Spira Footwear Scores at Detroit Marathon

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Gear & Apparel, Running Shoes

Spira Footwear, the controversial shoe company, scored a major victory at the 30th annual Detroit Free Press Marathon, as the top five male and the top two female winners all competed in Spira shoes.

Christopher Kiprotich of Kenya was the men’s overall winner, finishing the 26.2 mile course in 2:15:15. Countrymen Hillary Lelei, the 2003 winner, came in second with a time of 2:18:1. Henry Githuka finished third in 2:21:52, followed by Dmitry Sivou of Belarus with a time of 2:22:25. Jaroslaw Chichoki of Poland received fifth place in 2:23:22.

In the women’s division, Anzhelika Averkova of the Ukraine and a member of the Foot Solutions Elite racing team was the overall winner, 2:34:50, narrowly missing the course record by 24 seconds. It was personal best time by almost 8 minutes. “The shoes were super,” said Averkova at a press conference after the race. Wioletta Kryza of Poland, the 2005 winner, finished second in 2:41:50. Haile Gebrsalassie, who recently set the World Record in the Marathon paced the leaders for the first 10 miles.

Spira, whose shoes contain springs, is controversial because its WaveSpring technology violates rule 143.3 (a) of the USA Track and Field which specifically bans springs in shoes for competition. The rule has yet to be enforced, but that has not stopped Spira from pushing the issue.

“The rule has a chilling effect. While we’re pleased that the rule has not been applied to disqualify runners who compete in our shoes, the fact is that competing in Spira violates the plain language of the rule. In Detroit, for example, if the 6th place finisher protested the results, he’d probably win, and all of our runners would be disqualified for running in a ‘banned’ shoe. Amazingly, this rule has the effect of putting our shoes in the same category as steroids,” said Andy Krafsur, CEO for Spira Footwear.

“The same issues were present thirty years ago with the introduction of the oversized tennis racquet and the metal driver. Often the rules of sports don’t keep pace with technological advances. We implore the governing bodies not to stand in the way of progress and change the rules,” Krafsur said.

Via: Run Newswire

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