Posted: December 15, 2005

Athletics: Elite Kenyan Runners To Run In Spira Footwear; Go For Record $1 Million

Three elite Kenyan runners training in New Mexico are the first athletes to publicly pledge to participate in Spira Footwear’s "Banned in Boston" protest and attempt to win the $1 million reward promised by the El Paso-based footwear company for winning the 2006 Boston Marathon in its "banned" footwear.

Philip Metto, Abraham Kosgei and Simon Sawe will all enter the 2006 Boston Marathon and run in Spira shoes to attempt to collect the largest cash prize in the history of professional running.

"When I found out about it through email, I told my runners and they really thought it was too much (money) to be true," said Daniel Rutto of Kenya, the coach for all three runners. "They did not believe it was a million dollars. They are planning now to run in Boston to go for the money. They are going to enter."

On Thursday, November 3, Spira Footwear CEO Andy Krafsur at a New York City press conference unveiled the "Banned in Boston" protest, where he pledged to pay $1 million to the men’s or women’s winner of the 2006 Boston Marathon if they wear a pair of banned Spira running shoes. Spira shoes are banned from international sanctioned competition by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) and USA Track and Field (USATF) rules which state that shoes used in competition must not have a "spring or device of any kind" incorporated in the shoe. Spira’s shoes feature patented and state-of-the-art WaveSpring ™ technology placed in the sole of the shoe that reduce the amount of stress running places on the body. Krafsur is lobbying the governing bodies to overturn the ban and allow elite runners to utilize its shoes.

Kosgei is best noted as a 5,000 and 10,000 meter runner and was a member of the 2004 Kenyan Olympic Team. Metto won the 2004 Mexico City Marathon. He has a personal best marathon is 2:15:53. Sawe finished in second place at the Korean Chosun Marathon in 2003. His personal best marathon is 2:14:23

Rutto, a former running coach of the Costa Rican National Team, said that he believes many elite Kenyan runners will try and win the $1 million, but that word will be slow to get out to many runners since many are back in Kenya training for cross country races in areas of the country were communication is difficult. Rutto acknowledges that the news of the potential bonus is not good news for everyone.

"It will be sad for some," he said "They would like to try (for the million) but some have (shoe) contracts where they are paid money and this is important. They want to do it, but they can’t do it. The runners who are not attached to a shoe company, it is not a big deal. They can run with the shoes."

From Peak Running Performance at: www.peakrunningperformance.com.