Running shoes

Press, 24 June 1986, Page 20

Running shoes

Sir, —There is no proven, in-jury-preventing feature in any mass-produced running shoe, with the exception of an adequate heel raise. All shoes prevent cuts and bruises; but no type of stabilising bar or other gimmick will prevent undesirable pronation within the shoe. A great deal of money is spent by shoe companies to sell products in a highly competitive market. Much of this is spent on plausible but scientifically unproven claims regarding injury-prevent-ing features. The consumer pays for this when purchasing the shoes. In buying shoes, one should consider fit, comfort, flexibility, and price. The most expensive shoe is not necessarily the best. Specific problems should be dealt with by a qualified medical professional, not a shoe shop.—Yours, etc., Dr C. M. BAYCROFT. April 19, 1986. [Mr L. Blythe, of Front Runner Shop, Christchurch, replies: “While not wishing to demote the importance of devices inside shoes as a controlling feature for pronation, it is hard to understand the total attitude of Dr C. M. Baycroft. Is he implying that people of any running style, of any weight, running any distance from 10 miles to 120 miles a week, can all wear about any shoe as long as they use an orthotic? If so, I think that he would have to convince a lot of runners, who have not been able to run in some shoes but perfectly well in others, why only a certain percentage, albeit large, of orthotics work correctly and why, on the people on whom they do not work, a simple A

change of shoes suffices. It is generally agreed that a lot of the ‘gimmicks’ involved in shoes are just that, but there are certain developments that cannot be denied, such as the introduction of different-shaped lasts, the development of more shock-absor-bent materials and, generally, a better level of comfort. .With regard to medical professionals, it is completely agreed that they should be consulted on specific problems, but it is also important that they restrict themselves to that side as very few of the medical profession know anything about shoes. There are, of course, notable exceptions, Bruce Baxter and John Hellemans being two.”]