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UK Gear’s training shoes were originally designed in association with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC). These elite fitness professionals were closely involved in the development and tested our products in some of the most inhospitable conditions on Earth. Only when approved by the Military do we consider our products... Built to survive.

PT-03 - Running Fitness Magazine : Army endorsed shoe ready for action

>>01 December 2004

UK Gear have unveiled their first foray into the running shoe market.

The brand, which comes from a background of producing purpose made kit for sports teams including the Scottish and Welsh Commonwealth Games teams, have developed their shoe with the input of the British Army.

The PT-03 was made after UK Gear approached the army to see if it would be prepared to help with the development of a running shoe. The shoe, which will sell for £80 is the first commercial product to be developed with the British Army and will carry the British Army logo as well as UK Gear's.

David Hinde, the MD of UK Gear said: "We want UK Gear to become a major British sports brand and to achieve that you need to be successful in foot wear as well as sportswear."

He said the input of the army fitness instructors had been valuable and he believed people would see that for a shoe to be endorsed by the British Army fitness professionals it must have good credibility.

Lt Col Phil Watkins, the most senior physical training instructor in the army said: "We started with a blank piece of paper and asked 'what did we need' and 'what did we want' if this was the perfect shoe?"

The army's involvement was to help test and develop a shoe designed for performance and high mileage training - not to design a shoe necessarily tailored to the needs of the average British Army soldier. Hence the reason it was the Physical Training staff involved rather than other soldiers.

We took the shoe out for a test run with Army PTI Paddy Patton - himself a sub 2hr 30 marathon runner, so no typical soldier.

Paddy was one of those involved in the testing of the earlier versions of the shoe.

Our verdict? We have put the shoe out for our full test process but the first few runs seem to show that UK Gear have come up with a trustworthy and reliable shoe. There is decent cushioning and good support, combined with good traction on and off-road and a surprisingly responsive feel.

Website: www.runningfitnessmag.com