I visited
the Wandering Jouster site of my
favorite Bicolana blogger, and I got to enjoy her latest blog entry entitled
“Shoe Talk” which was about the 7 leading global brands of running shoes
and their history. Informative stuff
about Adidas, Nike, Puma, KSwiss, Reebok, Asics and Mizuno.
Allow me to add one name to that list: KARHU.
It is a legendary sports brand from Finland. It dates back to 1916, predating all 6.
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| Karhu logo |
Karhu is a Finnish word that means Bear. Known for its efficiency-driving innovation,
the Karhu running shoes have been worn by the “Flying Finns” that have
dominated the long distance running in the decades before and after World War
2. Legendary names like Paavo Nurmi (1920 Olympics Gold Medalist in 10,000 meters
and cross country; 1924 Olympics Gold Medalist in 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters
and cross country; and 1928 Olympics Gold Medalist in 10,000 meters) and Eino Oksanen
(Boston Marathon
winner in 1959, 1961 and 1962)
have worn the Karhu shoes to numerous victories. Even the Czech great Emil Zatopek wore Karhu
when he bagged 3 gold medals (5,000
meters, 10,000 meters and marathon) at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
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| Karhu shoes
worn by Emil Zatopek at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics |
Now, if you would be doing a double take at the picture above and guess
that it is an Adidas, you would be
forgiven. I too did a double take. However, the three stripes brand was
originally Karhu’s. It was in 1951 that
Karhu sold the three stripes trademark it had been using to a then
little known German brand called Adidas. The Price? Two bottles of whiskey and the equivalent of
1,600 euros.
The current M-Logo of Karhu was used
starting in the 1960s which saw the company back to its pioneering mood. Its innovation in this decade and the 1970s
included the use of nylon and air cushioning in running shoes. Say what?
We thought air cushioning technology in running shoes was first
introduced by Nike. Another surprising
fact is that Karhu is the original
inventor of the Air Cushioned shoe. It was in the 1970s that Karhu figured
something was needed to carry the weight of the runner and absorb the pressure
of the knees. After considering installing a spring in the shoe (LOLZ), they came
up with the Karhu Champion, which is the
first model using the Air Cushion sole.
Take a look at the picture below.
 |
| 1975: University of
Oregon’s Hayward Field |
It is a picture
of a group of Finnish world class
athletes taken in 1975 at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, revered as the
birthplace of Nike. In front of the
athletes is a pair of orange running shoes – the Karhu
Champion. The first
Nike running shoe with an air sole system to come out is the
"Tailwind" and it debuted in 1978 at the Honolulu Marathon. In terms of patents, Karhu
registered “Karhu Air Cushion” in 1976. Nike registered “Air” in 1977. Looking at the pictures of the
Karhu Champion and Nike Tailwind, one can deduce that the latter did the
copying of the former.
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| 1975 Karhu Champion |
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| 1978 Nike Tailwind |
But in
the mid-80s, after extensive research collaboration with the University of
Jyväskylä, Karhu bailed out of air cushioning in favor of the Fulcrum
technology. While the rest of the global brands like Nike, Reebok
and Asics and Nike were outfitting their shoes with air pockets and gels,
Karhu focused on a simpler applied science which is premised on the idea that
running is about moving forward, and not up and down. What is fulcrum technology? I quote from the Your Mileage May Vary
Reviews blog at http://ymmvreviews.com/:
“Fulcrum helps the runner run more efficiently.
It helps transfer energy form the foot strike into forward motion. It reduces
vertical and horizontal movement and puts the runner in a better forward
leaning position. This all helps move the runner quicker through the gait cycle
to run faster with less energy. Karhu has done testing with the
University of Jyväskylä in Finland and Iowa State University in the US. All the
test results have shown that Karhu shoes produce less vertical and horizontal
oscillation and a better midfoot landing position than both traditional running
shoes and barefoot running.”
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| Fulcrum Technology |
This focus on fulcrum technology continues for Karhu up
to this day. As can be seen in the
pictures below, the current crop of Karhu running shoes being offered in the market (Fast3 and
Forward) are very very nice to look at.
As to how they perform on an actual
run, I have no first hand knowledge given that Karhu is not available
here in the Philippines.
 |
| Fast3 Fulcrum Price: US$ 134.95 |
 |
| Forward Fulcrum Ride Price: US$ 129.99 |
I must admit, this
fulcrum technology from Scandinavia intrigues me. Maybe, it will be a big help to improving the
running form and performance of many
penguins like me (A penguin can dream of running faster and more
efficiently than usual).
One take away after
encountering Karhu and its rich history:
a company whose ideas Adidas and Nike have adopted must be doing
something right and it is in their DNA.
Now, if only Karhus
are more affordable and available here.......
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