ALTRA

The brand's story begins when its founders, Golden Harper and Brian Beckstead, met in high school in 1998. The two young men shared a passion for running and outdoor adventures.

Golden's parents ran a running store, which further sparked his curiosity about running. It was this curiosity that led him to create the "Zero Drop" concept, which he achieved by heating existing models in a toaster oven, cutting the midsole, and leveling the cushioning platform so there was no drop from heel to toe. This experiment received rave reviews, so Golden and Brian set to work creating a new kind of running shoe.

Brian decided to mortgage his father's house to create his first trail running shoe prototype and run the Wasatch 100. It was at mile 94 when, with zero blisters and several hours under his time from the previous year, he realized how successful the Altra brand was going to be and that they were going to change the world of running.

In 2011, after years of testing and tweaking prototypes, they decided to launch their 3-core Altra technology: FootShapeTM, Zero DropTM, and Fit4HerTM.

As soon as they were released, they began receiving awards and numerous positive reviews, making Altra a benchmark brand in the world of running and trail running.