Vimazi Designs Running Shoes Tuned To Pace

New running shoe brand Vimazi calls the release of their first batch of shoes “pace-tuned,” tailored to a specific runners’ pace zone. It’s new and CEO Scott Tucker says physics shows that it works.

“When I found the mathematical connection between force and running, the vision for how to make a better shoe just came to me,” he says. “It was so different from what had been done before and promised to be so much better, that it had real potential to succeed, and I got excited about great business potential.”

For the initial launch, which has been years in the making, Vimazi announced the Z40 (6:15 to 7:45 minute mile pace), Z50 (7:15 to 8:45), Z60 (8:30 to 10:30) and Z70 (10:00 to 12:30) styles are now available online and will hit some Pacific Northwest retailers this spring. Additional trail and walking shoes are slated for later in 2023.

Tucker says each Vimazi shoe shares the same pace-tuned technology of the heel being softer than the forefoot. Then each shoe differs from others according to the pace zone. “Nobody else does anything like this,” he says. “What it means for you is the maximum shock absorption and minimum energy loss at push off.”

He says that a shoe responds to the forces placed on it. Because of how the foot works in running, that means Tucker reversed the typical industry norm and opted for a softer heel than forefoot. “We decided we wanted better cushioning without losing so much energy,” he says.

The pace zone determines the cushioning specs for each model, but the shoes are also tuned for stability, traction and durability. For example, the Z60 and Z70 have a wider base with more outsole coverage and additional heel reinforcement compared to the Z40 and Z50, features that suit the needs of runners at those paces.

During research, Tucker says they learned plenty about impact forces, including that the “shape and value of the impact force over time can be calculated precisely from your run cadence, weight and pace, but there is a limit to how much you can cushion the impact.”

No matter how thick a shoe’s cushioning, there’s a point where it no longer has a practical benefit, a point that Tucker says they can calculate precisely. Tucker also says he believes that the concept of energy return, which is used prominently within the running industry, is “physically impossible during running, no matter how slow or fast or uphill or downhill you go. The energy of impact has to go somewhere and if it doesn’t get temporarily stored in a spring, then it must get dissipated as heat.”

Tucker says he understands people will object to his view on impact forces because of their prevalence in the industry, but says mathematics backs him and led him toward creating Vimazi.

“The idea that you can put energy into a shoe, and it will make you faster by returning more energy violates the law of energy conservation,” he says. “We’ve tuned the densities of the heel versus the forefoot in each of our models, so they compress optimally to forces of the impact and propulsion phases of the stride—which vary according to the pace you run. Doing this delivers more shock absorption at impact and minimizes energy loss at push-off.”

While each of the pace-tuned models has a unique underfoot design, Tucker says they still worked to make the fit consistent so runners can have differing shoes to accommodate different workouts. “If you wear the Z30 for your speed work,” he says, “you know that you can get the Z60 for an easier long run and it will fit your foot the same.”