Spira Footwear Inc., best known as simply Spira, is an American footwear manufacturer based in the

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. It was founded in 2001 and is best known for their

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

, and casual

shoes A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

with springs embedded under the heel and

toe Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plan ...

. Spira Footwear closed in early 2016 with an undisclosed company purchasing Spira's assets, including patents, trademarks, and inventory of unsold running shoes.

Marketing

A&E Networks relationship

In the spring of 2013, Spira was selected to be featured as part of the

A&E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company ...

Project Startup, and initiative with the crowdfunding site

RocketHub RocketHub was an online crowdfunding platform launched in 2010, its first use was September 1, 2009. Based in New York City, its users included musicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, game developers, philanthropists, filmmakers, photographers,Hai ...

to raise capital for a new lightweight running shoe. This initiative is part of A&E's "Real Life, Real Change" social campaign that showcases innovative companies through TV vignettes on the network as well as a web presence for Spira on A&E's website and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

extensions. Spira raised more than $42,000 by pre-selling more than 800 pairs of the Stinger 2 shoes to supporter and enthusiasts through the RocketHub platform. The money was used to fund the purchase the initial run of inventory for the new shoe. In August 2013, Spira announced a line of officially licensed limited edition

Duck Dynasty ''Duck Dynasty'' is an American reality television series that aired on A&E from 2012 to 2017. The series portrays the lives of the Robertson family, who became successful from their family-operated business, Duck Commander. The West Monroe, ...

camouflage shoes. The company will introduce a running shoe that will feature the signature duck camouflage pattern sported by the Robertson family, who are the stars of the

reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

. The relationship between A&E, RocketHub, and Spira Footwear started in the summer of 2012 when Spira used Rockethub’s service to crowdfund its line of Stinger2 shoes. With a crowdfunding project under their belt, Spira was chosen by A&E to align with after the network brainstormed the idea to launch a shoe line for Duck Dynasty. Using the crowdfunding site gives Spira the opportunity to pre-sell the shoe allowing the company to anticipate demand and to determine proper inventory levels. This gives Spira increased visibility into the demand for the shoe so this smaller company can anticipate manufacturing needs with greater accuracy.

HealthWagers contest

In May 2013, Spira and HealthWagers announced a contest where a runner, who is wearing Spira shoes, completes a sanctioned chip-timed race, and the runner does not run faster than their

personal record A personal record or personal best (abbreviated to PR or PB) is an individual's best performance in a given sporting discipline. It is most commonly found in athletic sports, such as track and field, other forms of running, swimming and weightliftin ...

, Spira will pay them back for the price of their shoes. According to the rules of the contest, the race must be longer than and must completed in the foreseeable future.

Research

In 2014, the

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a applied sciences institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. NAIT provides careers programs in applied research, technical training, applied education, and learning designed to meet the dema ...

conducted a research study on the impact of the Spira shoes and technology on running efficiency. The study used 17 runners to compare treadmill performance of two Spira models, one for training and the other for racing, to their own shoes. The study measured

oxygen consumption Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well a ...

and

heart rate Heart rate (or pulse rate) is the frequency of the heartbeat measured by the number of contractions (beats) of the heart per minute (bpm). The heart rate can vary according to the body's physical needs, including the need to absorb oxygen and excr ...

at a pace of per hour to determine the energy output of each runner. The study concluded the average person running a marathon could cut four minutes from their run time over the distance.

Controversy

Spira claimed that their shoes were banned from races because they purportedly did not conform to

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

and

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

standards. The company has offered a million US dollar

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

to two

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ns if they win the 2006 Boston marathon wearing Spira's product. In spite of this, USATF confirmed in 2007 that the shoes aren't banned: "Because of pending litigation, USATF cannot comment on Spira shoes beyond confirming that USATF has not examined or 'banned' the shoe, as we have publicly stated multiple times over the last year-plus." At 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, at least three athletes used Spira shoes in competition. Axel Zeebroek used racing flats in the running portion of the

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

and Franklin Tenorio of

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

and Joao N'Tyamba of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

both ran the marathon using Spira shoes.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spira Footwear Sportswear brands Athletic shoe brands Companies based in Texas Companies based in El Paso, Texas Shoe companies of the United States Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Clothing companies established in 2002 2002 establishments in Texas