James Kirwa crossing the finish line in first place.

I spent the weekend in Dallas participating in the activities at the Dallas White Rock Marathon. As always, the event was fantastic. Race Director Marcus Grunwald and his staff did a first-rate job hosting the event and making all of the participants and vendors feel welcome.

For me, the highlight of the race was riding in the press truck and watching the men’s marathon race unfold in real-time. Early on, it appeared that the race would be stolen by Keith Pierce, who at one point had built up a 2-minute lead. Pierce, coincidentally, was the first runner to win a major marathon in Spira shoes – the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon in 2007.  By 17 miles, however, a pack of runners led by and Spira’s James Kirwa, overtook him. I learned later that the rest of the pack did not realize that Pierce was running the marathon and thought he was a half marathoner.

James Kirwa, celebrating after crossing the finish line in first place.

At 20 miles, the lead pack was down to two runners. Kirwa and Edward Tabut. The two ran together until the last mile, when Kirwa, running very comfortably, broke way for the victory in 2:18:40. In October, Kirwa had his marathon debut and won the Des Moines marathon in 2:14:20, once again in Spira.

Ironically, Edward Tabut, who was the 2009 White Rock marathon champion while competing for Spira, elected to compete in Adidas this year. This is the fourth consecutive year that a runner competing in Spira footwear has won at least one major division of the White Rock Marathon. We have lost count of the many race and marathon victories in Spira both in the US and around the world!

As they say, “it’s gotta be the shoes!”

Check out the video below of James crossing the finish line from Dallas’ WFAA Channel 8 News.

Dave Egnatuk

I spent Saturday at Albion College in Albion, Michigan with at least 150 others to honor a man who impacted our lives in a most profound way. His favorite saying, “It’s a great day to be alive,” is the creed he imparts to anyone listening.

Saturday was Dave Egnatuk Day. He was the head track coach at Albion for 36 years. While his coaching accomplishments are remarkable, his lasting legacies are the long-standing relationships he’s built with his students and athletes. I’ve never lost touch with him.

We are all a product of circumstance.  In retrospect, Spira began sometime between 1980 to 1983 when I was under Dave’s wing as a student athlete.  It was there I developed a love for track and field that continues to this day.

That passion fueled the decision to leave behind a pretty good law career and start this little footwear company.

Thank you, Dave. Every day for me is a great day to be alive!!

During an early morning chat with Michael and Cookie Kupperman, recently retired Foot Solutions store owners, we learned what inspired them to carry Spira in their stores.

Cookie, who has her background in nursing, said that many medical professionals recommend Spira to Foot Solutions’ older clients, as well as to patients who need hip or knee replacements.

We are so grateful to the Kuppermans and our many other retailers who took us on in our earliest years and have helped us grow to where we are today.

Our booth at the Expo!

We have made it to Anaheim, along with two of our newest shoes! Stop by booth 303 at the Disneyland Hotel to check out the debut of the Spira Odyssey! We also have the Valencia on display.

The expo is open from 12-8pm today, 9am-6pm Saturday, followed by the half marathon on Sunday.

Find the full schedule of events at www.disneyenduranceseries.com.

We hope you’ll stop by and say hello!

Good luck to all the runners in the half marathon race on Sunday!

While at the Foot Solutions annual meeting in Atlanta, we had a chance to catch up with Ray Margiano, CEO and Founder of Foot Solutions.

Foot Solutions was an early adopter of Spira, carrying our shoes in our first few years of business. We are so grateful for all of their support. Watch Andy’s chat with Ray below.

This week we will travel to Anaheim for the Disneyland Half Marathon. This will be our third year as the Official Performance Footwear Sponsor of the event. I can state unequivocally that our Disney relationship has been among the most rewarding.

I can recall our first meeting with Disney. Holly and I traveled to Orlando to meet with a team of about 20 of the most creative and excited people we’ve ever met. The meeting included a brainstorming session run by a team at Disney whose sole job it was to ensure the best possible environment to stimulate the creative thought and interaction. It was the most positive meeting Holly and I have ever attended. Among other things, we came up with the idea for InSPIRAtional stories, which has come to define our relationships with people like Dick and Rick Hoyt, Arturo Barrios, and Hunter Kemper, and others.

Last year, I had the opportunity to run the half marathon race as a participant. I’ve never had such a great time! Running through the parks and Angels stadium was so much fun. The crowds were amazing and everyone was having a great time. I didn’t want the race to end!

Mary Akor crossing the finish in 2008 at Disneyland

The Disney expos are always well attended and fun for everyone. They give us the opportunity to visit with our customers and hear first hand their stories about why they run, and what motivates them. You can’t help but leave the event completely energized.

This year, we will use the Disneyland Expo to introduce our new running shoe, the Odyssey. We can’t think of a better place to launch a shoe over which there is such anticipation.

If you’re attending the event, please stop by to see us!

We were recently at the annual Foot Solutions meeting in Atlanta. While we were there, we had the opportunity to meet with and talk to several employees and store owners of Foot Solutions. We gathered a few testimonials from these Spira supporters to share!

Marjorie Bonsall is the Concept Founder of Foot Solutions International. She has been in the footwear industry for more than 40 years. Marj has proudly sold our shoes since the beginning of Spira Footwear. We are so grateful for all of her support.

While in Atlanta, Andy caught up with Scott Carey before he headed out for a run (in his Spira shoes, of course!)

Scott has been Spira’s VP of Sales for three years, and came to us with a long history in the footwear industry. He has previously worked at Brooks, Fila and spent 23 years with footwear giant, Nike. We are lucky to have him on our team!

I always stop in at our airport store on my way in and out of town. As I arrived back in town this weekend, I met a very pleasant man and his wife purchasing shoes.

As it turned out, the man was Carlos Leon, the former Chief of the El Paso Police Department.

About a year ago, I recalled hearing about a horrific motorcycle accident involving the Chief. He suffered broken ribs, arms, leg, and back and there was real concern as to whether he would survive.

Under the circumstances, I was surprised to see him without any outward appearance of injury.

He explained that his road to recovery has not been easy. He is held together by a series of titanium rods and plates, and he feels remarkably blessed to have survived the ordeal.  His positive attitude and quiet strength is truly inspiring.

He then let me in on one of his secrets: Spira shoes.

“I can’t make it through the day without these shoes,” he told me. “I know a lot of runners and athletes who use the shoes, but there may be an even greater benefit to people like me who suffer with massive injuries,” he continued. “This is my fourth pair, and I tell all my friends about them.”

People like Chief Leon are why all of us at Spira work so hard each day.  Our WaveSpring technology is truly amazing, and knowing that our shoes can help people in such a profound way is a wonderful feeling.

I want to thank Chief Leon for sharing his story with us and for putting a spring in Team Spira’s step!

Check out this video of Andy’s interview with The Chief.

One of Holly and my favorite movies of all time is “Tommy Boy,” the now classic 1995 film featuring the late Chris Farley and David Spade. The story tracks the adventures of Tommy Callaghan, who embarks on Midwestern road trip selling a new brake pad product to save his family’s business, Callaghan Auto, the largest employer in Sandusky, Ohio.

The story hits remarkably close to home, especially after spending the past week with our Midwest sales rep, Doug Burley introducing the new Spira products that are set to be introduced this fall. Doug and I visited 27 shoe stores in 5 days. We covered 1800 miles in four states; from small towns, like Delaware, Ohio, Monroe, Michigan, and Richmond, Indiana, to large metropolitan areas like Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis and Cleveland. (more…)