The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Looking at the new running shoes unveiled by Spanish start-up FBR you would be forgiven for thinking it incomplete, but the missing heel in the sole is actually by design.
Athletic trainer Franc Beneyto came up with the idea for a heelless running shoe five years ago, after reading the book `Running with the Kenyans’, by Adharanand Finn, a journalist and amateur runner who lived for a few months in Kenya with athletes and coaches to investigate why they were able to run more, faster and get injured less frequently than others.
In the book, Finn wrote that Kenyans had refined a natural running technique that did not require the support of the heel, but instead relied on the Achilles tendon, plantar arch, soleus and calf muscle.
A few months later, Beneyto met Javier Gámez, a renowned doctor in biomechanics who recognised the potential of his heelless running shoe concept and Beneyto founded Faster & Better Runners (FBR), the company that produces the heelless running shoe.
A pair of FBR costs 139 euros (Approx, Shs600,000).
