2013 Outdoor Retailer Show - Sole

On the last day of the 2013 Outdoor Retailer Show I was doing my final passes through various booths seeing if I’d missed anything or anyone. Throughout the four days I was there, I was subliminally bludgeoned by Sole insoles’ marketing ploy of putting posters up in all the bathrooms at the center. Sure enough, there I was, a captive audience while I stood there at a urinal reading about Ed Viesturs, Dean Karnazes and Chris Davenport and their signature insoles. Like a lightening bolt, I suddenly realized that in my beat up running kicks on my feet I had a pair of Sole insoles circa 2000. I wondered if anyone at the booth would be amused.

12+ years on these puppies and still going strong!Minimalist movement aside, I’ve used various brands of insoles over the years. I did the custom thing in the mid 90’s but since then have found that I can do just fine with over the counter models and save a ton. Not all soles are created equal, of course, and I’ve seen what happens to crappy brands as they disintegrate in my shoes. Nothing comes close to the quality of Sole in terms of fit and durability. Thirteen years of abuse bare this out.

So, off I went in search of their booth. Now, by Saturday morning, the fourth day of the show, most of the reps in house are punch drunk from constant interaction with dorks like me. I had low expectations. When I walked into the booth, two lovely young ladies who still had enough mojo with which to suffer my advances greeted me. I mentioned that I thought they might be amused by what was in my shoes and, indeed, showed a surprising amount of enthusiasm for my beat up foot beds. Not only that, they posed for pictures and asked me to stick around until the owner returned.

Yeah, that's right. Dean freakin' Karnazes in my shoes! Hell yeah!

....and Dav, the man, keeping my dogs warm this winter.He was equally impressed with the mileage I managed to eke out of them and insisted I replace them at his expense, for which I had no argument. When I mentioned I was a skier, the girls found a pair of Dav’s foot beds to try. I was psyched. I spent some additional time with the owner talking about how the company reconciles the use of their products with the whole minimalist movement in running. That’s another post waiting to happen. Needless to say, I really enjoyed my time with these guys and appreciate their generosity.

Here’s a shout out to Eman Safadi and her priceless photo bomb. You ROCK!