Fivefingers on One Foot

Vibram didn’t invent the foot. They only invented the Vibram Fivefingers. Vibram Fivefingers are shoes which fit onto feet like gloves fit onto hands. They have dedicated toe holds. They were debuted in 2005 and their popularity has grown since.

“I began in about July of 2010 and sales began to rise quite a bit because they had been popular on either of the coasts.” Said Benjamin Nichols, a sales associate at the outdoor store Backwoods, “But that momentum began to move to the middle of the state. And so people would like them for running or working out or anything. Just the idea of being barefoot seemed like a lot of fun.”

The shoes require the wearers to walk and run differently. Runners who are used to running long mileage should not run the same distance with the Fivefingers at the beginning. It takes time to work up to the same mileage that they are used to in other shoes.

“I do tend to run more on the balls of my feet.” Said Michael Bibens, a Health and Exercise Science Senior and also an owner of a pair of Fivefingers, “My calves and my feet sometimes are sore after running less miles than I normally do.”

Some claim that by using Fivefingers, or similar footwear, that you can have healthier feet.

“Especially if you have foot problems you might just try them on the side. “ Bibens said, “I mean, you are already spending a lot of money on orthotics and shoes anyway. So you might as well try something different.”

The footwear is not for everyone though, and the issue of running barefoot or with minimalist shoes like Fivefingers is highly contested. The companies that have been making the modern running shoes are not ready to give up on their current business model yet; though many of them are introducing minimalist shoes of their own, such as the Nike Free.

“Almost all the feedback has been positive.” Nichols said about Fivefingers, “Sometimes it’s negative. I think some of that has to do with not everything works for everybody.”

It is difficult to gauge whether these minimalist shoes are only a fad, or a larger sign of a changing marketplace for footwear. The owners of the Vibram Fivefingers seem to enjoy them.

“I don’t wear them every day per se but some days I will wear them to class and some days I will wear them to work out and some days I will wear them to run…” Bibens said, “But I wear um, y’know, except for like to church. You name it, I probably wear them to it.”