INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Thousands of runners headed downtown over the weekend and laced up their sneakers to run the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.
But one particular runner’s routine was a little different. He didn’t bother lacing up his shoes at the starting line. That’s because his shoes didn’t have laces.
Utah native Benjamin Pachev, 18, ran the mini-marathon in Crocs. No, he didn’t forget his running shoes. He actually chose to run in Crocs, and the shoe choice definitely didn’t slow him down.
“People look over at me and say what the heck are you thinking?” he said
Pachev came in 16th place with an official time of 1:11:53.
500 Festival Communication Director Sabrina List says he’s also very smart. He already has a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from BYU.
His dad, Alexander Pachev, who goes by the nickname Sasha, also ran the mini-marathon in Crocs with an incredible time of 1:16:07. He claims to be the fastest father of ten in the half marathon.
Pachev says he encouraged the family to start wearing Crocs after realizing that running shoes for all 10 of his kids would be too expensive. With Crocs, he says they save money, while also making use of an effective running shoe.
“And we find the cheapest colors. If they’re hot pink and that’s the cheapest color we buy it,” he said.
Benjamin says the family finds Crocs to be effective because they don’t cause blisters on their feet,and also keep their feet cool.
“It’s like having a little fan that’s just streaming air over your foot,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin says the shoes are also fairly durable, lasting roughly 2,000 miles of before showing any signs of wearing down. He says he currently he runs about 65 miles per week.
