Article by Michael Ellenberger with Sam Winebaum
Update: Enda successfully reached their initial Kickstarter goal! Fortunately, the Lapatet will continue to be offered at the discounted ($100) price through the life of the Kickstarter campaign, so those seeking a discount would be wise to back it!
Introduction
Michael: Enda is a brand we’ve quickly become fond of here at RoadTrailRun; their first-generation, made-in-Kenya running shoe (the $95 lightweight trainer, the Enda Iten was one of my surprise favorites of 2018 (RTR Review).
I did a large portion of my marathon build up in the Iten before my marathon PR in Austin (2:31), and the wider toebox and low-drop profile allowed it to function as aggressively as you wanted. Sure, it was a little too rigid for those really easy days, but for the vast majority of my runs, the lightweight trainer was the perfect class of shoe, and the Iten a strong example.
Sam: There is much more to Enda than just fine run shoes. The company was founded to, and is focused on, bringing as much as possible of its production to Kenya, arguably the heart and heart beat of running. Enda seeks to help grow the local economy through making high value added state of the art products while training workers for the skills required to build and market a globally distributed running product. So the mission is more than just creating great running shoes.
Michael: Enter the Lapatet, now on Kickstarter here and almost fully subscribed, so head on over ASAP. Where the Iten was simple, stripped down, and clearly a first-generation product (the upper being comfortable but, in my pre-production pair, clearly affixed by glue), the Lapatet could be, absent the logo, the newest offering from Brooks, Saucony or Nike. And it will feature an ever increasing portion of the production costs (40%) to be Kenyan, when few shoes assembled in the US even come close.
The ribbed-knit upper is unlike any we’ve found (and knit uppers have become the craze around the running world of late).
Sprinkled throughout are Enda’s nods to their Kenyan heritage (and present-day life!) - flag-colored eyelets, a fabric-accented tongue, the Iten’s Kenyan-inspired outsole, and more. It’s hard to open lace the shoe and not be impressed, even in comparison to the Iten.
Sam: co-founders Weldon Kennedy and Navalayo Osembo present the technical and cultural details of the Lapatet in the YouTube below (will embed full video in Blogger)
The Lapatet incorporates multiple subtle Kenyan cultural hints from nature, heritage and everyday life.
The shoe name, Lapatet comes from one of Kenya’s 40 languages and means Run. The upper’s wave pattern reminds of Kenya’s landscapes: ocean, clouds, and wind on the savannah.
The handmade tongue fabric and the pull tab remind of everyday Kikoi fabric used to carry babies and other loads.
Underfoot we see the word Harambee which means: “All Pull Together”.
The deep decoupling groove has a topographical map of the Rift Valley, home to some many great runners.
The darker gray version features red and green eyelets reminding of the Kenyan flag. All the eyelets are stitched in Kenya.
Michael: Enda has pulled out all the stops for the Lapatet. As much is apparent from the Kickstarter pages alone - whereas the Enda Kickstarter was more about the company than the product (and rightfully so), the Lapatet’s page highlights the best-in-class specifications of the trainer, the build quality, and the design choices to make it competitive in the marketplace. This is less of a prototype and more of a flagship. But looks - and advertisements - aren’t everything, so Sam and I gave the Lapatet a thorough test to see if this Kenyan-made runner could live up to the hype!
Pros:
Pros:
- Extremely premium feeling (and looking) trainer, build-quality is high
- Very well but cushioned with a 30mm/24mm stack without feeling clunky or mushy or weighing much (9.2 oz.!)
- Very easy to transition and toe off.
- Knit upper is slightly too thick, may be hot in the summer months
- Sam: the end of the seam running from the toe to the first lace on medial side is thick and irritates a bit where seam meets laces.
