Safety first! Westin Hotels & Resorts is catering to an emerging niche group of early risers who pound the pavement before the crack of dawn. For the entire month of June—which includes Global Running Day on June 7—the hotel brand is including reflective wristbands and light-up sneaker clips in its Gear Lending program, which loans New Balance sneakers and athletic clothing to guests for $5.

Exercising first thing in the morning gets your endorphins going and blood pumping so you can be alert at meetings all day long.

“I have never met a guest who wakes up early to run and regrets it,” said Chris Heuisler, national RunWestin concierge. “There is magic in the early morning hours that fosters a sense of comradery, broadens your perspective and reframes your day. With a strong commitment to the running community, we are delighted to shine a new light on running for travelers and support an event that has quickly become a global phenomenon…”

Westin employs almost 200 run concierges at locations across the brand. They are tasked with organizing group runs for patrons of all levels and hit the streets with a RunWestin map. This gives guests the opportunity to not only get in their daily dose of exercise, but also explore the town.

Participating Westin properties include locations in New York City, Boston, Hamburg, Cairo, Beijing and Costa Rica, as well as Austin, Texas; Cozumel, Mexico; Cape Town, South Africa; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and Jakarta, Indonesia. The initiative is aimed toward the hotel guest interested in “sweating before sunrise” and goes hand-in-hand with the brand’s Let’s Rise campaign.

A global study conducted in October 2016 of 7,968 respondents between the ages of 25 and 64 with incomes of $75,000 or more revealed the following:

  • Seventy-five percent of travelers struggle to maintain their fitness routine.
  • Almost 40 percent of people are in optimal control of their exercise routine from 4 to 10 a.m.
  • Almost 25 percent of people are in most control or their workout regimen from 4 to 6 a.m.
  • Forty-five percent of travelers plan to run while on a trip.
advertisement