The Running Event. The Avia story: Avia AVI STOLTZ

Behold the new Avia AVI STOLTZ!

I’m super excited. The moment I got the shoes I test ran them into the Dallas sunset. As I stood there on the levee, I marveled at the full moon rising over the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas and I realized: “This is my proudest moment of the year.” “This shoe, with my name on it, that I helped build, is my 08 World title.”

Earlier this year, Ed and Ike from Avia came up to me and said: “How would you feel about building an XTERRA racing shoe?” “You can make anything you want and it may even bear your name.”

At first I was intimidated and didn’t know where to start. I know nothing about EVA molding, blown rubber, or stitching but Ike said “lets start with the AVI Lite mid sole and work from there.” Once I rounded the corner I knew exactly what I wanted in an XTERRA racing shoe:

– Light weight (we aimed for less than 10 oz)

– Solid mid sole to handle rough terrain. (But not the bricks most trail shoes are built on.)

– Lots of traction- ie clever sole.

– Quick transitions. (Heel and tongue tabs & low friction plastic eyelets for laces. Elastic “speed” laces will probably be included in the sale)

– Well supported upper. (To limit foot movement inside the shoe over rough terrain.)

– Strong toe box. (Dont wanna stub your toe!)

– A “plate” in forefoot to stop sharp objects from poking your foot.

– A mono filament mesh covering very breathable/airy upper and a gusseted tongue to keep sand out.

The cosmetics were secondary (in my mind) but in the end, one of the key functional parts of the upper design (the black web like bands criss crossing the shoe to bind the foot to the sole) became the essence of the catchy cosmetic design. The large red part pulls the laced up forefoot towards the heel and anchors it to the mid sole. The red and grey band anchors the heel to the mid sole. So the foot is stabilized from the front and the rear by the large bands, and the black web does the rest of the support.

Now I’m not really a bling bling guy, but Ike is on top of his fashion and he assured me that shiny shoes will be hot next summer. (And if it isn’t, I’ll run it till its hot!) Seriously, the colours came out really cool and apart from the once off South African flag shoes, I didn’t rock the boat too much.

Thanks Ike and Ed and Julie and the design team at Avia for helping me achieve something I couldn’t have dreamt of in my wildest dreams.

Available: April 09. Approx $110

Yes, it really says “STOLTZ”!

Looking close up, one can see the mono filament mesh (the light grey part) that covers the airy mesh. (the holey grey part upper right near the heal tab) The fine mesh keeps the sand from getting into the shoe through the large air holes in the mesh, but it still lets the air into the shoe. The run across Makena beach at XTERRA Worlds is famous for getting shovel loads of sand into your shoes.

Also scope out the long, rubbery heel tab. It even has little bumps and a grippy Avia logo to ensure fast transitions. The tab was made specially to not push onto the Achilles tendon and possibly irritate it.

A lot of thought and 3 prototypes went into the sole design. This model has the “Rocksteady” plate – so you can skip across the sharpest rocks without foot bruises. I am passionate about tread design and tire patterns- I did some in depth tire testing with Specialized and this knowledge came in really handy in the design of these soles.

Ladies and mens AVI STOLTZ. What a cute pair…

Ladies’

South Africans’