Why doesn't Vibram Five Fingers sponsor an elite marathoner?

Because they are selling shoes faster than they can make them?!?!

Maybe because they don't have to. Their shoes are basically sold out throughout the country. People are eating it up already. Why waste the money sponsoring someone?

So that fast people will buy them too.

any elite marathoner would not wear those pieces of sh*t

They are sold out because they made 25 pairs to begin with. Just remember, they are producing 5 Finger shoes with eva and posting for the Fall of 2010 and Spring of 2011. They know the sh*t doesn't work. So, they have to appeal to the masses. What a joke. Barefooters are getting taken just like anyone else. So much for their Utopia. Jokers.

correct sir wrote:

They are sold out because they made 25 pairs to begin with. Just remember, they are producing 5 Finger shoes with eva and posting for the Fall of 2010 and Spring of 2011. They know the sh*t doesn't work. So, they have to appeal to the masses. What a joke. Barefooters are getting taken just like anyone else. So much for their Utopia. Jokers.

Almost all of their shoes have EVA foam.

Where did you hear about 5-fingers with a medial post? I can't find anything about this.

"any elite marathoner would not wear those pieces of sh*t"

correct. it would have to be a huge sponsorship to subject the elite to plodding 26.2 miles at ~5:00 pace in these fadwalkers

Lets Be Honest wrote:

If Vibram wants their shoes to be accepted shouldn't they sponsor an elite American marathon runner? I say American only because if they sponsored someone from say East Africa people could argue that it only works for him because he was used to running barefoot.

The question would be, would any runner accept an offer and actually wear the "shoes"? I contend that they would not because of serious fear of injury.

Why dont you become an elite marathoner. Oh, that's right, because you can't.

Barefooters are getting taken just like anyone else.

busters balls wrote:

Lets Be Honest wrote:

If Vibram wants their shoes to be accepted shouldn't they sponsor an elite American marathon runner? I say American only because if they sponsored someone from say East Africa people could argue that it only works for him because he was used to running barefoot.

The question would be, would any runner accept an offer and actually wear the "shoes"? I contend that they would not because of serious fear of injury.

Why dont you become an elite marathoner. Oh, that's right, because you can't.

That was a really strange comment. The OP asked a perfectly valid question. You may have noticed that not even the sub-elites, or sub-sub elites, or sub-sub-sub (you get the picture?) elites are wearing them. There's a good reason why.

No elite marathoner wants to run 20 mins. slower just to pick up a paycheck.

Oh really? Which ones? The good ones are sponsored by big companies, train in those shoes, and guess what? They are healthy! Nice try. Give me some names...

I'm of the opinion that the average runner neither knows nor cares what shoes elite runners wear. (Really, can an average runner -- say your 4:30 marathoner -- name a single one?)

They simply wear what they think looks cool or the brand their local underemployed-overeducated running store employee tells them to.

Vibram has gained traction (ya) because of the MSM's pushing of the minimalist-running movement, which has itself largely been brought about by McDougall's book. I'd argue that sponsoring elites wouldn't gain them the kind of exposure they need to further promote their brand and methodology.

Interesting question, though.

Because they're the third ugliest shoe in the universe: http://jezebel.com/5496512/the-13-ugliest-shoes-in-the-world/gallery/

I don't buy the argument that elite runners wearing the shoes wouldn't help. Basically it would nullify the argument that serious runners wouldn't use them. And that type of argument definitely filters down to the masses and hold back a lot of sales.

SMacL wrote:

I'm of the opinion that the average runner neither knows nor cares what shoes elite runners wear. (Really, can an average runner -- say your 4:30 marathoner -- name a single one?)

They simply wear what they think looks cool or the brand their local underemployed-overeducated running store employee tells them to.

Vibram has gained traction (ya) because of the MSM's pushing of the minimalist-running movement, which has itself largely been brought about by McDougall's book. I'd argue that sponsoring elites wouldn't gain them the kind of exposure they need to further promote their brand and methodology.

Interesting question, though.

It's actually very simple. Vibram is a rubber company and NOT a shoe company. Vibram sells rubber outsoles to various shoe companies. They do not want to sell "running" shoes because they will be competing with their customers (footwear companies)

the five fingers were never meant to be a running shoe. They got lucky with it.

The fact that you refer to the company as "vibram five fingers" shows you know very little about the company and the industry.

/thread

I figure this whole barefoot and wacky shoe fad is just a way some runners differentiate themselves from the pack once they've given up on doing that with their performance. I.e., "I may not be the fastest guy, but hey, I do it barefoot. Aren't I cool?"

This is not an attitude shared by elite runners. They have no need to differentiate themselves in any way other than their performances on the track/road.

From a common sense standpoint, the shoes are rather heavy compared to racing flats (11 to 13 oz vs 6 to 8 oz for most flats). Then add on top of that, lack of cushioning and support.

IMO if Haile Gebrselassie wanted to run barefoot or have Adidas design a barefoot running shoe he would have done so, especially since he comes from Ethiopa, country of the only barefoot Olympic marathon winner.

1. Vibram Five Fingers are already selling very well.

2. Sponsoring an elite marathoner would not be a good investment. How many shoes sales does an elite maratoner really generate?

3. In general, sponsoring an individual is a high-risk, low-return investment. If the athlete gets injured, the shoe will be blamed. How many marathons will that individual run each year? What if the athlete becomes a sex addict or steroid user? Vibram figured out that spending very little on promotion, but strong positioning and editorial can pay off.

4. The "Born to Run" book was worth millions in sponsorship and/or advertising. It cost them nothing.