Old School Karhus

Time: 58:24
Distance: 8.84 miles
Pace: 6:36
Map

This afternoon Meagan and I drove out to Old Bell to meet up with the Queens squad. The team wasn't at the lot when we drove by so I went off in search of some petrol. Of course, once we pull up to the Shell station we get a text saying they are at Old Bell. Meagan and I spent the first mile trying to run down the team and we wouldn't actually catch them until closer to the Footlocker Course. However, there was some excitement along the way.

We were near the mile marker when Meagan and I ran by a guy jogging in jeans. It wasn't his running costume that caught me by surprise, but rather his shoes. He was rocking an old school pair of Karhus. I had to ask where he got them and he said they were purchased somewhere up north. If I had any money on me I would have offered to buy them right there. They were that sweet. I own a couple of pairs of Karhu that are retro remakes which are cool, but not the real thing. This guy's looked authentic. I had to wonder when the last time three pairs of Karhu were being run in at McAlpine as Meagan and I were both sporting our Fast Fulcrum_Rides.

Not many people know the brand Karhu... yet. I plan on changing that in the Carolinas and especially Charlotte. A little history on the company will take you back to its founding in 1916. The first products developed by the Finnish company were javelins and discuses. Since the beginning, the company has been focused on forward momentum, a philosophy that is reflected in the brand's current shoes. During the 1920s, the brand was renamed Karhu meaning "bear" in Finnish. The Flying Finns including Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals on the track wearing Karhu spikes. As an aside, when I went to Finland for my father's 50th birthday, I got to see the statue of the legendary Finnish figure outside of the Olympic stadium in the nation's capital.

During the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Karhu earned international recognition as a leading athletic manufacturer. Also during this period, Karhu sold its three stripe trademark to Adidas for two good bottles of whiskey and 1,600 euros. That's a hell of a deal for Karhu if you ask me. In the 1960s, Karhu took it to the streets. Shoes were designed for the roads as the brand becomes well-known by top runners worldwide. The shoe's M-symbol is unveiled for the Mantyla brothers who were responsible for the design and function of the brand (I did not know that until researcher this. I always tell people that the "M" is for momentum).

In 1972, Olavi Suomalainen wins the Boston Marathon in 2:15:39 wearing Karhu Champions. The 1980s saw Karhu R&D design the "Fulcrum" technology that is currently used today. A decade later, Karhu, in collaboration with the University of Jyvaskyla, tests the evolution of Fulcrum technology and prove Karhu shoes provide a measurable difference of energy transfer. In 2008, Karhu is acquired by Huub Valkenburg and Jay Duke (Duke grad). Most recently the Karhu Strong Fulcrum_Ride won Runner's World's Best Debut Award.

Wow, wasn't that a good little history lesson for me. I paraphrased where necessary and all this information is available on the Karhu website which I linked to earlier. So what does it all mean? Well, to start the Fulcrum technology works with the foot's natural abilities. The shoes are designed to allow for a more natural and efficient ride. Some brands complicate the mechanics of running which has essentially been the industry standard. I won't say that Karhu is a "minimalistic" shoe, but it does allow for the foot's natural gait cycle to occur.

An old school Karhu shoebox I spotted at Bob Ronker's Running Spot in Cincinnati.

More specifically, the Fulcrum technology acts similar to a teeter totter which transfers the downward motion of the body into a forward motion. The heal-to-toe transition occurs more quickly than in other shoes reducing the amount of time that the runner is in the "dangerous" pronation phase. There are less body stresses because the pressure loads are more evenly distributed, leveraging elastic energy. Furthermore, in high-speed tests, there is no loss of stability during transition from heal to toe.

I can go further, but I will stop here. There are a lot of brands currently on the market that make great shoes. I have run in most of them during my time working at a running specialty store in Oklahoma. When we decided to carry Karhu at OK Runner I was impressed with the shoe's ability to transfer energy. I've never been a big fan of cushioning because it feels like all of your energy is being lost to the ground. I don't like running in sand and I think cushioned shoes sacrifice a lot of the runner's ability to toe-off. I used to love running in Adidas before they went to a shoe that was focused on bracing for impact. I've been very happy with the quick transition that gets me on to my next step smoothly.

I am fortunate now to be repping the brand here in the Carolinas. Currently, TrySports is the only local store that carries Karhu, but it's my hope for a few more stores to carry the shoes in the near future. I know there are feet out there wanting to try Karhu. Keep your eye out for a pair of Karhu on a shoe wall near you.

That's not even a third of them, I've run in everything. Can you spot Karhu?

In 2009 Mr. Kinley wore these bad boys to victory in the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon.