Meb Signs With Skechers

Seriously, does Skechers even make a shoe that Meb could actually race in or will he have to race in custom jobs everytime and if he does, how much good is that doing Skechers?

Giddy wrote:

pintglass wrote:

check out his latest tweets:

A solid 10 mi run at Shady Rest in my new shoe sponsor @SkechersUSA in the SRR Pro Speed shoe, it definitely helps w/ mid sole strike.

Had my Gen UCAN b4r my run & used my Sony Walkman W series during my run. Time for some PowerBar & Ice bath in the creek now.

I mean, you gotta pay the bills, but this reminds me of that scene in Wayne's World where they're talking about not selling out while decked out in early 90s Reebok stuff and working the label on Pepsi cans into each shot.

I was thinking the exact same thing... it's also why you simply have to look at this business move and just laugh... I'll always support Mebs running, but his credibility for product endorsement is absolute shit.

It's a thin line between being an admired athlete with sponsors and being a shameless huckster. I guess he didn't learn much in his business classes at UCLA

Basic math wrote:

Seriously, does Skechers even make a shoe that Meb could actually race in or will he have to race in custom jobs everytime and if he does, how much good is that doing Skechers?

@RunCompetitor retweeted this on twitter today:

mariofraioli Mario Fraioli

by RunCompetitor

This is a legit, light shoe. Impressive! RT @RunCompetitor: What Skechers shoe will @runmeb be rockin'? Check? it out! yfrog.com/kj46bbuj”

Since the above tweet didn't link directly.

pintglass wrote:

check out his latest tweets:

A solid 10 mi run at Shady Rest in my new shoe sponsor @SkechersUSA in the SRR Pro Speed shoe, it definitely helps w/ mid sole strike.

Had my Gen UCAN b4r my run & used my Sony Walkman W series during my run. Time for some PowerBar & Ice bath in the creek now.

I mean, you gotta pay the bills, but this reminds me of that scene in Wayne's World where they're talking about not selling out while decked out in early 90s Reebok stuff and working the label on Pepsi cans into each shot.

damn how much is the owner of the creek paying meb???

wow, that is an impressive looking race flat!

Skechers has nothing to lose by putting out 3-5 good, race-oriented shoes and spikes. Everybody knows how to make a light shoe, it's just that at some companies the executives and marketing people quiver at the thought of creating the lightest shoe possible. Sure, there are a lot more fat people who need expensive fat people shoes, and that would probably make more money (cough, cough, shape-ups), but do you want to make a reputable brand or not?

I'd buy a pair of 3.0oz Skechers track spikes. Or maybe even a 4.0oz trainer.

Then they can release the 4.1oz version with light up LEDs ;-).

Everyone criticizing Skechers and Meb keeps giving them more attention with every derisive email.

That's the shoe the guy I was talking about (placed 2nd in the Born To Run 100K in that shoe) was wearing when I met him! It was super light weight and he took it off and rolled it up like a ball... so flexible. The upper was really stretchy and breathable too. Maybe Meb knows something we don't.

Preview of GOrun by Skechers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNuit8gssC4

a guy named ed (something?) completed badwater this year in skechers and is now the record holder for the most marathons in a year...all completed in skechers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1GLGvIowCk

This is kind of late, but I thought I'd let it out.

Does anyone know which companies were courting Meb? Was he demanding more money than any of the real shoe companies thought he was worth? I guess I just assumed that someone of his credentials, having been with Nike, would have stayed with Nike for the rest of his career.

Getting to my point, I think that Meb would have been a great sign for Newton. They are huge in the triathlon circles but it seems that "real" letsrun type runners seem to scoff them, myself included. Meb hasn't raced much on the track as of late so having a spiked shoe in a companies line up isn't necessary. Newton has a wide line of trainers and lighter racing shoes, and if I've heard correctly, a super light weight racer is in the works. Having a world class runner and not just triathletes in Newtons would actually cause me to consider what they have to offer, Skechers on the other hand, not so much.

What are the terms of the agreement & the $$$ ??

Meb's brother Hawi has a foolishly greedy habit of demanding how much money Hawi needs to support his lifestyle from his cut of Meb's money, rather than taking what is reasonably available in a challenging economic environment where shoe companies and race directors are being forced to cut way back.

American guys running 2:12 - 2:18 aren't even getting one dime of money sponsorship now. 2:10 - 2:12 will get them $10,000 - $20,000 a year and that $20,000 is only if they make the olympic team.

Merhawi demanding $500k from nike is like jorge posada asking for 5 years at $12mm each. The yankees told him to go sit out the rest of his year on the bench and enjoy retirement in florida when the season ends.

Meb's worst decision was letting his brother hawi over-negotiate and achieve the cancellation of a solid income.

Newton doesn't have the deep pockets that Skechers, or even Saucony or Asics do. Meb's contract with Skechers would be a proportionally huge budgetary item for Newton.

unholy cumulus wrote:

What shoes is he going to run in?? The ones with the wheels in the heel?

So that's how he did it. :)

In any case it seems to have worked out quite well for Meb and also for Skechers, now a Skechers runner has won the trials and will be running in the 2012 Olympic marathon.

long sox wrote:

In any case it seems to have worked out quite well for Meb and also for Skechers, now a Skechers runner has won the trials and will be running in the 2012 Olympic marathon.

I am sure this was by far the best Marketing ROI for Skechers ever, even if they have to pay Meb a bonus for the Olympics.

A good test would be to run back-to-back 3 milers in any two pairs of shoes and compare heart rate at a constant speed. A treadmill would simplify it. You'd want the speed enough below lactate threshold so data would be linear.

You can do the same thing varying technique alone. We all know that.