WDW Endurance Series Official Shoe Sponsor - What are they thinking?

[ScoJo15]

I read this morning that the Disney Endurance Series has signed an official shoe sponsor for all of their events. While I was expecting Asics, Nike, Brooks or some other well known brand, I was disappointed with their choice to go with Spira.

Spira shoes are illegal and are banned in many races across the country. I'm not real sure of the message that Disney sends by inking a deal with them. Are they trying to delegitimize their own events?

Here is the blurb from the WDW park update over at Mouseplanet.com:

Controversial footwear company signs on as Endurance Series sponsor

Disney's Endurance Series now has an official footwear sponsor. Spira, which manufacturers shoes with springs embedded under the heels and toes, will be the official performance footwear sponsor of the series' events at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, including the Walt Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon, the Expedition Everest Challenge, Race for the Taste 10K, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K and Disneyland Half Marathon. The company also produdes walking and casual style footwear.

The manufacturer is not without controversy. Because the shoes contain springs, the company's "WaveSpring" technology violates rule 143.3 (a) of the USA Track and Field, which specifically bans springs in shoes for competition as "performance enhancers." For this reason, the organization has added Spira footwear on its list of banned items (that include steroids) from all racing events the organization oversees. This has garnered something of an outlaw reputation for the company, which in response, has publically offered large monetary rewards to winner's of events such as the Boston Marathon who win while wearing their banned footwear.

Regarding the technology, Spira CEO Andy Krafsur noted: "Our shoes are not only beneficial for elite athletes and serious runners, but are also wonderful for people who want extra cushioning and energy return if they are walking or are on their feet for long periods of time. This is a technology that can help people recover faster from the Disney’s Endurance Series races and go on to enjoy their days and evenings with their families and friends at the Disney theme parks."

Spira joins Endurance Series clothing sponsor Champion.


I know that many elite runners will be sporting the shoes during today's Boston Marathon, and they had a good showing in Detroit...I think that a better move would have been to wait until the shoes gained acceptance from the Track and Field Association before inking them as a sponsor.

Has anyone tried the shoes out for themselves?

 

[princessrunner]

Um, Scott, my feeling on this is the same as sponsoring a Heely's race and having Heely's as a sponsor but banning them in all the WDW parks and resort areas.

 

[CarolA]

Well they may be "illegal" but they are at race expos all over the country. And of couse Ipods are also illegal. So.....

 

[AmyBeth68]

Lisa...I agree with you on the Healy's...doesn't make any sense.

Scott...VERY interesting. I just think that something as controversial as Spira might not make the best "bed fellow" if you will, for Disney. Granted it's all about the $$$ and let's face it, LOL, it is Disney who is charging us how much for the Everest and ToT races? The Spira controversy in and of itself is a very interesting one, and I agree, until it gets resolved with the USATF I don't think it was wise. But what do I know.

CarolA...true about iPod but I don't think they are an official sponsor. To me that would be hypocrasy LOL.

And a note on the iPod issue....during the Marathon last year there was a wheelchair racer coming up behind us....he must have had a technical difficulty because he was far behind the pack even though he was CRUISING when we saw him. He was YELLING for everyone to make way so he could pass. A couple of women with iPods couldn't even hear him or the entire crowd yelling for them to move over so he could get back with the pack as he appeared to be highly competitive. He got stuck and lost valuable time as they simply never moved b/c their music was so loud and they couldn't hear anyone around us. It gave me pause and allowed me to realize why iPods may not be safe. I've never used one during a race...but always thought "why not" until I witnessed that unsafe and unfair situation.

Peace out

 

[princessrunner]

AmyBeth: Yikes.

My lol moment during the Great Bay was when my SIL was wearing her Ipod and I would tap her and tell her when something major was going to happen but one time I said it was starting to spit rain and she said "what you need to spit" and we both were laughing for the next mile? Of course, when she said it, it was like your child when the put earphones on, massively loud. The people around us must have thought we were crazy. All I had to do was look at her when she said it and we busted out laughing.

WDW was my first half and I decided after that I did not NEED my iPod nor did I WANT my iPod. There were too many people and too much to do and see. Great Bay was not bad either because I had my SIL with me. I have to say, I have never used it during the shorter races either though some times it would be nice when you have 15 people in a 5K race....

 

[FireDancer]

Races are starting to crack down (as they should) on iPods during races. Any race sanctioned by US Track & Field must ban them for their sanctioning. I know that at the Grandma's marathon they had people stationed at the starting corals and anyone with an iPod had to abandon the race or hand them over.

The Twin Cities marathon disqualified anyone finishing with an iPod and banned them for future races. They also didn't get a finisher's metal. I read an article (can't remember where) of a race going back through the photos and retro-actively disqualifying and banning runners spotted wearing iPods.

I am 100% for the ban and think that it needs to be enforced. The ban is for "safety reasons", which is partially true. It is also so that any elite runners can not have modified iPods which allow a spotter to relay the other competitors positions to them.

I don’t even use iPods during training because I don’t want to distraction.

 

[Calcio]

Scott

This is a good question, as I have thought about those illegal Spira shoes.

Right now I don't have any desire to pick up a pair. I realize my days as a competitive athlete are long gone, but I'm content with the times I'm producing, given my age and state of fitness. My Asics Gel's serve me just fine, and I'll be in them when I see you on the 4th.

For a 2 year stretch, however, I was constantly fighting a severe L calf strain, and I have the scar tissue in the muscle to show for it. At that time if I could have gotten a pair of shoes with more spring and less pounding/stress on the calf, I would likely have paid big money to get them. Anything to participate instead of watch.

I think it all comes down to my desire (sorry I cannot think of a strong enough qualifier to go with desire that accurately reflects my true feelings, does desire^10 work?) to stay in the game. I'm not competitive with elites in my age group and am not running for places or money, so if/when at some point injuries or age catch up to me and those Spira shoes keep me in the events, then I would go for them. Anything I could do to keep going would be okay to me, since the alternative is DNS, which wouldn't be pretty.

And honestly, if someone offered me a magic elixer that would have solved my calf issue, no matter what it was, I'm sure I would have taken it. Even if it was in the banned substance list of the IAAF. I certainly don't have to worry about having my winners medal taken away.

It's funny, because I am quite the theoretical purist in most athletic endeavors, but in this case, since it could actually benefit me, then maybe I'm a purist for others, but a compromising realist for myself.

And yes, kill the iPods in big races. There will be a fatality one day due to the things, and I hope I'm not involved in the crash. I do train with it a lot, but never race, there are too many people out there, you need to pay attention.

Craig

 

[EPCOTDUDE]

Scott,
Great point! I would consider buying the shoes, but I would never run in a sanctioned race in them. It's odd that Disney would accept them to sponsor their events. It may damage their reputation.

 

[andromedaslove]

AmyBeth - I must have been real close to you because I remember that same wheelchair guy trying to get through. I even remember him yelling ,"That's why IPOD's should be banned."

I have been known to wear my IPOD while training and racing, but I ONLY wear one ear piece that way I can still hear what is going on around me. As a teenager I was clipped by a car while running down the road, and get a bit paranoid about it. With only one ear piece in I can still hear the cars coming. I think it is sad when people need to be forced to do things that are safe for them when all it would take is some common sense.

Dana

 

[Lynn G]

AmyBeth - I must have been real close to you because I remember that same wheelchair guy trying to get through. I even remember him yelling ,"That's why IPOD's should be banned."

I have been known to wear my IPOD while training and racing, but I ONLY wear one ear piece that way I can still hear what is going on around me. As a teenager I was clipped by a car while running down the road, and get a bit paranoid about it. With only one ear piece in I can still hear the cars coming. I think it is sad when people need to be forced to do things that are safe for them when all it would take is some common sense.

Dana

I also wear only one ear piece of my IPOD, and I understand the safety concern because of those people who wear earpieces turned up loud. I dread the day when I cannot get away with wearing my IPOD, because I cannot seem to walk or run at a decent pace when I do not have the music in my ear, but, for safety reasons, it will always be in only ONE ear!

 

[lenshanem]

Very interesting. Seems they could have gotten a deal with just about anyone...

I also found it funny about the Heelys.

I've been wearing airdrives earphones. You can hear outside noise and your music. The speaker sits on the outside of your ear. There was some race recently that airdrives were all they allowed. I don't plan on taking them to the WDW Half, though. I didn't for RFTT and I was fine. I would have died w/o my ipod, though at the ING. It wasn't nearly as exciting.

 

[FireDancer]

I will share a quick story as to why I don’t wear any headphones while running. I was out running in my neighborhood one night when I witnessed an incident that cemented it for me. I was jogging down a side street where I passed a house with about 10 kids playing in the front yard. One was inside his dad’s van, and his dad was out there with them. About 3 houses down the street I hear the sound of a vehicle in gear rolling. It is that wind up toy sound of the gears moving and engine not.

I turn around just in time to see the van rolling down the driveway, across the street, and into a tree in the yard across the street. The kid must have put the van in gear and, being on a pretty steep driveway, it rolled across the street.

The sound from the gears was not very loud at all and there is no way I would have heard it if I had headphones in. The lights of the van weren’t on and had I happen to be in front of it at the wrong time I would be a pancake now.

While I realize the odds of this happening are pretty astronomical it only takes once.

Ok, story time over.

 

[getnthinr]

I hesitate to post here because 1) the thread really started out about shoes, not iPods, and 2) I don't want to seem argumentative. (There is no way, despite a number of smilies at my disposal, to adequately display emotion in hard print and I'm always afraid someone will read something with a much harsher tone than I wrote it.)

Really, what I want to do is share with you what I've read about iPods and the iPod race ban issue. I'm not trying to advise anyone to wear headphones or not.

Technically, what the WDW marathon info page says is, "For everyone's safety, baby joggers/strollers, bicycles, inline skates, skateboards, headphones, and animals will be prohibited on the course." That sounds to me as though you could listen to music from your iPod using the tiny portable battery-powered speakers that plug into the iPod's headphone jack. (There are a number of them with just enough volume to hear at about arm's length so they don't bother others around you or put you at a safety risk, such as the JLab Audio Miniblaster Portable Speaker for iPod, or the Macally Podwave Portable Stereo Speakers, -- both of which provide much better sound quality [less distortion] than the cheaper ones I've seen at the various drug stores.)

As Firedancer said, the USTAF rules actually ban iPods (AND cell phones many of which now play MP3s, as well as video cameras, which are used to make those YouTube race vidoes we see posted).

USATF rule 144.3b:
The visible possession or use by athletes of video or audio cassette recorders or players, TV's, CD or DVD players, radio transmitters or receivers, mobile phones, computers, or any similar devices in the competition area shall not be permitted.

So, there's a lot more to the iPod issue than just iPods (if you think WDW will enforce the USTAF rule) -- and if you think they are only banning headphones, and you are concerned about that, you might look at another way to get your music fix.

Judging by the number of articles I see about this, and the wide popularity of iPods among runners, I think we'll see a lot more about this issue in the future -- more controversy and more rule refinement and selective enforcement.

 

[andromedaslove]

Technically, what the WDW marathon info page says is, "For everyone's safety, baby joggers/strollers, bicycles, inline skates, skateboards, headphones, and animals will be prohibited on the course."

Not to hijack again, but do you know that I actually ran next to a woman who was running the race with a jogging stroller last year. At the end (near Mexico) she dropped the stroller of with her husband and kept running.

Dana