Altra Running

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

Altra Running, also known as ALTRA Footwear or Altra, is an American company engaged in the design, development, marketing, and sales of road running, trail running, and general footwear.[6] 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 cut up and altered different brands of running shoes to design a better performing shoe, which they named "Zero Drop." The name refers to the lack of height differential between the shoe's heel and toe area.[8]

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

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

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

Design

Side view of an Altra trail running shoe.
Side view of an Altra trail running shoe, which highlights a feature of all Altra shoes where the heel and forefoot are the same distance from the ground.

Golden Harper, founder of the company, noticed that the stride and gait of barefoot runners changed when the runners wore traditional running shoes.[11][12] He suspected that the heel height of most running shoes was too high as compared to the height of the mid-foot or toe.

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 from the heel, and then using a toaster oven and glue to put the shoes back together.[12][13]

Harper recruited local runners and store employees to test out prototype shoes where the heel and forefoot were the same distance from the ground. The design proved to allow a more natural running experience where footfalls are in the mid to forefoot area instead of the more typical heel strike.[12] Harper called this design "Zero Drop".[11]

Growth

Word spread about these hacked shoes among the local running community and Harper began selling them from his father's store. He commissioned a local cobbler to make a 1,000 pairs, but soon sold out.[7] After failing to interest established footwear companies, Harper 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 first entered the North American market in 2011 and won the Runner's World Magazine's 2012 Editor's Choice Best Debut award.[14] By September 2013, Altra Footwear was at 300 percent annual growth rate and opening in 25 to 30 new markets.[8]

Features

All Altra running shoes feature a cushioned Zero Drop™ platform that places the heel and forefoot at the same distance from the ground. This design promotes a more natural running experience where footfalls are in the mid to forefoot area instead of the more typical heel strike. Altra makes shoes with a wide range of cushion heights, from a minimal 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 (36 mm).

Altra shoes also feature a wider-than-average toe box, known as FootShape™, which allows a runner's toes to relax and spread out naturally as they would without shoes, and allows the big toe to remain in a natural straight position.[7]

The men's version and women's version of each shoe model is built using gender-specific templates to accommodate anatomical differences.[7]

Altra offers a water-resistant version of its Lone Peak trail shoe, using a new breathable fabric for the outside shell of the shoe, Polartec NeoShell.[15]

During the 2015 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, Altra introduced their first smart shoe, Altra IQ. Powered by iFit, the Altra IQ uses technology to help runners analyze their running biomechanics.[16] Slated to be released in Spring of 2016, the Altra IQ will collect data on stride, pace, foot strike zone (heel vs. midfoot vs. forefoot), ground contact time, left foot vs. right foot imbalances, and more, and will transmit the data via Bluetooth to a mobile device such as a smartphone or watch for analysis.[17][18]

Sponsorships

Altra Footwear is the official footwear sponsor of the Western States Endurance Run, held each year in Squaw Valley, California[19] and the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. which starts and ends in Silverton, Colorado.[20]

Awards

External links

References

  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. 1 2 Metzler, Brian (22 March 2011). "What's the Deal with Zero-Drop Shoes". Running Times (Rodale, Inc.). Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 Pang, Nicholas. The Minimalist Runner: Transitioning from Traditional Running Shoes to Minimalist Running Shoes. ISBN 978-1453824351. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
  12. 1 2 3 4 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. ↑ "Mud, Snow, Puddles, Slop… Ultimate Wet-Weather Shoe". Gear Junkie. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  16. ↑ "Altra Running Introduces the Altra IQ Powered by iFit, the World’s First Shoe-Able". Reuters. 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  17. ↑ "Altra Footwear To Launch IQ Powered by iFit Running Shoe". Footwear News. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  18. ↑ "A Stride Coach In Your Shoe". Runner's World. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  19. ↑ "ALTRA NAMED EXCLUSIVE FOOTWEAR SPONSOR". Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  20. ↑ "partners". Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  21. ↑ "GearJunkie ‘Top Gear’ Of The Year 2015". Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  22. ↑ "The Best Trail Running Shoes for 2015". mensjournal.com. Men's Journal LLC. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  23. ↑ "Fall 2013 Trail Shoe Guide". Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  24. ↑ "Fall 2012 Trail Running Shoe Review". 2012-11-05. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  25. ↑ "2012 Trail Running Shoe Review". Competitor.com. Competitor Group Inc. 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  26. ↑ "Altra Instinct 2.0 - Men's". Runner's World. Rodale Inc. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
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