Flexible athletic shoe

Abstract

A shoe is provided including a standard upper and a sole, with the sole comprising a base extending from the toe of the shoe to the heel of the shoe with a plurality of cleats subtending from the sole. The forward edge of the cleats subtends from the sole rearwardly at a predetermined angle from the vertical of the basic sole surface. Preferably, the rearward edge of the cleat is substantially flat. This provides an action whereby, when the wearer is running, the foot will strike the ground and the cleats will bend backward allowing the foot to continue its forward motion until it reaches a more gradual stop than normally occurs in any other running shoe. Additionally, there is provided a means for continually venting a shoe while it is being worn, and which may be used with the above described shoe or independently in other shoes.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.