Does the brand name of your running shoes matter?

Runners

A lot has been written about running shoes. The current trend seems to point towards the fact that the more expensive the running shoes are; the better is their return on investment. This is especially so if they were designed by leading Sportswear Gurus like Nike, Adidas, Rebook. Asics, Etc

According to many researches the heel requires much of the foot protection during running because it is this anatomical structure which takes the greatest impact and weight of the body during running.

From my own observation a good number of middle and long distance runners, strike the ground with heel first and then lift their feet off the ground with the toes. I would like to believe I fall in that category as shown on the video below.

During that fraction of a second when the heel is strikes the ground, its reasonable to assume that all the pressure of the body is transmitted through the heel. This should therefore mean that the heel will be put under some significant amount of pressure. One can thus conclude that the heel is the initial contact area during deceleration of the body as it's weight comes crushing under one's leading heel.

I can equate this to an airplane landing as seen in the next video courtesy of Tauntontone.

The last aircraft shows this concept quite spectacularly. As the plane lands it first touches the ground with it's rear wheels before the front landing gear makes contact with the ground. Again the weight of the aircraft is momentarily carried by the real landing wheels before the front landing gear comes into play.

This raises the argument for heel protection. Because of this kinesiological fact, does the heel require more protection that what nature provided it with.

Different sorts of running shoe heels have been designed to protect the heel, in particular and the foot, in general.

This is in spite of the fact that the human race has been running bare feet for centuries with no significant injuries to the leg.

This article makes some interesting reading and put all this into perspective.

I will leave all the research and evidence based staff to the above referenced article.

Experience

In the past year or so I have run with 3 pairs of shoes. I have used the Reebok, plus another 2 cheap shoes whose brand names are Sports and Crane respectively. Crane is the one you can see in the photo besides Nike. I bought the two cheap ones in one of the German discount stores. In addition I have recently added Nike to my collection with the sole purpose of widening the sample size.

Between the 4 of them they have covered more than 500km of the ground and still counting. Have I noticed any difference in their performance? Let us find out!

Price

Each of the cheap pairs did not cost more than 15 euros. The Reebok and the Nike were relatively expensive

Sports- 10 euro, Crane 12 euro, Rebook 40 euro, Nike 60 euro.

You could buy more than 5 pairs of the cheaper runners when you compare with the some premier brands

Longevity

All runners seem to be fairly strong.The Rebook shoe seems to take the Oscar on category of Longevity when i compare the three earlier brands. But then if this is the main reason for selecting premium brands you can buy 5 pairs of the cheaper runners and this will certainly be an advantage on the hygiene front.

Weight

It goes without saying, that weight is vital for running especially competitive. The lighter yet the more protective the shoe is the better it is for running

Here is the league table in terms of weight

A pair of Cranes 250g,

A pair of Sport 300g

A pair of Nike 320g

A pair of Reebok 400g

The Crane is lighter by a mile

Wet weather presents a huge challenge to the runner. If water aggregates inside your runners then definitely you are carrying an extra load that you don't want. Most runners, generic or premium brands seem to have been manufactured with a view to allow air circulation inside the shoe. This seriously makes the shoes rather a water reservoir. I have not worn a pair of runners which is efficient at circulating air inside the shoe while at the same time offering an effective barrier to water entry in the shoe. You could say these two factors are mutually exclusive.

Confidence

Premier brands tend to give you some level of confidence and some positive aura especially in a gym setting or in such public places where you want to impress the girl working out next to you. Besides I am told girls make a quick opinion about you based on the shoes that you are wearing.

If you are the type who depend on public opinion to boost your confidence then certainly the Premier Label runners will be for you.

Appearance

The actual appearance of the runners is not different. The premier brands are of course more recognizable by the wider public because of their iconic brand names and trade marks but when you take away that 'tick' there is not much difference at least to the naked eye. It is a common marketing fact that a good proportion of consumers tend to have a brand loyalty and will believe that their branded shoe is better than the other irregardless of the actual appearance.

The heels of these shoes seem to look the same.

You can hardly tell the difference when you look underneath.

Perfomance

To be honest I have not seen any huge significant difference at least in the short term.
All the pairs have been doing a relatively good job. I did not notice any particular magic bullet with Reebok or Nike I would get the same level of soreness after putting on any of the 4 pairs.

Here is a comparison of running statistics over the same distance when I was wearing Crane on this graph

and when I wore Nike.

There is not much difference in statistics over a short distance

I got the normal soreness that one gets with any new shoes, until the shoes adjust to your foot type and your style of running. I find the current Nike a bit heavy and I am almost afraid of carrying an extra load during the longer distance marathons

My current recession friendly trainers carried me over the 5 mile Marathon.

I may use the lighter shoes for the longer distance because for me I feel light weight is more important. I am rather of the school of thought which believes that the human being is well adapted to running and the emphasis on heel protection is an over exaggeration. (my own point of view)

If the light weight shoes are still alright I will give them a go and use them for the Dublin Marathon. Will let you know if I encounter any feet related problems. Some expects will advice you to get the premium branded runners for a marathon. I will test this wisdom and review accordingly.

I do plan to try another set of cheap ones and possibly a Premier Label runner in order to widen the sample size. In the mean time the jury is out there on whether it is worth shelling out so much money for a pair of running shoes especially in this period of global recession. Is it a mere fashion trend to be buying these runners or it's really worth it, in terms of perfomance?

My experience at least for now is that, it's not worth spending so much on the runners. This may well change when I increase my sample size but for now I have not experienced the advantage.

• This runner business and Premier brands reminds me about 8 years ago when my friend Tarirai and his other friend Anso took me to the cleaners when one day I came to the sports bar wearing a pair of runners that I thought looked cool . I think the brand name was Victory! Just to kick me in the teeth the two guys went about claiming that the runners name was Mike. Has anyone heard about this brand name? Ahh those were the days.

Anyway please let me know what you think about these thoughts. Have you found much difference in the effectiveness of runners. If you did, what where the differences. Note that you are no longer required to be registered in order to leave a comment.

Next blog: Review on Outdoor running Versus Treadmill.

The Running Tally since the blog commenced now stands at 110km

Disclaimer: please note that the views expressed in this blog are views of the writer and they do not constitute expect opinion. They are viewpoints from the blogger's own running experience.