Thursday, October 1, 2009

EB Lydiard Marathon Running Shoes 1970 9.2 oz


The below photo was taken by my Blackberry and these shoes were spotted on the wall of Encinitas Movin Shoes. Karl Brandt and the older boys have a pretty cool collections of sneaks from their running days.



During a tour of Germany in the late 1960s, famed New Zealand runner and coach Arthur Lydiard met with craftsmen from the EB company who shared his vision of making a running shoe that wouldn't pinch and blacken a runner's toenails and would relieve stress on the Achilles tendon. Lydiard knew it was possible, as he was running 100-plus-mile weeks in shoes with an ample toe box while many of his compatriots had toes that were a greedy podiatrist's dream. The soft, one-piece kangaroo leather upper of the Marathon had plenty of wiggle room for the toes, and a built-in heel cup held the rear of the foot firmly in place. The shoes launched in 1970, and became available in the U. S. in 1974. They never caught on in a big way, partly because of the $32 price tag, more than twice the cost of other running shoes of the time. Lydiard also developed a 4-ounce racer in 1974 and in 1984 helped Converse develop a couple of very nice shoes.




Photo complitments of Joe Rubio of  http://www.runningwarehouse.com/

Seriously the order form to order the EB Lydiard shoes in the back of the May 1977 Runners World Magazine.  Fill out the information and send off and hope in a few months you get what you ordered.  Crazy!  That was the early days, now we do it all by internet, how did we live without it?

JLew

3 comments:

  1. I had a pair of EB Lydiard trainers that I bought in 1978....my cousin borrowed them for a run and never returned them. I learned about them from a friend who ran marathons in the early 70s; it was a fringe activity back then. I would love to be able to get a pair now, as I recall the trainers had a low heel, which would work for Pose or Chi running.

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  2. trainers shoes are perfect trainers shoes
    thanks for sharing this nice and informative
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  3. I had a pair of the EB Lydiard trainers as well. They were heavy, expensive, and wore out unbelievably quick especially when your running 100+ miles / wk. But I loved them anyway - at least they were comfortable & kept injuries at bay. Several guys on my team bought pairs as well. Brings back old times. Steve Noftle at Pinkerton Academy 1976

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