They came across the finish line one after another, a parade of bright yellow shoes that left Andy Krafsur smiling.

The shoe is called the Stinger, made by an El Paso company called Spira, and it was impossible to miss at Sunday's White Rock events. Five of the top six finishers in the men's half marathon and three of the top five in the women's half marathon were wearing Stingers, including both winners. The runners-up in both marathons were also in Stingers.

But those shoes were illegal for Sunday's races.

Krafsur, the founder and CEO of Spira, is not the least bit worried about that. In fact, he welcomes it. Krafsur is trying to make a name for his little start-up company – he has 10 employees and just launched his racing shoe this year – by winning races, rules or no rules.

The shoe contains springs in its sole designed to cushion shock and speed recovery time for long-distance runners. But according to USA Track and Field rules, springs are not allowed in shoes for sanctioned races such as White Rock, and the international track federation has not approved the Stinger for competition.

That hasn't stopped Krafsur, who has put together a stable of runners who have won marathons in Detroit, Ottawa and Sacramento, as well as the Cowtown in Fort Worth. Oleg Strijakov won the masters competition of the Boston Marathon in Stingers.

So far, none has been disqualified.

"We started with a training shoe, but to get credibility, you've got to win races," Krafsur said. "We decided, 'Well, let's just push the envelope.' So we did this campaign called 'Banned in Boston,' where we offered $1 million to anyone who could win the Boston Marathon in the banned shoe from Spira.

"The rule is there, and frankly, if someone wanted to challenge someone's victory in our shoes, they'd be right. But I'm hoping what will happen now that we're having all this success is that they'll change the rule. I want to put enough pressure on them by winning these races that they have to do something."