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BirthdayShoes Week in Review

Happy Birthday America!

This past week we updated our original, early April post on fake Five Fingers with a much-needed update on Vibram's toe shoe counterfeit problem. We encourage those looking to buy Vibram Five Fingers to familiarize yourself with our regularly updated monster list of counterfeit online retailers (Over 175 and counting!) as well as our guide to avoiding counterfeit toe shoes.

On the Vibram fan front, we blogged about Jason surviving the rigors of a DisneyWorld vacation in his Vibram Five Fingers Sprints. Also, check out Emily and her family of Five Fingers wearers.

Meanwhile, we interviewed competitive runner, Edward Edmonds, about his experiences using barefoot running for training to run a professional level marathon. Edward is a thoughtful runner and offered an abundance of advice for runners at any level.

After the jump, see links and videos related to barefoot running and, of course, VFFs!

Originally posted on July 6, 2009; bumped to the top of the blog on July 4, 2010, and added a new photo from Aaron in New Jersey (see above)!

Some call the 4^th of July the birthday of the United States — others, the birthday of independence. Of course, independence — freedom — has no birthday: it's just an idea that should be pursued. An idea worth remembering and celebrating.

Amidst the fireworks, celebrations, vacations, staycations, and libations, it's all too often that the message behind Independence Day is forgotten. As a refresher, that message is hinted at in the first sentence of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

No need to get into the particulars of meaning behind the above sentence. I'd rather just leave it as this: it is our nature as human beings to be free, and to live in accordance with the responsibilities that such freedom requires.

As a way to celebrate freedom, I suggested that you experience the sensation of freedom through your feet. And a few VFFers and barefoot enthusiasts did just that — and sent in photos and videos to document their experience!

The proliferation of counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers was first reported here on Birthday Shoes back in early April 2010. It's now about three months later, and though Vibram has and is taking public measures to combat the proliferation of these counterfeit toe shoes, it seems they are still as rampant as ever.

Amazingly, the list of fake Five Fingers online retail websites is now over 175 sites long!

What a mess —

Emily, her husband Gary, and their 9 year old daughter are a family who all wear Vibram Five Fingers. Emily sent us these photos and notes on their active lifestyle:

We first ran across Edward Edmonds a few weeks ago in a video of him running barefoot and posted it in our Link Love section. Later, we discovered from his blog that he trains in Europe full time as a runner with the goal of running a marathon under 2:20 and competing in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. We were curious about how he incorporates barefoot running into his training and contacted him for an interview. Although he does not run exclusively barefoot or in Vibram Five Fingers, he does run barefoot to improve his form and trains in very lightweight minimalist racing flats.

Below is what Edward shared with us —

Anyone who has ever been to DisneyWorld knows there is a lot of walking involved and that South Florida can get pretty hot. If you are pushing strollers and carrying kids, it can feel more like work than a vacation. Armed with his Vibram Five Fingers Sprints, Jason was up to the challenge and had this to say about his vacation:

Jason, we hope after seven days of DisneyWorld you were able to log some time by the SeaWorld whale tank cooling off. Thanks for letting us know your Sprints were a great choice for all of that walking.