Hands (and feet) across the water

Sporting goods specialists have advised that a pair of running shoes should be good for anywhere from 300-500 miles of running, depending on an athlete's training style, terrain and other factors.

Local Trailheads are hoping to get a bit more mileage out of theirs.

Roughly 8,000 miles.

"The 'running' miles in shoes are much fewer than the 'usability' miles," said Bob Kern, an avid distance runner with the Trailheads.

Rather than discarding their old running shoes, many of which are only worn for a matter of a few months, the off-road running group is asking fellow runners to contribute them to the African country of Malawi, where shoes are virtually monetary currency.

"There's a reason distance runners change shoes after several hundred miles: it keep muscles and joints healthy," said Steve Hoge, an original member of the Trailheads. "But the shoes are by no means ruined ... so how delightful it is to see an effort to transplant them to a place one of our club members discovered a need."

The initiative began out of simple observations made by UNC School of Public Health students and fellow Trailheads Mariah Hoffman and Lillian Brown, who had spent extensive time in Africa.

"I was in Malawi for about two months over the summer," Brown said. "After I got back, I started talking about how I wished I'd brought more old shoes with me.

"Everybody wants shoes there. It's the number one thing everyone asks you for. If you're just buying carvings from people by the side of the road, they want shoes. They want shoes more than money, and I figured it would be pretty easy to get old running shoes from the Trailheads."

Brown was working in Lilongwe, the capital city, where the University of North Carolina and the Kamuzu Central Hospital in Malawi are collaborating on a long-term mission to improve public health. Mariah's father, Irving Hoffman, established the project.

The Trailheads (www.trailheads.org) comprise a loose association of athletes who share a common love of running, biking and other outdoor sports, combining those activities with area preservation and conservation.

And coffee. Did we mention coffee? The Trailheads also like to hit the Open Eye for a pre- or post-run cup and some conversation now and then.

In one conversation with Brown, Kern told of e-mails from Hoffman in Malawi about the need for shoes.

"I told her that I had shoes that I just wore to mow the lawn," Kern said, "and then other people also said, 'I've got shoes. I've got shoes.'"

A drop-off bin was placed at the Open Eye Cafe and shoes started appearing. Fast. Kern had to empty it three times and store much of the collection in her garage.

"We haven't worked out the logistics of sending the shoes over, but we've got plenty of shoes right now," Kern said.

Malawi is a sliver of land located southeastern Africa and bordering on Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. One of three pregnant women in Malawi have tested positive for AIDS, and about 15 percent of the overall population may be affected, Brown said. With widespread malnutrition, poverty and AIDS/HIV, life expectancy in Malawi is now estimated as low as 36 years, and the child mortality rate is nearly 10 percent. Of the children who do survive, more than one million are estimated to be orphans, according to Wikipedia.

According to its Web site, the UNC Public Health mission is to identify progressive, culturally acceptable ways to mitigate HIV and STD transmission. It was Brown's and Hoffman's notion that healthcare and morale might also start from the ground up.

"It's weird when you're out for a run, because all of the children come running up beside you," Brown said, "and once there was one kid wearing just one flip-flop sandal, and he was running faster than me."

With so many shoes donated, however, Brown is unsure of the best way to see that they arrive with Hoffman in Malawi.

"I haven't even really done anything yet," said Brown, who is currently living locally. "I just sort of volunteered that, the next time I go, I'll bring as many as I can carry. There may even be restrictions on what we can bring in, so that's also something we need to look into."

"At first, I thought Lillian would just bring them when she came," Hoffman e-mailed from Malawi on Monday.

Brown laughed at the notion that she might pass off a large number of running shoes as her personal inventory.

"Yeah, I just like to travel with 500 pairs of shoes," she chuckled.

"Happily, however, the number of shoes we have collected so far, and hope to collect in the future, has far exceeded the weight limit one person can take as personal luggage on the plane," Hoffman conceded, "so I'm going to have to figure out how to get them shipped here."

Kern hopes to use some of the revenue from the Trailheads' Little River Trail Run fund-raiser to help with the costs of shipping, "or maybe we could get it comped through an airlines."

Once the goods arrive, Hoffman still has to convince customs officials there that she is donating, not selling, the shoes. "Otherwise, I'll use my UNC connections to find all the people coming to Lilongwe over a period of time and have each of them bring a bag. This will be slower but still easier than dealing with customs."

Another issue is choosing the most equitable way to get the shoes onto Malawians' feet.

"Mariah said there were churches and other organizations she could deliver them through," Kern offered.

Hoffman is looking at in-country sports associations that organize soccer, basketball and the like. "Which groups exactly will depend on the shoes that I receive. I would like to sponsor the women's net-ball team in a friend's village if the number of female shoes allow.

Few women run in Malawi due to clothing restrictions which keep women covered in long skirts, Hoffman said.

"Children's shoes will probably go to an orphanage and school in Dzama that is sponsored by the UNC Project. The men's shoes might go toward a football team, a running group (if I can find one), or another group that I find that seems fit to receive this generous gift."

Those looking to offer help can e-mail Bob Kern at bob@technicalpublishing.com or drop off duffel bags near the shoe drop-off bin at the Open Eye Cafe.

"I'm flattered and excited that everyone has taken such an interest in this shoe collection," Hoffman said. "I wish I could express how much they will be appreciated here. Everyone I tell about the project thinks the Trailheads and my home community are so cool for working like this for people in need here in Malawi."