Altra Running

Altra Running
Private
Industry Apparel
Founded 2009
Founder Golden Harper[1]
Brian Beckstead[2][3]
Jeremy Howlett [4][5]
Headquarters Logan, Utah, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Athletic footwear[1]
Website www.altrarunning.com

Altra Running also known as ALTRA Footwear or Altra, is an American company engaged in the design, development, marketing and selling of road running, trail running, and general footwear.[6]

The Altra Running shoe display at the Boston Marathon Expo in April of 2015.

Altra has been ranked in the top 10 brands in “run specialty,” and number 4 for trail running.[7]

Origin and History

Golden Harper, Brian Beckstead, and Jeremy Howlett began cutting up and altering different brands of running shoes to come up with a better performing shoe, which they named "zero drop" The name refers to the height differential between the shoe's heel and toe area.[8]

Harper, Howlett and Beckstead demonstrated their new design with various footwear companies with little success, so they partnered with Pulse Labs at Brigham Young University, an engineering firm, and contract manufacturers in Asia to start a company called Altra Footwear in 2009.[8] [9][1][6]

Harper chose the name for the Altra shoes is based on the Latin word altera, which means the second or “to fix or mend something that is broken.”[7]

The company was acquired in March 2011 by ICON Health & Fitness, a developer, marketer, manufacturer of fitness-related products.[10]

Design

The idea for Altra came about when Golden Harper, the founder of the company, analyzed the strides of barefoot runners and compared them to the stride and gait of runners wearing more traditional running shoes. Harper noticed that the natural mechanics and stride of the runners changed whenever they changed from running barefoot to running with shoes.[11][12]

His analysis concluded that the heel of most running shoes were more padded than the mid-foot or toe of the shoe. At this time, Harper was working at his father's shoe store called "Runner's Corner", in Orem, Utah and he began modifying traditional running shoes by cutting them open, removing padding out from the heel, and then using a toaster oven and glue to put the shoes back together.[13][12]

Harper recruited local runners and store employees to test out prototypes of the shoes where the thickness of the sole which featured a heel that was less than a half inch in height, allowing the forefoot and heel to be the same distance from the ground. Harper noticed that the decrease in the ratio from heel to toe allowed for a more natural running experience in which footfalls are in the mid to forefoot area instead of the unfavorable heel strike.[12]

An Altra athletic shoe on display
An Altra brand athletic shoe.

Harper called this differential of the heel and ball of the forefoot being exactly the same height off the ground "Zero Drop".[11] The word spread about these hacked shoes among the local running community and Harper began selling them from the store. Harper then took the idea for the shoe to venture capitalists and former Nike designers. The shoe quickly went from a back room operation to an established brand with international production.[12]

Altra shoes are also designed with a larger than average toe box that allows for more freedom of movement and a natural feel of running barefoot, but the feel of having a full shoe underfoot.[11]

Growth

Altra first entered in a few markets in North America and gained attention when their first shoe on the market won the Runner's World Magazine's Editor's Choice Best Debut award.[14] Altra Footwear is currently at 300 percent annual growth rate and opening in 25 to 30 new markets in 2013. Altra is also working on expanding into the European running and trail shoe market.[8]

Altra has expanded to more than 600 specialty running shoe stores throughout the world, in more than 23 countries.

Features

Altra shoes most notable feature is the foot-shaped wider-than-average toe box[7] which allows a runners toes to spread out as they would without shoes. The benefits of a foot-shaped toe box include more powerful toe-off and superior stability and balance on landing.

All Altra designs are also "zero drop", which features a heel that is less than a half inch in height, allowing the forefoot and heel to be the same distance from the ground. This ratio allows for more natural running experience in which footfalls are in the mid to forefoot area instead of the unfavorable heel strike. Altra makes shoes with a wide range of cushion heights, from a minimal cushion height of 23 mm for shoes such as The One 2 to the new trend of maximalist shoes with higher stack heights, such as the Paradigm road (34 mm) and Olympus trail (36mm), and everything in between.

Currently, Altra offers 35 models of shoes for men, women, children, people who are on their feet all day, and hikers.

The company announced a “better than waterproof” version of its Lone Peak trail shoe, using Neoshell fabric from Polartec. The shoe forecast for retail in Summer 2015 and will be $140. [7]

Awards

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "When to Retire a Running Shoe". Well, The New York Times (The New York Times Company). 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  2. ↑ Dinha, Nineveh (22 April 2013). "5K charity run raises money for Boston Marathon victims". Fox 13 News (KSTU). Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  3. ↑ "Ultra Experience". Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  4. ↑ "YouTube". Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  5. ↑ "Starting a Business - Jeremy Howlett". Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Metzler, Brian (22 March 2011). "What's the Deal with Zero-Drop Shoes". Running Times (Rodale, Inc.). Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Frazier, Lance (2015-03-06). "In four short years, Icon’s Altra shoes have carved out a significant niche". The Herald Journal (The Herald Journal). Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Johnston, Mark (2013-09-02). "100 miles? Orem runner has run it five times and counting". Daily Herald (Daily Herald (Utah)). Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  9. ↑ "Zero-Drop Shoes". Runner's World (Rodale Inc.). September 14, 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-18.
  10. ↑ "Icon breaks tradition by purchasing shoe company". Snews (Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc.). August 15, 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Pang, Nicholas. The Minimalist Runner: Transitioning from Traditional Running Shoes to Minimalist Running Shoes. ISBN 978-1453824351. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Parker, Austin. "Design Spotlight: Altra Zero Drop". Gear Patrol. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  13. ↑ Bachman, Rachel (2014-07-23). "Better Than Barefoot: Running Shoes Seek Middle Ground". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  14. ↑ "2012 Award Winning Shoes". Runner's World (Rodale Inc.). December 19, 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  15. ↑ "Fall 2013 Trail Shoe Guide". Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  16. ↑ "Fall 2012 Trail Running Shoe Review". 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  17. ↑ "2012 Trail Running Shoe Review". Competitor.com. Competitor Group Inc. 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  18. ↑ "Altra Instinct 2.0 - Men's". Runner's World. Rodale Inc. Retrieved 2015-03-31.