DR. SUZUKI BLOG “MY ADVICE ON RUNNING SHOES”
Q. I’m doing a marathon training for this fall. Which running shoes do you recommend?
I get asked about this question often! As a foot and ankle doctor with 19 years of clinical experience and examining probably close to 200,000 people, I can tell you that no two feet are exactly alike; some are narrow or wide footed, or flat to high-arched. Oftentimes, we have one foot that is bigger than the other - half size difference is not uncommon — NBA players I have worked with, obviously having gigantic feet, they can have more than one full size difference, needing to order two pairs of shoes, which they burn through in two games!
As a part of my research and curiosity, I have tried a dozen different brands of running shoes; and my best advice to you is, try several different shoes across brands and pick a pair that fit your feet the best. Do not compromise on fit. There should be zero to minimum “break-in” period, and your shoes should feel GREAT and comfortable when you put your foot down. Most shoe companies now offer wide forefoot sizing for the people with bunion issues, and “knitted” uppers (like Nike Flyknit or Adidas Primeknit) are more forgiving in fit.
For “everyday” training shoes, I recommend Nike Pegasus or Hoka Clifton as a good starting point for novice runners, as they are versatile, easily available and fairly affordable, especially if you can find the last years models. For heavier runners, Nike Vomero, Hoka Bondi, ASICS Kayano are good choices that I have worn personally and liked.
Runner’s World magazine publishes trust-worthy reviews of new shoes, and many YouTube channels do a lot of good reviews (look up “Kofuzi” and “Ginger Runner” etc). In general, you do get what you pay for, and the more expensive shoes (ie. Nike Vaporfly) tend to be lighter and FASTER (more on that below). Since running/walking is a “cheap” sport with minimal required equipment, I do suggest that you invest in shoes for your maximal running pleasure.
In terms of cushioning, I do recommend getting enough cushioning for the weekly distance that you do and based on your weight. You may not need much cushioning if you are only racing 5k, while you want more protection for your feet for marathon training with high weekly mileage. Since road running creates so much pounding on your feet, you really do need that protection to prevent foot injuries. In fact, when minimal “barefoot” running shoes became popular after Christopher McDougall’s best-seller “Born to Run” book (published in 2009), we saw a sudden increase in stress foot fracture (although we never got to publish that data). In the 2020 ESPN film, “The Infinite Race,” you see the Mexican Tarahumara runners (who run on grass fields) laughing at the Americans running barefoot in the NYC Central Park.
How about arch support? There used to be a lot of “motion control” shoes on the market, but we see less of them today. The idea of “controlling” your gait using corrective stiff shoes never made sense to me. If you have a bad running form, you should fix it with training, perhaps with your running coach, rather than correcting with your shoes. We don’t put a brace on a little league pitcher to correct their pitching form, do we?
I apply the same approach with the orthotics, either over-the-counter or prescription. Yes, if you have painful flat feet condition and a pair of orthotics alleviates the pain, that’s great; however, I have yet to see a study that athletes with normal foot type benefit from expensive orthotics. Please do invest that money back into the high quality shoes and change them often.
We say you should replace your running shoes for every 300-500 miles as the cushions bottom out; although this mileage number also varies based on your weight and shoe durability. Strava (app) can track this mileage for you, or you may want to retire your shoes once they feel “flat” and lose the “bounce.” Your running shoes are like your tooth brush, and they are not meant to be used 6 months straight. I do see that many running injuries (heel pain being the most common) may originate from using worn-out shoes. It is also recommended that you have at least two pairs of running shoes, so you can rotate them daily as they compress down and get moist from your sweat.
Lastly, I want to mention an interesting “racing shoe” study from New York Times (published 2018), in case you are looking for a Personal Record, or let’s say you want that Boston Marathon Qualifier time.
After analyzing the HUGE amount of Strava date from real-life races (based on 700 races with 280,000 marathons and 215,000 half-marathons completed), they found that the fastest shoes were Nike Vaporfly 4% (which contain patented curved carbon plates as leaf springs) while the slowest shoes were Hoka Bondi (which are great shoes that I recommend often, but they are maximally cushioned and very heavy).
If you look at the chart below, clearly thin and lighter “race” shoes (Nike Streak and Adidas Adios) resulted in faster race finishes, while heavier and more structured shoes were “slower,” which are NOT surprising… all the while Nike Vaporfly (the only carbon-plate shoes sold at the time) came on top.
This finding was confirmed by a 2018 Nike-funded study by University of Colorado found that Nike Vaporfly shoes were, in fact, 4% more energy efficient than conventional shoes (Nike Zoom Streak) based on 18 elite runners on treadmills. This is why these shoes were the choice of many Elite marathon runners for the last several years, including the latest Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Note: most other shoe companies NOW make carbon-plated running shoes, ASICS, Adidas, HOKA, New Balance etc).
