150 Race in Heels for Fashion

By Irina Titova

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: July 18, 2012 (Issue # 1718)

KRISTINA FATINA / SPT A participant prepares to cross the finish line in the Stiletto Race on Saturday.

At least 150 young women took part in St. Petersburg’s Stiletto Race, an annual sporting and entertainment event held by Glamour magazine, on Saturday.

Women from St. Petersburg and other cities came to show off their athletic abilities, favorite shoes and sense of humor.

According to the rules of the competition, the women had to run 50 meters on shoes with heels no less than nine centimeters high.

It proved a difficult trek for some of the contestants, with some of them falling down and grazing their knees and arms.

Ksenia Soldatkina, an 18-year-old student, said she had dreamed of taking part in the event for a long time.

“To prepare for this competition my two sisters and I practiced running in high heels starting July 5. I must say it’s difficult, but it’s thrilling to push yourself,” Soldatkina said.

Irina Buryak, a 23-year-old accountant and former dancer, who had her stilettos taped onto her feet, said she always wears high-heeled shoes and goes running every evening to keep in shape. She wanted to see if she could win the competition.

Young moms also participated in the event. One participant had a two-year-old child and a three-month-old baby who stayed with their father while he took photographs of his wife running the distance.

Maria Fyodorova, editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine, said the first high heel race was held in Amsterdam in 2006. Among the event’s first participants were 150 women and one man. Since that time the competition has been held all around the world, she said, including in Sweden, the U.S. and South Africa. In Russia the event was held for the sixth time in both Moscow and St. Petersburg this year, Fyodorova said.

Fyodorova said the aim of such events was not only to entertain, but also to encourage people to treat the idea of fashion with a bit of humor.

“We’re not calling for anyone to make a cult out of fashion. Instead we encourage people to regard both fashion and themselves with a healthy sense of humor,” Fyodorova said.

Fyodorova said that women had never sustained any serious injuries during Glamour’s competitions.

“We always have doctors on hand at our events and, unlike Holland’s Hooftstraat stiletto run, we make our tracks in Moscow and St. Petersburg even and cover them with a special athletic covering,” Fyodorova said.

Fyodorova said many women train for the competition in advance.

The competition does not focus on creating records, but a woman who ran the distance in Moscow this year completed the race in 6.75 seconds.

The doctors on duty during the local race said at least 12 young women received minor medical treatment after the event, primarily for grazes.

They added, however, that in general running in high heels is not very safe and could result in broken bones if one is unlucky.

Meanwhile, the winners of the event got not only the title of the fastest fashionmongers, but prizes as well. The winner received 100,000 rubles ($3,000) from Glamour to spend shopping online at LaModa. The two runners-up received 50,000- and 30,000-ruble ($1,500 and $920) prizes to shop online.