Vibram Five Fingers

The biggest running news this past week must be the news of Vibram  Five Fingers being ordered by an American Court to pay $3.75m in a class action suit filed by a disgruntled lady who claimed that the VFF did not live up to its claim of improving foot health namely:

(1) Strengthen muscles in the feet and lower legs 

(2) Improve range of motion in the ankles, feet, and toes

(3) Stimulate neural function important to balance and agility

(4) Eliminate heel lift to align the spine and improve posture

(5) Allow the foot and body to move naturally

Of course the ruling has got people on both side of the camp arguing their point with those anti-VFF and anti-barefoot lambasting the VFF and barefoot camp. The VFF and barefoot camp naturally is arguing that wearer of VFF has to phase in the running gradually and not jump straight into it.

I have not worn a pair of VFF before. The only reason is because I don't like the design but I have dabbled in barefoot running and minimalist running. I got injured as a result but I don't blame the barefoot running. Me think there is a place for everything and every type of foot wear. The suit in US was not so much about the effectiveness of the shoe but more about the stupidness of the US law system and its jury system and also the stupidness of VFF to make claims in their sales pitch without doing the very necessary research to substantiate their claims.

I have a number of runner friends who swear by their VFF. The only runner I knew who complained about his VFF was a guy who bought in online at a dirt cheap price and which even he suspected is an imitation. Anyway I like to think that the VFF and the minimalist/barefoot movement is here to stay and will be an integrated part of the running scene together with the traditional running shoes from the mainstream companies like Nike, Adidas, New Balance and the Reebok etc