their shoes, popped in their earbuds, and took off in pace groups from the Apple store on 59th and 5th all the way to the final destination of the Apple store in SoHo. Packs of runners in matching shirts tore through midtown at rush hour and SoHo at happy hour as throngs of curious and dumbfounded New Yorkers looked on. Better advertising than a Super Bowl commercial.

I got to the run a little too late to sign up for the Nano/Shoes, but again, I became intrigued by the gadget. As we ran down the west side highway while the sun set over Jersey City, I watched the runners bop up and down to the Nike-provided tunes. When we reached Soho, we were greeted with cheering apple employees, a giftcard for free iTunes, a Nike towel, Jamba Juice smoothies, and Auntie Ann's pretzels. Oh, and plenty of iBooks to dock the Nano and check your stats before returning it--and the shoes--back to Nike. (But the shirt was for keeps!)

I can imagine a few people ran away with the shoes and iPod--they didn't seem to have any security on hand to make sure they didn't, and runners only had to sign a flimsy voucher to get them (you had to check your old shoes, but I would have given up my shoes for a Nano!). But after tonight's extravagant event, I can imagine Nike and Apple has enough funds lying around to cover those costs.