adidas Adipure Trainers joins the barefoot runners

Adidas have entered the barfoot running race with the release of their first "barefoot" training shoe. Called, Adipure Trainers, it was designed to mimic the experience of exercising barefoot and serves as a cross between a glove for the feet and a traditional shoe. Adidas hopes to expand into the U.S. where fanatical runners and gym-goers love the minimum footwear. From a corporate perspective barefoot shoes make up a tiny fraction of the $22 billion U.S. athletic shoe industry, but it is one of the fast-growing categories. Sales have more than doubled in the past year to roughly $750 million, according to SportsOneSource. The practice of running in barefoot has not been without controversy with a significant number of barefoot shoe wearers reporting injuries. Manufacturers encourage runners to gradually make the switch form tradional runners to barefoot shoes. Rival, Nike is the world's biggest athletic company and has roughly 65 percent of the market. Vibram has about 10 percent of the market with its Five-Finger shoe, which encases each toe separately and has come to define the style.