10 questions for…

 1. What is your role at Vivobarefoot?

Head of Community & Education

2. How long have you been involved with ÖTILLÖ?

Vivo have been supporting and trying to help grow the sport for 8 years, and for 7 of those I’ve been able to visit races across UK, EU and the USA.

3. Have you done Swimrun races yourself?

I took part in my first race 7 years ago at the Final 15k! I haven’t looked back and been fortunate enough to race in almost every ÖTILLÖ location!

4. What is the idea behind Vivo Health?

VivoHealth is an online platform for Natural Health. We have created online courses, health assessment tools and a global workshops program to help provide information and practical advice on feet, movement and all aspects of health. Do check out our webpage.

5. How is the concept of Vivo Health aligned with ÖTILLÖ?

VivoHealth is all about helping people realise their human potential through natural health practices. ÖTILLÖ embodies that through movement, connecting with nature and community – all core principles for VivoHealth.

6. Vivobarefoot used to say “Don’t run in our shoes!” – what was the background to that?

Most modern shoes restrict natural foot function and movement and as a result many suffer from weak feet. Using Vivobarefoot during strenuous activity like running requires your feet and body to be conditioned to that movement – it can take time to build up the natural foot strength and mobility to be able to run without cushioned support. When you do the benefits can be profound, both for performance and injury rates. Plus it feels great feeling the trails beneath your feet.

Research show that wearing Vivobarefoot footwear for 70% of the time over a 6 month increases foot strength by 60%. The benefits to all runners is in everyday use of the footwear, and when your feet feel ready we encourage people to move onto running in them. Start slow, and build up – you’ll be thankful when you feel connected to the trail through your Hydra’s!

7. Your shoes are very popular with trailrunners, why?

Feeling is everything when you’re on the trail – with uneven surfaces and ever-changing terrain, the sensory feedback you get from your feet to the brain can be your most important asset. Unlike cushioned trail shoes, you feel everything on the trail with Vivo’s – helping improve balance, performance and most importantly it will change how you feel and interact with the outdoors.

8. Will we see you at an ÖTILLÖ event this year?

Absolutely – some of the new USA races look amazing, with San Juan islands being one of the most beautiful spots you’ll all get to race on this year. See you on the trail!

9. What exciting product innovations Do Vivo have coming up?

We are in the midst of launching VivoBiome – our new made to order 3D printed footwear project. It’s a groundbreaking initiative headed up by our co-founder Asher Clark, that will involve scanning your feet for a bespoke fit, ordering customised footwear with local supply chains printing 3D footwear and sending to your door. I recommend checking out the project on our website.

10. Vivo has always been focused on sustainability. Any news here?

We recently recertified as a B-Corp reaching a new and improved score of 119.3, which we are all proud of. There is plenty more work to do to realise our regenerative mission. I’d recommend reading our annual impact report called Unfinished Business if you wanted to pull the curtain back, and see what we’ve been up too.