It is again time for our annual top 15 Ironman Hawaii features and we start this year with the top 15 female finishers during the run in Kona. The fastest run split of the day belonged to Mirinda Carfrae who clocked a course record 2:52:09.
by Herbert Krabel, October 18, 2011
The Newton MV2 is Newton’s first zero-drop shoe. At 5.8oz it’s a pure racer. It’s a shoe for the select few, the most efficient among us. Even for Newton it’s a departure from the norm.
This latest edition of the Gel Nimbus is moderately different than the two previous iterations, in fit, in flexibility, and in the ride. Do these changes make the shoe better or a worse than its predecessors?
Forget the literary overreach by Brooks on the technical aspects of this shoe. The ecstasy exceeds the utility. Just wear the shoe. It’s a very good update of the Glycerin line.
Saucony came to the market with the now very successful Kinvara, and yet again with the Mirage. The Hattori is about as far as Saucony is willing to go toward Vibram’s Five Finger, and that’s pretty darned far.
This shoe snuck up on me. I didn’t see it coming. It doesn’t only look good, it has a great fit and that’s not the end of it. Tim DeBoom inspired this shoe, and the result is solid.
Let’s break “barefoot” running down into its constituent parts. Is it a techology or a technique? Or both? Today, we’re looking at the question of shoe height.
What constitutes good running form? Does good form lend itself to natural, or barefoot, or minimalist, running technology? What are the hallmarks of that technology?
Do you subscribe to the “natural” running philosophy, but need a bit more support? This shoe borrows from both the Kinvara and a regular training shoe. Saucony is about to score another hit in this architectural theme.
We’re talking running footwear against the backdrop of an article in today’s NYT that either misunderstands, or faithfully represents a misunderstanding, of how feet are best mated to running shoes.
Light and stable at a weight of 9.7 oz., the big feature is this shoe’s rubber Wave plate. This Mizuno is a lightweight trainer, good for neutral runners, maybe slight pronaters.
Is this still a shoe? Or is it a running sock with a midsole glued on it? Whatever it is, smart money says it’s fast. And fast it is, but it’s just there for the most efficient lightweight runners.
This Germany company is a behemoth, making shoes for athletes in sports many people have never heard of. They were on the right track with their ’09 running collection, and their ’10 Spring line is even more promising.