
Kicksology
Description
Sports journalist and veteran shoe tester Brian Metzler takes runners and kicksologists deep inside the $10 billion dollar running shoe industry with a behind-the-curtain look at what makes iconic running shoe brands tick. Kicksology follows a shoe from inspiration to store shelf to show how innovative ideas evolve into industry-wide trends and fads. Metzler tours shoe labs where scientists advance our understanding of shoes and running mechanics as well as the domestic and overseas shoe factories where the world's favorite kicks are assembled.
A dedicated shoe nerd and running junkie, Metzler shares his love of great shoes in this fascinating look at the intersections of shoe culture and history, science and storytelling, intel from the innovators with on-the-ground insight from top runners.
Kicksology is filled with information as entertaining as it is surprising, tapping into the passion runners have for their kicks and feeding their curiosity about what makes a great shoe.
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Person
Metzler was the founding editor and associate publisher of Trail Runner and Adventure Sports magazines and was a senior editor at Running Times as well as Editor-in-Chief of Competitor magazine and Competitor.com. He has written about endurance sports for Outside, Runner's World, Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, Men's Health, and Men's Journal. He is the author of Running Colorado's Front Range and co-author of Natural Running with Danny Abshire and Run Like a Champion with Alan Culpepper.
Content
Preface
1 There's No Biz Like Shoe Biz
My Favorite Shoe: Deena Kastor-ASICS DS Trainer
2 Kickin' It Old-School
Six Patents That Changed Running Shoe Design
3 Running Shoe Cool
My Favorite Shoe: Kara Goucher-Adidas Adistar LD spikes
4 Doing What Comes Naturally
5 It's All Fun and Games Until Somebody Gets Hurt
My Favorite Shoe: Dave McGillivray-Hoka Clifton 5
6 Minimalism to Maximalism: A Tale of Two Innovators
My Favorite Shoe: Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer-Hoka One One Speedgoat 3
7 A Shoe Is Born
My Favorite Shoe: Scott Jurek-Brooks special makeup trail running shoe
8 The Sub-2-Hour Marathon Quest and the Rise of Magic Shoes
Eight Epic Shoe Fails
9 Made to Order
My Favorite Shoe: Jenny Simpson-New Balance MD800 spikes
10 What's Next?
Appendix A: Getting the Most out of Your Running Shoes
Appendix B: Donate Your Old Running Shoes
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author