Footwear firm Spira launches 'Banned in Boston' for Marathon

07 Nov '05

3 min read

Krafsur included that the interesting thing about the campaign is that the winner of next year's Boston Marathon could wind up disqualified because of his or her shoes. When think about it, the ban of the WaveSpring technology by the USATF is consistent with history. The metal composite ski in 1952, the oversized metal tennis racquet in 1976, and the oversized metal driver in 1979 were all banned when they were first introduced.

Krafsur added that Krafsur contends that the change was such a departure from the status quo that the governing bodies could not adjust their rules fast enough. The developments fundamentally changed the sports they revolutionized and increased participation for all.

Spira is even developing a special lightweight marathon shoe just for the event. Dan Norton, Spira's vice president of footwear development is spearheading the racing shoe development effort. Norton was formerly the head of the advanced concepts department at Adidas, and made custom shoes for 45 Olympic and world champions when he worked at Nike.

The Spira ban recently received attention recently in Time Magazine, and has also been featured in NBC's Today Show, Fox and Friends, ESPN2's Cold Pizza, and ABC New York.

According to ESPN.com, Steve Vaitones, Boston marathon referee states that Spira shoes are performance enhancers. Vaitones said if recover faster that means you can run more easily, which means that over time you can run faster and farther.

Krafsur added that Spira shoes don't make a runner faster since the shoe doesn't provide more energy than a runner puts into each step. The design and function of the shoes, he said, simply allows the runner to recover more quickly.

Spira shoes are now sold in over 750 stores across the country and will be available in 30 countries by next spring.

Spira Footwear

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