Patent ID: 7082700

Claim:
A shoe comprising: a forward region, a heel region, a mid-foot region located between the forward region and the heel region, a medial side, a lateral side, and a width between the medial and lateral sides; an upper; a bottom surface, at least a portion of which is ground-engaging; a plate, at least a portion of the plate extending across a majority of the width of the shoe between the upper and the bottom surface; and an upwardly inclined wall defining at least in part an aperture that extends through the bottom surface of the shoe beneath at least a portion of the plate, the aperture allowing at least a portion of the plate to be in air communication with the outside of the shoe through the bottom surface of the shoe, the aperture having a vertical central axis generally centered along the width of the shoe, the upwardly inclined wall having an upper perimeter with a distance around the vertical central axis of the aperture and a lower perimeter with a distance around the vertical central axis of the aperture, the distance around the upper perimeter of the upwardly inclined wall being less than the distance around the lower perimeter of the upwardly inclined wall, the upwardly inclined wall being inclined from the lower perimeter toward the upper perimeter, the upwardly inclined wall being made of a material, the bottom surface of the shoe in the heel region being made of a material different from the material of the upwardly inclined wall.