Is Spira Faster?

I just received this press release today. I've been hearing bits and pieces about Spira for several years now, but never really bought into it. This, however does present a compelling argument...

The Spira "World's Fastest 10K" lived up to it's billing as Hillary Kimaiyo of Kenya edged out countryman Isaack Kimaiyo by three seconds, finishing in an astonishing 26:01.2, and smashing the Haile Gebrellassie's world's fastest 10K record. Gebrallaise time of 27:02 was also bested by Kenyan Joseph Koech, who finished third in 27:01.9.

A world record was narrowly missed in the women's division, as Hyvon Ngetich of Kenya finished in 30:26.5, a mere 5 seconds off the world record set by Paula Ratcliffe set in 2003. Eddy Hellebuyck of the United States won the Spira race Master's Division in 30:28.9, just shy of the American age group record in the 45-49 age division set by Dennis Simonaitis of 30:08 last month.

In the men's division, Dirk DeHer of the Netherlands finished fourth in 28:42, David Karui of Kenya finished fifth in 29:00, and Santiago Avila of Mexico finished sixth in 29:35. In the women's division, Jacqueline Nytiepei of Kenya finished second in 31:34.4, with Alicia Rodriguez of Mexico third in 32:16.

All of the top finisher's ran in shoes manufactured by renegade footwear maker, Spira, whose shoes contain WaveSpring Technology. USA Track and Field Rule 143 specifically bans spring technology for competition.

The USATF certified course was a point to point, with race the beginning at an elevation of 5,100 feet and finishing at 3,850 feet. The race is expected to be counted in the record books, but will be notated.

For his efforts, Kimaiyo won a $10,000 bonus for setting a world record and for wearing Spira shoes. "It would take 5 years to in Kenya to earn this much money. I just earned that amount in 26 minutes," Kimaiyo said.

El Paso based Spira gained notoriety earlier this year, when Oleg Strijakov of Russia won the Master's Division at the Boston Marathon in the banned shoe. A month later, David Cheruiyot won the Ottawa Marathon and set a course record of 2:10:35 and a personal best by 2 ½ minutes. Since that time, elite runners are beginning to discover the Spira spring technology.

"If there was any lingering doubt concerning the validity of the WaveSpring technology, it was erased today," said Spira CEO Andrew Krafsur. Hopefully, the USATF will overturn the rule that bans our shoes, and allow for competition without fear of disqualification," Krafsur said.