There are two marathons that are currently being prepared for: London and Boston. It goes without saying that it is not enough to simply prepare physically (and or mentally) but the ideal outfit but also be prepared.
Today, we were a little amused by the choice of one of the participants in these two events. Eliud Kipchoge, a well-known athlete, will choose to face the marathon with Nike’s 3D printed shoes while Chris Bellamy, Wiiv’s shoe engineer, makes an unusual choice: 3D printed sandals.
Let’s start with Eliud and Nike …
This is not the first time Eliud has chosen Nike shoes for running a marathon. Since we do not tamper with methods that already work, our athlete renews the experience, only this new project has 3D printed elements in his running shoes. As a reminder, Reebook and Adidas also offer 3D printed shoes for running.
Directly involved in manufacturing process, Eliud seemed a little impressed by the process of developing his new shoes, “We printed a shoe and then I thought, ‘I’m just going to run in these and see what happens”’, he said. ”It fit amazing and felt really good, but quickly fell apart by the end of the run. We knew there was still work to be done, but all of us collectively in the team said there was huge potential here, let’s keep pushing forward, and one of the big advantages was to quickly turn around iterations and fix the problems as we went.”
3D printed sandals at Boston Marathon
Wiiv seduced the public last year when the company launched its custom 3D printed sandals. After a certain period, she demonstrated the potential of her technology and products by becoming involved in an employee wellness program for first responders, health care, hospitality and industry.
Today, the company’s footwear engineer sets a new challenge: running the 3D printed marathon with 3D printed sandals.
The choice is daring but would be a way to show the strength and/or capacity of these sandals. On the other hand, as for the comfort, one comes to ask questions because the runners know it certainly, the flexibility that one has with sneakers or shoes of race is not exactly the same with sandals, which can without doubts quickly fly away during a race.
However, Chris Bellamy presents his point of view in this fashion: ”We spent many sleepless nights driving fairly radical innovations in design and materials and optimizing for biomechanics and comfort. So, I am not worried at all about going the full 26.2 miles,” Bellamy said. ”We’ve reengineered every part of the traditional flip-flop to design the most comfortable, optimized sandal ever created, and I’ve had this marathon in the back of my mind through every decision we made.”
We wish the two participants all the best in this experience and look forward to hearing how well their respective events have been. In the meantime, would you dare to wear one of the two choices?
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