Country of Origin: America
Fabrication: China
Founded: 2009
Specialty:  Sports Footwear

The American brand was founded in 2009, with the aim of helping runners to run in a natural way, contributing to a more efficient and lower impact race technique. Thanks to this principle, Altra Footwear has become one of the top 10 brands of "running" of the moment, growing rapidly in the world of long distance triathlon. With a good international positioning, and major research study of the product on the footstep, Altra Footwear´s founders built a small shop which is located in the state of Utah, called Runners Corner.

In this little corner near the Rocky Mountains, they observed the way the footstep and the posture of the runners who ran barefoot moved and modified it to be able to incorporate it into the footwear. After several tests, they realized that conventional shoes had a greater impact and did not help to obtain a correct posture while running.  However, when runners ran barefoot, who normally used conventional footwear, it was noticeable that the impact was reduced and the posture improved considerably.

During this process, Altra Footwear realized that the main difference between running barefoot and running with conventional footwear was the difference in height between the heel and the front part of the foot. So completely handmade in a small oven located in the back room, they began to change the soles to match the height between the front and rear part of the foot, the so called "Zero Drop".

Customers and runner quickly appreciated the results when they tried the new concept. The footwear helped them to run in a more relaxed and comfortable way with a natural experience.

But to make the experience complete, it was necessary to break the space encasing the toes so they would be more relaxed and have enough space to be natural and not pushed together. For this reason, they incorporated a larger space to the "Zero Drop", called  "FootShape", where the toes can move freely.

These two concepts are the most representative for the brand, but for all those who spent hours and hours on the shoes, it is the possibility to enjoy the sensations very similar to "barefood" without having to give up a very good cushioning.

But do not forget they require a good transition!

We should not forget that this is a zero drop shoe and consequently anyone used to a traditional shoe, must make a good adaptation process to recover those muscle that were asleep because of the excessive use of the heel. Especially the lower part of the calf and the Achilles heel.

Would you like to try them?
Here you have a small list of some of its most prominent models.

Translated by Thomas Remmen & Rebecca van der Leeden