Wait. Those look like clipless BMX race shoes?!
from that link "Dedicated X-Country and Cyclo-cross no compromising racing shoe"
"(on further googling, apparently they are weight weenie XC race / cyclocross shoes, which strikes me as a sub optimal choice for this event)."
Doh, the wtf at the initial statement distracted me from the rest of the post :-/
@hippy started
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from that link "Dedicated X-Country and Cyclo-cross no compromising racing shoe"