Companies enticing customers with on-the-run gear

Want to cash in all those Ks as if they were currency? Some gear companies are rewarding their customers for running with free gear in new ways.

Helly Hansen recently launched a new activity-tracking app, Gone on My Catwalk, for iOS and Android phones that works like an urban scavenger hunt. Runners can download the app, turn it on before their run, and if they happen to cross through any of the hotspot locations they’ll be notified and win free gear from the company. There are parks and trails in Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City and Halifax with popular running destinations where users can win the gear. There’s also a few spots in Whistler, B.C. Users can also win gear but submitting photos of them running, or doing other outdoor activities in the regions where the hotspots are.

Most of the stops are in major parks. Locations include areas of Vancouver’s Stanley Park, Parc du Mont-Royal in Montreal and Toronto’s High Park, but there are plenty others.

Helly Hansen isn’t the first company to offer compensations for all the hard work their customers put in. This summer Nike launched their Nike Fuel Box campaign, which is like the Molson Canadian beer fridge of running, minus all the fun of sharing beer with strangers. Runners with the Nike Fuel Band can cash in the points they’ve accumulated that day for gear from the sidewalk vending machine, which moves around New York and other major cities. Most recently it seems to have been found along Canal Street in New York near the Hudson River tennis courts. Unfortunately the Fuel Box hasn’t made its way to Canada yet.