28:59 in Vibrams

Minimalist North wrote:

It's amusing to see posts by the young ones on people running well in shoes that were common 50 years ago - minus the 5 toes.

Sort of like kids discovering vinyl records sound better.

Vinyls suck. Unless you're over 45 and can no longer hear really low or really high frequencies.

I'm not sure it's the same with Vibrams.

Consider This wrote:

- wrote:

Uhh....Sorry to burst your bubble buddy, but almost 100 kenyans have gone 27:20.

Plenty have have gone faster, but none have gone 27:20.

The IAAF isn't the place to go for deep results, or very old ones:

Kimani Smashes Men's 10K World Record For First Revco Title Naoumova

Breaks Revco Women's Course Record, Wins 2nd Marathon Title

CLEVELAND, Ohio, May 5, 1996 /PRNewswire/ -- On an ideal day for racing in an Olympic year, the 19th annual Revco-Cleveland Marathon and 10K was the scene for some truly "gold medal" standard performances.

Attracting a field filled with Olympic competitors and hopefuls, the 1996 Revco will be remembered for a number of outstanding efforts, beginning with a new World Record in the Men's 10K by Joseph Kimani of Kenya (27:20), and ending with a new course record in the Women's Marathon by Alevtina Naoumova of Russia (2:32:14).

With ideal weather conditions in effect -- race time temperature was mid 40's to low 50's with 86 percent humidity and calm winds -- the runners had no worries about Mother Nature affecting their efforts. Also, with 1996 being an Olympic year, several runners were looking to turn in impressive times to either make their country's team or continue their training regimen for Atlanta this summer.

Men's 10K

Coming right out of the start with an aggressive, yet smart pace (4:23/mi.), Kimani, 23, a first-time competitor at the Revco, quickly distanced himself from the field after the first mile of the race.  "I looked back twice in this race -- once at the first-mile mark and the other at the second mile," he commented.  "I did not see anyone behind me at one mile so I started to push harder, and when I still saw no one at the two-mile point, I felt confident that I would win," he concluded. Coming off two course records in previous 10K races in Vancouver, BC (27:31) and the Sallie Mae 10K in Washington D.C. (28:01) in the past month, Kimani was poised for a big race at The Revco, but he even surprised himself with his new World Record best.  "I knew I had run a strong race, but I had no idea that I was breaking a World Record.  I feel good about my chances of winning at the Olympics and going even faster," he said.

With his time of 27:20, Kimani obliterated the year-old Revco course mark of fellow-Kenyan Josphat Machuka (28:03 in 1995) by 43 seconds, and eclipsed the point-to-point World Record of Kenyan William Sigei (27:24 in 1994) by four seconds and the Loop Course World Record of Ethiopia's Addis Abebe (27:40 in 1994) by 20 seconds (Revco is a Loop Course). Kenyans Thomas Osano and James Bungei finished second and third with times of 28:13 and 28:29, respectively. Fred Kieser 25, of Akron was the top Ohioan, finishing 8th in a time of 30:19.

HRE wrote:

I just read a feature on Summers in R4YL, the Australian running magazine. He's a Vibrams guy. He chronicles a week's running and mentions the model he's in pretty much each day and they're all Vibrams.

Interesting, thanks, HRE.

Vibram, the brand, started in 1935...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibram

I've read a few things about Summers, and I understand that he's considered a promising young runner with Olympic aspirations, but I haven't seen any notable PRs on the track or on record-quality road courses. Does anyone here know any of his track and record-quality road PRs?

R4YL does a feature called "A Week In the Life" where they get one of their better runners to wrtie a summary of what they do with each day of the week. Summers is the only one I recall making a point of mentioning which shoes he ran in each day so I'm guessing he gets something from Vibram.

But I'd also guess it's not that much because his dad has a landscaping business and he works for his dad. Most days he runs once, there are eight runs listed and he ran 70 miles in that week though it was a week during which he went to New Zealand and won the Sir Barry Curtiss 10km.

Avocado, no mention of any track stuff.

fruity

Brett in Tokyo wrote:

Coincidentally, the January issue of Courir arrived this morning. The inside front cover is a two-page ad for what looks like Adidas' Vibram rip-off, the "Adipure Trainer." Five toes and all. Maybe Summers was wearing these.

Brett, off topic: Here in the States, adidas says those aren't for running. So I ran in a pair, and liked them better than Vibrams.

Imagine how fast Summers would be in Vibrams with a Japanese pelvic stability belt.

My bad, man. I thought those things were comprehensive as far as they went. You learn something new every day!

HRE wrote:

R4YL does a feature called "A Week In the Life" where they get one of their better runners to wrtie a summary of what they do with each day of the week. Summers is the only one I recall making a point of mentioning which shoes he ran in each day so I'm guessing he gets something from Vibram.

...

Avocado, no mention of any track stuff.

I came across this youtube video, in which he appears to be wearing a Vibram singlet, and which was put on youtube by someone whose name ("BarefootInc") suggests a financial interest in "barefoot" running:

His coach says that he's "the most talented runner that [he's] come across, bar none," which presumably includes Ben St. Lawrence (27:24), whom he also coaches, but the IAAF only mentions a 29th-place finish in the world junior cross-country championships a couple of years ago, and I haven't seen any notable times in any track or record-quality road races, although I haven't looked very hard.

Apparently, the guy who ran a 28:59 in them did.

Pay attention.

It could be just the angle in the photo but those "shoes" look really wide. Almost like flippers.

Summers beat Mottram at the Zatopek 10. Wonder if he was wearing Vibrams?

http://www.runnerspace.com/news.php?news_id=22513-2011-Results-Zatopek-10

The kid is a heal striker. He'll never make it.

I'll be impressed when someone runs significantly better than a 1960 barefoot marathon over the cobblestones of Rome in 2:15:16.2 for Olympic gold.

And per a joke of a high school friend, I don't know why Adidas doesn't market an Adidas Bikila. Just put three stripes on the side of the foot.

The Vibram people and the spring-loaded shoe people should go off and be weird together.

Yes he was. Maybe Mottram should ask to try a pair.

vilago iberia wrote:

Summers beat Mottram at the Zatopek 10. Wonder if he was wearing Vibrams?

http://www.runnerspace.com/news.php?news_id=22513-2011-Results-Zatopek-10

mcgato wrote:

I'll be impressed when someone runs significantly better than a 1960 barefoot marathon over the cobblestones of Rome in 2:15:16.2 for Olympic gold.

Hmmn, funny you should say that. The IAAF scoring tables say that a 2:15:16.2 marathon is equivalent to just under 28:42 for a track 10000 m. Summers ran 28:39.04 at Zatopek. If you want to equate Vibram running with barefoot, which you seem to be doing, then by IAAF scoring Summers just ran the equivalent of a 2:15:04 marathon. But I don't imagine you will be impressed.

Imagine how fast he could of run if he wasnt wearing a shi**y shoe. Minialism is a great concept but if not done correctly is moronic. Even Vibram stresses their shoes arent ideal for pavement. HELLLLOOO STRESS FRACTURES!