Day 1: A Seed And A Star...

By Frank

I missed the adidas Seeding Shoe Program last year as I just started my running career and didn’t know too much about it. But come this year, after being in running for a steady slightly more than a year, it’s no way that I’m going to miss it again. And so it came when I learnt of it from der_pacemakers network site and decided that it is just too important for me. I quickly e-mailed Krishnan and made an appointment with him. Below is the announcement he made for the program.

I have some good news for runners who blogs or having their own webpage.

adidas had brought in some very high performance technical running shoes to be given away to runners to wear-test them & given us their very frank & unprejudiced opinion about the shoes after 30 days of usage. The sizes are limited and I have them in size UK 5.5 , 7.5 , 8.5 & 10.5.

Those wishing to possess these shoes will have to comply with the following terms & condition :
1 ) Come to the adidas office to fit the shoes.
2 ) Undertake to give comment about the shoes after 30 days of usage.
3 ) Must be a blogger or has his/her own website.

If you are interested pls make an appointment with me or my partners Mori Hiroshi as detailed below :

Office address:
adidas Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Block B , Level 4, Plaza Damansara
45 Media Setia 1 Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur
Tel Office : 03 - 20804843 / 20804876

Contact Person ( 1 )Krishnan Karuppan - Mobile : 012 - 3503668
E-Mail : krishnan.karuppan@adidas.com

Contact Person ( 2 )Mori Hiroshi
E-mail : Hiroshi.mori@adidas.com

This offer expires on 22nd February 2008

Best Regards
Krishnan Karuppan
Head of Running adidas Malaysia

And just this morning, I met the man. Krishnan was very kind to present me with a variety of shoes ranging from year 2007 to some of the newly released year 2008 models. Not only did he presented them to me, he even explained each shoes and it's technolgy to me which further deepen my knowledge. I brought him my foot scan report I obtained from Foot Solutions and he did some explanations which was very valuable. And after trying out a few models he selected for me, my feet finally decided that the adidas adistar Cushion 6th edition is the one. It was launched back in early year 2007 so it isn’t a new model as the 7th edition is already out now. Nevertheless, I didn’t mind as long the shoe suits me and it is comfortable. It is still now available at an adidas store near you retailing at RM529. The shoe is almost entirely white in colour as the lime green colour is very light. To give it a more futuristic look, hints of silver were used together with the reflective materials. And here's a few picture of it.

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The shoe tag...

Although a sample, there is no difference with the real shoe...

The name says it all...

The adidas adistar Cushion 6...

With the weather being unkind today, I couldn’t train and so I can’t debut the adidas adistar Cushion 6 on the road yet. So, I decided to wear it and walk around in the house. Therefore, here’s an early impression I have on the shoe.

Pros
1) Feels great with lots of cushioning provided.
2) Lots of reflective material making the shoe suitable for running in dark areas.
3) Laces are just of the correct length unlike the short ones on the adidas adizero Tempo.

Cons
1) A bit heavy as I am used to the adidas Supernova Cushion 6 and adidas adizero Tempo.

And here’s the technology that was used in the adidas adistar Cushion 6 as explained by Krishnan.
adiPRENE: Acts as the main absorber to absorb the impact on the heel, thus preventing it from travelling up the leg muscles.
adiPRENE +: Just like the adiPRENE, this material is used to protect the forefoot instead and to provide toe-off.
adiWEAR: A durable outsole used at high impact areas.
FORMOTION: Acts as a suspension system and has 2 plates that moves around, adapting to the ground to improve on the feet’s movement. And with 2 plates, wear and tear is kept to a minimum.
geoFiT: A padding around the ankle area that enhances fit and comfort.
quickstrike: A material used on the shoe base to provide a light yet durable outsole.
TORSION SYSTEM: Acts as a foot stabilizer by providing arch support.
noseam: Instead of stitching, the upper is molded together thus eliminating the chances of blisters and also to provide a “in-socks” feel.

The adiPRENE material at the heel area...

The 2 FORMOTION plates...

Look, no stitching...

The adidas adistar Cushion 6 is a categorised as a Serious Competition and Training shoe, in between both my adidas Supernova Cushion 6 and adidas adizero Tempo. But no matter how serious it is, it all comes down to my run. And it's just 30 days to find out.

And finally, a very BIG THANK YOU to Krishnan and adidas for making all this possible.