Athalonz, a 2014 startup based in Mesa, offers first-of-their-kind shoes as a wearable tech product in a field that includes the Apple Watch, Antelope Sportswear and Motus Baseball Sleeve — notable gadgets that have been made to monitor and boost an athlete’s health and performance. Athalonz shoes use physics and kinematics to maximize athletic performance, reducing stress on joints and providing optimal athletic positioning to help players perform their best. They serve as a performance enhancement tool rather than a piece of apparel.
Tim Markison, a prolific inventor with more than 260 patented inventions in his name, brought his technical/biotechnical skills to create Athalonz shoes. He has a Bachelor of Science in engineering, as well as a law degree, and, using his engineering and baseball background, incorporated physics and kinematics when creating the shoe to develop the Athalonz-patented Optimal Athletic Positioning sole, which naturally shifts the body’s weight onto the inside of the user’s legs, increasing power by 9 percent or more.
He also worked with a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon and sports scientist to test the shoes to ensure they performed up to their standards before hitting the market.
Athalonz’s biggest challenge is marketing, Markison says, noting that the functioning of the shoes is based on the laws of physics and takes a goodly amount of math to explain, making it difficult for Athalonz to convey its messages via conventional social media.
“By shifting the body’s interaction with the ground, many people experience less ankle, knee, hip and/or back pain,” Markison explains. “The combination of having more power to play better and less pain makes a person feel better and to have more confidence. This creates an individual positive shift in the mind and soul.”
Humanitarian efforts are also a core part of the business. Athalonz donates 5 percent if its gross profits to the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation (www.linkedin.com/company/joe-torre-safe-at-home-foundation), a cause to which Markison is personally committed, having been a victim of physical and sexual child abuse. “With customers supporting Athalonz, they are also directly supporting our efforts to prevent child abuse and to help victims recover from the physical, emotional and spiritual scars that abuse left. Such support creates individual and world-wide positive shifts in mind, body and soul.”
Says Markison, “Being innovative with marketing is time consuming and full of trial-and-error. But we are continuing to find the right ways to convey our messages in an honest and trustworthy manner so we can accomplish empowering individual power and make the world a better place.”
Athalonz Inspiration
“Athalonz was and is inspired by a passion and a commitment to help people have safe, happy and healthy lives through products, services and humanitarian efforts to prevent and heal from child abuse. As a victim of physical and sexual child abuse, it is important to me to help stop it. It is also important to me to help other victims heal from the trauma and to help them have a great life. That is why I am speaking out and Athalonz is currently donating 5 percent of our gross profits to the Joe Torres Safe At Home Foundation.
“I became a registered patent agent in the spring of 1989, graduated law school in 1993, and have been practicing patent law since. I’ve worked with large corporations, startup companies and all types of companies in-between. I’ve worked with great inventors and scientists, written thousands of patent applications and have been a prolific inventor with over 260 patented inventions in my name.
“All of this has led to the creation of Athalonz, the products we develop and the humanitarian efforts we support.” —Tim Markison is Athalonz founder and engineer
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