BÄR HighPerformance 2.5 : “The official shoe
of the Badwater Ultramarathon 2008

The history of the HighPerformance 2.5

Our test tracks:
ultramarathons all over the world

The history of the HighPerformance 2.5

Every July, Death Valley in California / USA is the hottest place on earth. As there are no conditions like it anywhere else, leading international automobile manufacturers test their new developments here. Which is why we also decided to make use of extreme conditions to develop the perfect running shoe: the Badwater Ultramarathon, the toughest race on earth. We put the experience of our runners straight into our shoes without any compromises. This is what we were shocked to find out: a large number of runners (all of them top international athletes) suffer injuries and pain, particularly in the toe area. This often leads to a runner having to pull out of a race, or at least having to have breaks and change his/her shoes frequently. Some of them even have to cut open the front of their running shoes to give their toes the space they naturally need. Our aim was to prevent this with a well thought-out design and a generous toe zone. What we also found out was that a third of all runners would like to train “barefoot” more often because running barefoot is the best way of training the muscles in your feet. BÄR integrated this “barefoot effect” in the HighPerformance.

The BÄR HighPerformance 2.5 – a shoe in motion!

In July in Death Valley the air temperature is 50°C, ground temperature 80°C. The Badwater Ultramarathon is 217 km of non-stop tarmac, three mountain ranges and a cumulative ascent and descent of 4,000 m. In 2007 84 athletes started this legendary race. 78 made it to the finishing line. Each of them changed their shoes about 6 – 12 times on average because their feet simply could not take the pressure. The best German participant started the race in the new HighPerformance 2.5 and finished the race without aching feet and without having to change his shoes once. Fantastic.

Due to this unique test result both in terms of the material and the functionality of the shoe, the Badwater Ultramarathon and BÄR decided to embark on a partnership in 2008 to make this concept more accessible to a greater number of runners.