vibram five fingers news, reviews, and fan forums

I recently got a note from Shuhong, a BirthdayShoes reader and runner from Malaysia. Shuhong's story is one of slow and steady transition to minimalist shoes, ultimately switching over to KomodoSport Vibram FiveFingers.

Here's Shuhong's story:

Read the rest of this post »

Running is a growing sport, this much is for certain. With that has also come increased interest in the details, differences, quirks, and outliers of the sport. Specifically, things like ultrarunning, minimalist footwear, and natural biomechanics. One of the factors that can certainly be said to have contributed to the growth of running as well as fostering interest in those varying details and quirks in recent years is the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

For those few runners who haven’t read it yet, suffice to say that the book is chock full of colorful characters. Several of these individuals have gone on to establish new ventures or further enrich their already illustrious careers. Coach Eric Orton is one of these characters.

While his personal story may not get as much page time as some of the others, Orton is arguably the backbone of the narrative. One of the primary threads of the story is McDougall – a big guy with persistent running injuries – getting not just back out there on the road and trail, but getting better and staying healthy. Orton is introduced as the coach who makes it happen. Read on for more.

Read the rest of this post »

Minimalist shoes (like Vibram FiveFingers) have become incredibly popular in the military. Everyone will remember the iconic Special Forces photo of a soldier jumping out of a Chinook helicopter in FiveFingers. But you'll also recall that the popularity of toe shoes has resulted in the U.S. Army banning them (Meanwhile, The Navy seems to think they are okay. Even more on the Army's take here.). So it is that at least one military/police boot manufacturer—a company called Belleville—has partnered up with Vibram to produce a "minimalist boot." It's called the Mini-Mil and comes in TR101 (brown), TR102 (black), and TR103 (sage).

Check out the official specs and see more photos and video after the jump!

Read the rest of this post »

With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the Mid-Atlantic (The streets of Arlington, Virginia) earlier this week, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to splash around in some puddles and generally enjoy acting like a little kid on Monday afternoon. So I did what any self-respecting triathlete would do in high winds, pouring rain, and 40 degree temperatures—I suited up in my race wetsuit, swim goggles, aerohelmet and went for a bike ride in my Vibram FiveFinger Lontras. I convinced my friend Mark to join me and document some of the craziness (Did I mention I rode a tricycle at one point?).

Check out the photo journey after the jump!!

Read the rest of this post »

With the success of Vivo Barefoot's ultra-popular "Ra" comes the release of a Ra-like ankle high leather boot called the Gobi. Vivo shot me a pair of these Gobis to test out, and I'm happy to oblige — these boots are comfortable, make my feet happy, and provide plenty of proprioceptive feedback. And they do it with a style that is simple yet fashionable and by extension, classic.

What follows is a full review of the Gobi, and if it's still November 1^st, you can save 20% off any Vivo Barefoot purchase using coupon code BIRTDHAYSHOES20.

Read on!

Read the rest of this post »

When people see me running in my huaraches, I'm often told I'll never be able to run a marathon in them.

Finally, I can say I can because I have. Read on to see how things went!

Read the rest of this post »