Michael: Drop and Splay

The quiet breeze and
Somber dull white skies portend
A peaceful evening.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Time travel with me for a few minutes and bring your favorite running shoe. We’re going to go back to 1976 and talk to Coach Johannes, my cross country and track coach.

I’ll start. “Coach, what do you think of the drop and splay of these shoes?”

“Becker, and whoever your friend is,” he’d say, “Drop and splay and give me twenty, then start doing your perimeters and stop wasting my time.”

Actually, he was a pretty cool dude and I’m sure wouldn’t have required any push ups. More than likely, he would’ve stroked his blond hair then looked up toward the sky, and wondered what kind of prank I was trying to pull this time. Drop? Splay? Who comes up with this stuff and what’s the gag?

According to Wikipedia, my 1976 blue and white Onitsuka Tigers costs $6.
There’s no information about their drop or splay. From what I recall, they were a very simple and light shoe. Weight is still a big factor in choosing a running shoe.

But marketing progresses and now, just like texting, only Luddites and non-runners don’t talk about drop and splay.

Drop is even printed on several running shoes now. My Topos, for example, indicate 3 mm of drop. I don’t know how that compares to my other running shoes, or how it effects their performance, but it’s there.

And if it’s not directly on the shoe, it’s in every shoe review and on the information page on just about every retailers’ website. And it’s been effective, at least as a marketing strategy. I know when I look at shoes now, if that drop number gets large, let’s say around 10, I begin to wonder about the shoe. Damn, that seems like a substantial amount of drop.

Splay also seems to fall into that good marketing category. Who wouldn’t want their toes to be able to splay? It just sounds so right. Cozy toes gotta be fast toes, right? But maybe reigning your toes in a bit is what they need to buck up and fly right. Hell, if I splayed on my desk at work and told my boss it was so I could relax more and therefore perform better, I’d be out of a job. In fact, I am out of a job and am enjoying spending more of my time in splay mode.

But again, the marketers have got me. Part of the reason I wear Topos is because of their splay. I’d also like to try Altras one of these days for the same reason. Altras also push 0 drop. I’m not sure what kind of foam they’re using, but that’s another topic all together, and another one of those time travel gags that would have Coach Johannes gazing toward the heavens.