Relic Castle

Is anyone aware of a way to code quicksand pits? Like in the Relic Castle of Black & White, where if you run on top of it, it will pull the player under and transport them somewhere, but if you walk over top of it slowly, it won't pull you in?

I'm assuming it could be done with a conditional branch and player-touch events, where "if running" one thing happens, otherwise something else happens...

So, I guess the root of the question would be: Is there a way (switch, variable, script, etc.) to know if the player is currently using the running shoes? I know there's a variable for if the character has them, but this would have to be if the character is currently using them.

Thanks for any help!