Asics Unveils Running Track To Train The Mind
ASICS has unveiled the world’s first running track to train the mind, featuring a custom-built 150-metre course with no tech, music, scenery or finish line.
The ‘ASICS Blackout Track’ was developed by sports scientists and coaches, aiming to remove all distractions in order to encourage runners to focus on the mind and body.
USA Olympic medallist Deena Kastor, adventurer Danny Bent and actor Aarif Lee were the first to run the track as part of a 10k ‘mental marathon’.
Running 66 laps in total, Deena Kastor ran the fastest time in 37 minutes and 16 seconds. Speaking of her experience, Kastor said: “For me, the track was a reminder of the joy that running offers. Whether you’re a pro athlete or an everyday runner, mental restraints can limit us, but we all have the power to think our way to success.”
Danny Bent, who has cycled 9,000 miles from London to India and also completed a coast to coast relay in the USA, ran the track in 44 minutes and 7 seconds, said: “That felt like a marathon. It was a great reminder of the need to push through the voices in our heads that hold us back.”
On Global Running Day, earlier this week, the track hosted a scientific experiment to show that mental strength is as important to athletic success as physical fitness, with runners racing in normal conditions, and then repeating the feat in the darkness, with white noise, as well as no motivation or technology.
Devised by Professor Samuele Marcora, director of research at the University of Kent’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, and Dr Jo Corbett, human performance and health research group at The University of Portsmouth, the experiment uses tracking data such as performance times and heart rates.
Participants will also complete the NASA Task Load Index, an assessment tool to help perceive physical and mental workload of a task, to help show how the mind can affect performance even when the physical capacity of the runners is the same.
“This is a mental challenge with a great message, the importance of a fit mind to re-evaluate what’s possible and reach your own goals in fitness as well as life. It’s not only the strongest legs that go the distance, but also the strongest mind”, said Paul Miles, chief marketing officer, ASICS.
The ASICS Blackout Track is part of the brand’s ‘I MOVE ME’ platform, focussing the mind and body to enable optimum performance.
