Vibram running shoes (five 'finger' shoes) settle class action lawsuit

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I am definitely old school when it comes to shoes, running style (ie) Neutral, overpronator etc and distance. Maybe these shoes are fine for short distances, (I have tried them but never liked them) say 10kms or there around, but, I have a few Comrades, as well as a few other marathons under my belt, and I doubt very much you would walk away injury free after 42 / 54 / 90 odd kms in these shoes.

 

I understand Talus is the expert in this, but as a layman but an active runner for over 30 years now, I have yet to see anyone complete a marathon in them.

[Rata Del Spruit]

I am definitely old school when it comes to shoes, running style (ie) Neutral, overpronator etc and distance. Maybe these shoes are fine for short distances, (I have tried them but never liked them) say 10kms or there around, but, I have a few Comrades, as well as a few other marathons under my belt, and I doubt very much you would walk away injury free after 42 / 54 / 90 odd kms in these shoes.

 

I understand Talus is the expert in this, but as a layman but an active runner for over 30 years now, I have yet to see anyone complete a marathon in them.

 

I don't know if they're for everyone but my dad told me of a guy that overtook him at Polly Shorts the one year completely barefoot, as in no shoes at all.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I don't know if they're for everyone but my dad told me of a guy that overtook him at Polly Shorts the one year completely barefoot, as in no shoes at all.

 

Wow, he was running the race barefoot?

 

Okay, fair enough comment, although thats not something I have seen either (barefoot runner over such a distance) I accept there are obviously some (crazies ) as you state.

 

In my opinion there are very, very, very few genetically gifted runners over long distances with no need for support or stabilization, and almost all long distance runners will tell you as they get fatigued their style suffers, this is a known and common fact, and this is where a good pair of shoes is vital to stabilize and cushion the foot and maintain as constant a foot strike as possible, unfortunately these Vibram shoes have neither stabilization or significant cushioning ability, so in my humble opinion over a long distance you will pick up injuries a good shoe might have avoided.

[Rata Del Spruit]

Wow, he was running the race barefoot?

 

Either that or my old man hadn't topped up on enough fluids. But yeah, definitely on the extreme side. I doubt his feet came clean on the first bath.

[TALUS]

I often see a guy running barefoot when we do laps at Klapperkop. I have been told he does really long distances as well. I rode behind him for a while - his biomechanics is perfect. Also remember Zola and several runners from Ethiopia. Some people can do it. Most cannot.

 

BTW: overpronation was/ is a very overused term in my opinion. It is a natural part of footstrike for most people. The point is that if you are an overpronator you will need a very gradual and long retraining of the Tib Post muscle to be able to run barefoot safely. If you are an true supinator and have a rigid high arch you will never really have enough shock absorption to run barefoot without destroying your Peroneus Tendons.

 

For most people shoes are the safer option. Think of barefoot running as the full rigid, S/S, 26'er with one brake version of running. It may be purer but certainly is harder for most people and not the best option for the weekend warrior.

[Skylark]

How the hell do people run the comrades bare foot?

Every year there's a good few, 90kms on tar, they must have genetically gifted body mechanics to achieve that?

[eeeek]

How the hell do people run the comrades bare foot?

Every year there's a good few, 90kms on tar, they must have genetically gifted body mechanics to achieve that?

By and large I'm sure you'll find that they are religious about strength training, something most runners will do once every 2 months at best...

[clyde79]

I don't know if they're for everyone but my dad told me of a guy that overtook him at Polly Shorts the one year completely barefoot, as in no shoes at all.

 

Wow, he was running the race barefoot?

 

I was just thinking that maybe he took his shoes off (I know I thought about doing it) but I see in a later post that guys do Comrades barefoot every year.

 

That said I did see a guy doing the RAC 60km long run before Comrades last year running barefoot. I tried it out earlier this year (only because I forgot my shoes at home one day) and landed up with some nice bruising under my feet. Obviously there is a long process getting into barefoot running but I think I'll stick to my minimalist shoes!

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I often see a guy running barefoot when we do laps at Klapperkop. I have been told he does really long distances as well. I rode behind him for a while - his biomechanics is perfect. Also remember Zola and several runners from Ethiopia. Some people can do it. Most cannot.

 

BTW: overpronation was/ is a very overused term in my opinion. It is a natural part of footstrike for most people. The point is that if you are an overpronator you will need a very gradual and long retraining of the Tib Post muscle to be able to run barefoot safely. If you are an true supinator and have a rigid high arch you will never really have enough shock absorption to run barefoot without destroying your Peroneus Tendons.

 

For most people shoes are the safer option. Think of barefoot running as the full rigid, S/S, 26'er with one brake version of running. It may be purer but certainly is harder for most people and not the best option for the weekend warrior.

 

Yes agreed, but to be fair Zola was a track athlete (ie) short distances in relative terms, and never ventured into the long distance type running until much later in life, but even she wears shoes now.

 

The Ethiopian athlete you may be thinking of is Bikila Abebe who was known for training barefoot over the cobblestones in his home city, a tremendously gifted athlete and possibly a genetic freak as he was perhaps the only athlete I can recall who ran longer distances barefoot competitively , but he too later started using shoes.

[Wyatt Earp]

@Grumpy, many people have finished Comrades on Vibram VF.

I have done 21 km trail runs in mine.

 

@Armpies, it's around an 8 month process and from there another 8 months to a year to become natural.

Do what I did with Carpet, we started her on her normal shoes with a mid foot strike, from there to a minimalist shoe with a forefoot strike, this was done over 500 meters building up to a km.

 

Bear in mind that you will use muscles you have never used before and I find most impact goes in to the muscles.

From there you can get on to a track and go totally barefoot to work on the strike and form.

 

Next step is the correct shoe to accommodate your new style, I have tried numerous models and brands over the years ,I would prefer kaalvoet, but I am too soft, in steps the foot glove.

I can run 12 k's on the beach in thick sand at 5 min. p/km because of the efficiency of the forefoot strike and take off, and do so comfortably .

There, obviously barefoot.

 

To be honest, I am not brand loyal and will wear any foot glove (as long as it's not Nike) that will allow me to feel barefoot with some protection.

At this stage the VF are top of their class.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

@Grumpy, many people have finished Comrades on Vibram VF.

I have done 21 km trail runs in mine.

 

@Armpies, it's around an 8 month process and from there another 8 months to a year to become natural.

Do what I did with Carpet, we started her on her normal shoes with a mid foot strike, from there to a minimalist shoe with a forefoot strike, this was done over 500 meters building up to a km.

 

Bear in mind that you will use muscles you have never used before and I find most impact goes in to the muscles.

From there you can get on to a track and go totally barefoot to work on the strike and form.

 

Next step is the correct shoe to accommodate your new style, I have tried numerous models and brands over the years ,I would prefer kaalvoet, but I am too soft, in steps the foot glove.

I can run 12 k's on the beach in thick sand at 5 min. p/km because of the efficiency of the forefoot strike and take off, and do so comfortably .

There, obviously barefoot.

 

To be honest, I am not brand loyal and will wear any foot glove (as long as it's not Nike) that will allow me to feel barefoot with some protection.

At this stage the VF are top of their class.

 

Kind of what I expected tbh. I'm not a runner (last time I ran competitively was in st6) and I NEED to work on my form. The thing is with the degradation of my knees, I was thinking that a style more reliant on muscle strength would be better for both long term recovery and joint protection.

 

So yeah, I'll give it a shot.

 

Was that repeated intervals of 500m at a time, or a total of 500m in one session?

[Wayne Potgieter]

Im gonna get a pair of these things.

 

By next week I am going to be running like a ethiopian.

 

Man those okes are fast.

[Shebeen]

I looked into it quite a bit when the hype was at its hottest (guessing 2012), went to talks at sports science etc. Thing that got me was that essentially the proposition was that athletic shoe companies have been throwing stability 'gimmicks' into their models for 30years and charging a fortune for them (we all know that all shoes are made in the far east for less than $10 a pair..the rest is schmarketing/profits and a bit of R&D). Vibram come along, tear all this away and charge even more? Vibram have been around for quite a while supplying soles to other manufacturers, but i think five fingers is their first actual shoe.

 

I decided not to buy into it, would rather wait and see the long term testing - at that stage there was no real scientific reports available to the public. I'm also pretty much injury free and don't do much roadwork.

 

Running shoes are always going to be a personal choice. If you've made vibrams work for you, well done. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of pairs sitting in a cupboard that just never worked for their owners.

[Shebeen]

Im gonna get a pair of these things.

 

By next week I am going to be running like a ethiopian.

 

Man those okes are fast.

forgot that point. why are there no top marathon runners using these things(or are there)?? these are the guys with the natural ability who shouldn't be needing stability shoes.

[Wyatt Earp]

forgot that point. why are there no top marathon runners using these things(or are there)?? these are the guys with the natural ability who shouldn't be needing stability shoes.

 

Because they weigh less than 50 kg's and run with racing flats with a mid or forefoot strike.

It's not about what shoes work and don't work for you, it's a totally different running style.

[GrumpyOldGuy]

@Grumpy, many people have finished Comrades on Vibram VF.

I have done 21 km trail runs in mine.

 

 

 

Okay, fair enough, I didn't know that, but I would imagine that they are still somewhat gifted, "born runners" maybe?... as opposed to the rest of us "produced runners"?..... or in my case, "pretending to be a runner"