A runaway success
With more than 40,000 participants and about 100,000 spectators, the Berlin Marathon is Germany's largest urban marathon, and almost every other large city hosts a similar event, because running is now in. Running shoes must be able to withstand high stress. VESTAMID® from Evonik makes running shoes tough and protects joints and muscles.
A polymer for high performance
For both marathoners and hobby runners, it's not smooth asphalt and sidewalks all the way; they must also negotiate woodland trails, mud, and dirt. The requirements placed on running shoes are high: They should fit properly as well as be robust enough for training and light enough for competition. Additionally, the shoe structure should impede the natural flow of movement as little as possible. In VESTAMID®, Evonik Industries offers renown sports equipment manufacturers a high performance polymer that satisfies these requirements exactly.
Tough
VESTAMID®, a special molding compound based on polyamide 12 and polyamide 12 elastomers, withstands the highest mechanical stresses and is flexible and dimensionally stable. This high performance polymer is resistant to weathering caused by rain, snow, and mud as well as to extreme temperatures. Running shoes should be light, and from this angle, too, VESTAMID® is the right choice of material. The low density of polyamide 12 molding compounds results in a weight saving of one kilogram for a 100-meter sprinter.
As if on air
Most importantly, the perfect running shoe has the right cushioning in the sole to support the work of the muscles and joints. Various grades of VESTAMID® are usually used for the midsole and outsole, where they provide optimal cushioning. The shoe must keep the foot as comfortable as possible on a hard surface while also satisfying the criteria for the sport in question. Various combinations of materials are used in shoe design, depending on the type of sport and the stress on the shoe.
Something for everyone
The right shoe structure plays a vital role in sporting performance; it's not for nothing that
each sport has its own special shoe. High performance polymers from Evonik are used in many
different types of sports shoe from cycling shoes, whose soles need to be particularly rigid, to
fencing shoes, which must have excellent friction and abrasion properties. And VESTAMID® is, in
more than one sense, right on the ball when soccer players throughout the world take a goal kick.
Like sportspersons themselves, the market is always on the move. The relentless pursuit of new
records poses continual challenges for producers and their suppliers. Whatever the next generation
of sports shoes looks like, with VESTAMID® from Evonik it will undoubtedly be a runaway success.
