BAD HABITS, GOOD MILES:
RUNNING THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

One of the best things about the marathon is that basically anyone can run it, who is up for the challenge.

Our mindset is rooted in this idea, because the Bad Habits Run Club is about running, having fun and celebrating the little sins afterwards. Whether you're a high pacer or a beginner - everyone is welcome here! We love running but have a weakness when it comes to beer and pizza. Running is how we keep the balance - bad habits, good intentions. So it's all the crazier that with this very concept in mind, New Balance gave us the chance to send three runners from our community with no marathon experience to New York.

When choosing our three runners, we quickly had our three candidates in mind:

Belai, now Art Director and once a rookie at the Asphaltgold Store in 2014, is an "Asphaltgold grandpa" and amateur athlete who has torn two ligaments in the last two years and has exactly the right qualities to represent the challenges of getting older (41) and sticking with it.

Nardos, who can often be seen here as a model, brings a calming influence to the group with her focus on grounding and consistency in her routine. With first running successes such as the half marathon in Paris and a desire for more, she embodies the passionate, sporty approach that is also part of Bad Habits.

And then Petrus Jr, who marched confidently into the Asphaltgold store eight years ago, has not only smiled his way into the hearts of the crew, but also those of the customers. As one of the first models at Asphaltgold and with semi-professional soccer experience as well as Berlin party life, he embodies the core of our philosophy: we can party, drink and eat - and still (!) rock the kilometers. So our trio was decided and the New York adventure could begin.

A few weeks have passed since then, enough time to process the experiences and adventures to process and to sleep on it for a few nights. The one person who wasn't allowed to sleep was Nik, our videographer. Under the cover of night he cut together four wonderful episodes and created a documentary about this unique experience for the runners and us, the Bad Habits Run Club.

From Sunday, 22.12.24, we will be releasing a new episode every week for four weeks. The grand finale - the fourth episode - will be released on 11.01.25, just in time for our first birthday. And of course we'll be celebrating in style - more on that later!

It may sound cheesy, but that's how it was: blood, sweat and tears were shed, laughing and crying - now we want to share this journey with you. Stay tuned for our four-part documentary: "Bad Habits, Good Intentions: Running the New York City Marathon."

Let's start with Episode 1: "Failing is not an option."