Newton Shoes and Forefoot Running

http://www.yourrunning.com/blog-at_last_shoes_made_for_forefoot_runners

The running shoe industry is obsessed with promoting the idea that a "natural" gait involves striking the ground with the heel first. Almost every shoe is over-designed, over-engineered and over-technologised in an effort to make "heel to toe" transition as easy and as painless as possible. Well, I've never been a heel striker. And if you watch elite athletes you'll come to the same conclusion as me; 90% or more of them are NOT heel-strikers either.

Yes, this may be a function of speed. So maybe the industry isn't concealing a bio-mechanical truth in order to sell more and more "protection" to people who wouldn't need it if they were taught how to use the foot strike designed by nature to activate the arch, ankle and calf muscle complex to do its job as the ultimate shock-absorber.

My favorite running shoes are the old-style Nike Frees. Designed to mimic "barefoot" running - they don't of course, but come close. But even Nike couldn't resist whacking on a massive shock absorbing heel. The newer Frees have been "improved" with harder soles and what amounts to arch supports. Ridiculous.

Anyway, at last, finally, and about time, we have a shoe that has been designed for forefoot runners -- and to encourage heel strikers who want to change, but don't stand a chance in their old shoes.

The Newtons result from more than 10 years of work -- producing 7 patents -- put in by running gait guru Danny Abshire and techie Brian Russell. They represent what may be the first real fundamental breakthrough in running shoe technology since Bill Bowerman started playing around with his wife's waffle-maker. I'm not counting air soles and cushioning and what-not. This is the first effort to re-think things from the ground(strike) up.