It seems only fitting that after celebrating the birth of the USA this weekend, followed by the fantastic US women’s world cup win, I would also have some exciting news. I have been asked to join an ultra running team, Carson Footwear, a company that is based in and makes all their shoes locally, in the US!
Carson Footwear is located, designed, and manufactured all just outside of Portland, OR. The company believes that a shoe that allows for natural movement strengthens the foot and leg and one that is made in the US strengthens the American economy. Two things that I believe strongly in.
Carson has found a way to make good quality shoes, domestically, for $100. This is really exciting for several reasons. Economically its great for local business in the US, the factory is located in OR and employs local workers, paying fair wages. Environmentally there is less impact because they aren’t shipping things back and forth around the world. They are all designed and put together in one place. I think there is also a social impact as well. By making shoes in the US, it shows that it can be done, that we don’t need to buy shoes from other countries where factory workers may or may not be compensated accordingly for their work. Its a way to support and buy local shoes!
The soles of the shoes are made with polyurethane instead of EVA, giving the shoe a very different feel to any other shoe I have had on my foot before. Polyurethane behaves very differently than EVA, it absorbs and distributes your foot’s energy across the whole surface, while EVA absorbs it vertically.
Its 10 mm stack height may not seem like much, but they are surprisingly protective. I love a shoe that is low to the ground and flexible, it makes me feel very in control of my moments and sure-footed. I took them up Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi, just last weekend after a rain storm and didn’t slip a bit. I was quite pleasantly surprised at how grippy they really were on the slick rock. Mount Mitchell allowed me to test them over all sorts of terrain; from gravel road, to dirt packed trail, over large exposed wet rock, on wet wood erosion timbers, through some really sticky mud, and even bushwhacking through a trail that clearly hadn’t been used all year.
I have been in them for over a month now, and look forward to racing Run Rabbit Run 100 in them this September!
Trail Wisp(erings) 