Going Back to the Future...in Footwear

What does Back to the Future have to do with fitness? Not much. Or really not anything beyond skateboards, chases and 1950s bicycles unless there's a connection I'm missing or I could do more than display a new, highly buzzed about Nike shoe release. But I'm going out on a limb here and I suppose the only honest thing to do is blame growing up in the 1980s, my grandfather and my shoe obsession. So here it goes...


"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."
"1.21 gigawatts!? 1.21 gigawatts1?"
"What the hell is a gigawatt?"
"Power laces, alright!"

I can recite various parts to all three Back to the Future movies--my sister can too, and get the two of us together and we can probably still talk out most of the movies. In fifth grade, I wrote and illustrated a book (one of those assignments that we did for English) with a time traveling Corvette. My dream car was a DeLorean and when the neighbor up the street had one parked in his driveway, I totally wanted it. Any time one part or all of the trilogy is on TV (thank you VH1 for making it one of your classics), I'm tuning in. And when I most recently watched Part II last month, I couldn't help but wonder if we'd ever see any of these so-called futuristic items for 2015 since the real 2015 is just around the corner (boy, did that seem a long way off when I was 10). But, I digress.


Turns out my wandering mind wasn't so far off. Sure, we never saw the development of the futuristic Ford Probe or the other concept cars featured in the film's 2015. But Nike finally developed its 2015 prototype, the power-laced, digitally tagged high tops. Except, this time the sneaks can be worn without the battery packs that ran up Michael J. Fox's legs, they look so much cooler and there are more available than the limited props from Back to the Future, Part II.

But there's a reason the 1,500 pairs of these Air Mags, as they've been dubbed, debuted at an Nike event that was so secret up until the night before (roughly) that those fortunate enough to attend pondered what the news, and last minute travel, was all about--or make it seem that way to my eye. They're not creating camp-out lines at Niketown or online at the Nike store, and they're not part of an Academy Award gift pack. I can't help but love that all 1,500 pairs are being auctioned off on ebay in what can be described as a rolling release with all the net proceeds going to The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which helps fund Parkinson's Disease research. Three reasons I'm loving this news:

• It's an awesome shoe for an awesome cause and debilitating disease.
• My grandfather had Parkinson's--and I sport Nike shoes on my runs--so to see the company of my footwear of choice making this move, it practically leaves me speechless. Tell me that's hokey, but I'd disagree even if I am at a loss for words to describe my elation.
• I could potentially score a pair. It is still a pipe dream with the Mag fetching $3,000 per pair (or more) at ebay, but at least I'm not written out of the equation altogether. Only limited by my max bids.

Let the bidding begin!

Would you bid on a pair of these Air Mag Nikes--even if you didn't think you'd have a chance of winning? Or do you think they're not worth your time or money--even if you had a dispensable budget?