Inov-8 is a famous brand for trail running shoes with its headquarters in the Lake District of England. I stayed the Lake District a year and worked with members of Inov-8. Even though I was transferred to such a company, I really hate running. Even now, a year later, I’m not so good at running, but now I’m using a lot of Inov-8 shoes. I will explain how a man who hates running became a fan of trail running brand Inov-8.
How do you read “Inov-8”?
I learned about the Inov-8 brand four years ago. Until then, I was in another industry, but since I loved sports, I moved to the sports industry, but the first thing I saw was this logo. “Is it a brand called Inov?” That was the first thing that came to my mind.
Although I like sports, I hate running. I played soccer more than 30 years ago when I was a university student, but I hated running just to run without kicking the ball as a reaction to the hard running training. Moreover, I was not very good at cross-country training, so I never thought of doing trail running in the mountains, so that I did not know Inov-8 at all.
After I heard that bland is making “Innovative” shoes with light, flexible which gives a feeling of barefoot, I understood that the number 8 is made into the shape of a foot and then read as Inov-eight.
Even after I heard that brand was very famous in trail-running industry and creating unique light and flexible shoes with good grip, I just felt that it was somebody else’s business.
This is the story about three years ago. I didn’t even think I would go to the Lake District at that time.
What’s this shoe!! It doesn’t slip on wet grass field!!
I heard from a friend who runs trail running, “The Inov-8 shoes are really good.”, I decided to try Inov-8 shoes. What I bought was Flyrock 345 GTX, and reason why I purchased was completely different purpose than running, because they are waterproof and have a design that makes them perfect for business trips and everyday use. I liked the design and it was easy to wear, so I used it as a shoe for everyday use on weekends.
One day, I had an soccer game on the weekend at grass field of an university, but since we just borrow this field from university, we were not allowed to use soccer spikes. I took running shoes that I could use on the lawn. However, it rained just before the game, and in the wet grass field, the running shoes with proper anti-slip on the outsole doesn’t work – it slippery and I couldn’t play at all. At that time, I suddenly remembered that I came to the ground with Inov-8 shoes, and changed shoes to Inov-8. To my surprise, I could play soccer without slipping at all!! I realized that this grip is great, but at that time it was that far. I haven’t had any experience of playing soccer without spikes on a rainy grass ground since then, and I have been using Inov-8 as everyday use shoes.
After this, Inov-8 developed a product that uses a material called Graphene to further enhance grip. Inov-8 named new out-sole using Graphene as G-Grip and it become the mainstream of Inov-8 products. All the products I try after this are G-Grip products.
After a long walk in the Lake District – I don’t feel tired with these shoes!!
I was such a person, so even after being assigned to Inov-8 last year, I politely refused even if the local member invited me to run together. I just liked walking, so I bought one of Inov-8’s hiking shoes, Roclite 315 GTX, and walked around the beautiful scenery of the Lake District every weekend.
One day I was so surprised to see the distance I walked – I was walking more than 20 km a day!!
I used to like walking, so I often walked a long distance, but after walking 20 km a day, my legs should have become tired and my muscles had become sore the next day. I didn’t think I walked so long because I didn’t feel it. One of the biggest reason why I didn’t feel tired was probably because of trust in grip. When walking on wet slope or slippery rock, I normally tend to be tense, but since I had absolute confidence in the grip of the shoes, I walked without having such tension. In addition to that, thanks to the highly flexible soft out-sole, the sole of the foot absorbs unevenness even if you walk on uneven ground, so the burden on your thighs is reduced, and because it is a light shoe, it does not put a burden on your feet. I think those were the reason why I wasn’t tired.
When I was in the Lake District, I used to walk 10-15 km on weekdays and 20-30 km on holidays. Thanks to Inov-8 shoes and charm of walking in the Lake District helped to support such a lifestyle.
My toes are free with this shoes!!
Then, I would like to try another product. Roclite series is recommended for hiking, but Terraultra G260 is recommended for running. It is a zero drop shoes that has no difference in height between heel and toe which give me a feeling of bare feet.It was a very popular shoes among Inov-8 fan, so when I tried this, another surprise this time.
Being able to walk without getting tired is the same as Roclite, but when you wear these shoes and walk, you feel as if your toes spread out in the shoes. Originally, this shoe is the widest in the Inov-8 product line, but the shape of the shoe, which gives importance to the bare foot sensation, may have given me that feeling. I have a big toe bunions, but wearing these shoes makes my fingers loose and comfortable. It makes me feel that if I wear these shoes for a long time, my bunion may be healed. Unfortunately, this shoes is not waterproof, so it’s a bit difficult to use for everyday use, but it’s great as a walking companion on sunny days. The comfort that makes you think that you may run with these shoes. In fact, after I started wearing these shoes, I started to do some jogging. (However, it was almost like walking fast, like running 5 km in 40 minutes…)
Inov-8 was one of the first company to introduce this zero-drop shoe concept more than 10 years ago. It is a concept that is completely opposite to the repulsive force using the thick soles and springs used in the speed competition of marathons in the world nowadays, so it is not expressed so much, but this is a ideal shoes for guy like me – who likes casual walking and hiking – because of it is comfortable on the feet and even maintaining good feet condition while walking.
Inov-8 shoes have many other attractions besides what I wrote here. I would like to take up each of these charms in the future.
Above all, the members who gather at Inov-8 are attractive.
In this way, a man who didn’t know how to read the Inov-8 logo started to be fascinated by the charm of shoes and tried various shoes, and became a fan of Inov-8 products. But more than that, what I like about this brand is the charm of the members who gather there.
Inov-8 is headquartered in a small town called Staveley in the Lake District, but the staff gathering there is coming from a completely different area. The members who are gathering not only from the UK but also from overseas, they all love trail running, they are young in heart and body who want to deliver the best products to those who do trail running. And the members who love the Lake District, are very conscious of protecting the natural environment, and enjoy the environment in which they work. Working with them was very fun and pleasant. Shoes that such attractive members are trying to deliver as a best trail running shoes is also a best walking shoes for man like me who has no intention of doing trail running. I would like to tell you about more detail in this blog in the future.
Thank you for reading this blog. In this page I summarized the story of how a man hated running became a fan of the trail running brand Inov-8. I hope you understand that the Inov-8 products are not only sharp products for top runners, but also attractive to ordinary people like me. In the future, I plan to put together a little more detailed product story and story behind the development. If you have a request to hear this kind of story, please feel free to comment.