Vasque manager, Brian Hall, Runs His First 100 Miler
Brian Hall a shoe designer for Vasque (makers of some of the best hiking boots) races in the Leadville Trail 100. He finishes in a respectable 29:06:09 hours.
The Leadville Trail 100 is an 100 mile trail run held in Leadville, Colorado in the middle of the Colorado Rockies.
He wears a Boa Technology prototype shoe and the new Vasque endurance shoe, the Mindbender, during the race.
Vasque Hiking Boots are just as good as their trail running shoes.
Read the full Article at blog.vasque.com
Other Race Links
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Racing the Arizona Trail in 7 days « Diary of Scott Morris – The Arizona Trail has always been an obsession of mine. Whether riding, hiking, building or planning it, it seems to often be on my mind. In Spring 2005 I rode the length of the Arizona Trail (from Mexico to Utah) with my friend Lee Blackwell.
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Vasque Hiking Boots
Vasque a Minnesota Outdoor footwear manufacturer make some of the best hiking boots today. Vasque was founded in 1965 under the name of Voyaguer and changed their name to Vasque in 1971. Vasque hiking boots are some of the best hiking boots in the world. Vasque really places an emphasis on technology which really rockets them to the forefront of outdoor footwear.
Vasque has a full line of trail running shoes, mountain climbing boots, Vasque hiking boots and crossover shoes. Many of Vasque’s shoes and hiking boots incorporate Vibram soles and Gortex fabric to keep your feet dry and on the trail. Recently they have been playing around with the BOA technology, a new advanced lacing system that makes hiking boots and shoes fit like they were made custom for your feet.
Their VST- Vasque Spine Technology provides you with shock absorption and stability when you need it the most. VST reduces heel impact and helps maintain a high level of cushioning throughout the life of Vasque hiking boots. They also carry many wide sizes in their most popular lines for those with broad feet. Vasque uses space-age gels, premium foot leather plus they place a high value on fit and comfort.
Vasque is also a big supporter of trail races and sponsors trail races throughout the United States. You can find Vasque being worn by many of the top trail runners and alpinists. The Vasque Sundowner GTX hiking boot just turned 25 years old and the line is still going strong. The Sundowner’s longevity is quite impressive for a hiking boot in this day and age. Vasque hiking boots are great boots and you should consider them when shopping for new boots.
Womens Hiking Boots Are Made Specially For You
I know, a man really has no business writing about womens hiking boots. However, I am going to attempt anyways because the information I see out there, sorry no better way to say it, Sucks! When I began to research this article (obivisouly I don’t have first hand knowledge) all I could find was bits and pieces of information pertaining to womens hiking boots. So I dug a little deeper, consulted with the American Podiatry Association and skimmed through quite a few studies and this is what I came up with.
Ladies, your feet are different. Not just in appearance but structurally. All types of things have contributed to women’s feet evolving differently. Depending on what study you read, women’s feet evolved differently because of mate selection by prehistoric man or hormones and pregnancy. But anyways, women’s feet tend to be shorter, narrower and have a shorter instep than males. The balls of women’s feet are also wider and the heel tends to be narrower.
Because of the structure of a women’s pelvis their gait is different than males which causes a women’s foot to slightly pronate when walking. Also because of this difference in bio-mechanics, women tend to put more weight on the balls of their feet and toes while walking. Add this to uneven terrain, steep inclines and declines experienced by hiking and a women could experience an increased chance of discomfort and injury.
So what is a women to do? Not all boots are created equal. According to some female hikers I know there is not as many choices for females out there as males. Many of them have been tempted to just buy mens hiking boots a few sizes smaller then womens hiking boots. However this could be one mistake you don’t want to experience. Because of the difference in a woman’s foot compared to a male you should generally stay away from mens hiking boots. Also be very wary of purchasing womens hiking boots that have a male counterpart. Many of these boots have just been cut differently to give them a more feminine appearance then a mans.
I would also tend to stay away from the less known companies and go with a larger outdoor footwear manufacturer that has a better research and development budget. They will tend to develop womens hiking boots from the ground up rather then just base them on their male editions. One company I would check out would be Vasque. Vasque has many female athletes on their sponsored sport teams and employs their “Ultimate Fit: Women’s Specific” technology made just for women in their Vasque womens hiking boots and trail running shoes.
If you can find mens hiking boots that fit then by all means wear it. But based on the unique shape and anatomy of a woman’s foot you should really consider purchasing womens hiking boots made specially for you.