What do you do when you’re bored with extreme sports? That’s the question three men, Ulf Gartner, Sebastian Vanderwerf, and Miguel Delfortrie, were asking themselves when they came up with an idea: they’d learn to run on water. Now the men have put together a video of themselves running on water, which has gone viral. Some say it’s just an ad for the brand of shoes they’re wearing, Hi-Tec running shoes, but the three men remain undaunted, saying that their detractors are just saying nay.
“All throughout history people have been skeptical about progress. Copernicus tried to convince people the Earth was round. Not everyone believed Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon,” claims Gartner. “We decided to chase after that epic goal and do what people have tried to do for centuries. After seeing a lizard doing it, we realized we would find a way. It was an amazing experience – like nothing you have ever done before.”
The trick, the men say, is in the scissors-like stride they use to navigate those 9-10 steps on nothing but water. For their part, Hi-Tec Poland claims they are merely sponsoring the men, not using them as an ad campaign: “Hi-Tec Poland was contacted by these guys and has supplied a few pairs of shoes and some apparel as ‘sponsorship’ for their crazy new sport,” before adding: “We do not recommend anyone to try walking on a liquid surface.”
Tags: Ulf Gartner, Sebastian Vanderwerf, Miguel Delfortrie, men running on water, optical illusions, shoe company advertisement, Hi-Tec Poland, Hi-Tec running shoes, shoe ads, viral videos, free running