By Golly It’s Merino!

So something very big happened today. Now while it is not quite as big as the Big Merino in Goulburn, it does have slightly more relevance to Running for Bums. I am shout-it-from-the-roof-tops ecstatic to announce that the legends at Merino Country have come on board with Running for Bums, and together we’ll be showing the world just how good Australian Merino is and how practical it actually is to run 4500km in.

Merino Country is a top notch Australian family owned company who use Australian wool to produce garments in their south east Queensland factory. There are no ifs or but’s about it, they produce some of the finest merino wool products in Australia and they are dead set legends too. Don’t take my word for it though, they also supply thermal garments to the Australian & New Zealand Defence Forces, as well as the Victorian Police. Not only that, they also work closely with skin specialists and breast cancer groups to develop products that help relieve skin conditions and chemotherapy burns. Like I said, dead set legends.

With 4500km to run, walk and shuffle during Running for Bums, I decided that there was no way I was going to be layered in polyester from top to toe. I couldn’t imagine having my body caked in a synthetic fibre, stinking after just a few hours and leaving my skin gasping for air at the end of the day. I just couldn’t let that happen so I started exploring.

I’d heard about Merino Country many years ago and remembered that there was a story about outback Queensland linked in there somewhere that got me interested. Plus their brand ‘Wundies’ always gave me a chuckle so I thought why not. So after realising I needed some new thermals and woollen gear I decided to purchase a few products to see if I liked them. In the process of doing this I found out that the business first started on a property in north western Queensland just outside the town of Richmond. They’ve since been producing high quality merino products for well over 20 years and as far as I’m concerned are the most comfortable that I’ve ever let touch my skin. It was pretty much love at first touch.

Merino Country’s products have successfully managed to keep me warm when I was a wee bit chilly and cool when the temperature got turned up in outback Queensland. They saw me through a 50k “adventure” race with no chafing issues, and are the bomb to do yoga in when going nude is deemed inappropriate. I’m very confident that they’ll serve their purpose on the run to keep the sun off my skin, allow my body to breathe, as well as defeat the mortal enemy; chafe. No one likes chafe. No one.

The team at Merino Country are an absolute dream to work with and I can’t wait to see where Running for Bums can go with them on board. In fact they’re so awesome that they are even giving Running for Bums supporters a 10% discount when you shop Australian Made merino at http://www.merinocountry.com (just use the code run4bums at checkout).

Legends I tell ya, absolute legends.