New shoes have a strong attraction for a lot of runners -- the smell of fresh glue and new materials, an inkling that the new shoes will lead to a training breakthrough, or the simple pleasure of buying something bright and shiny to replace the current dirt-and sweat-encrusted ones -- all combine to create this strange enchantment. Back in the "good old days," it wasn't as easy to buy a new pair of running shoes as it is now. In the 1960s, the few avid road runners would travel from sporting goods store to sporting goods store, hoping that a new shipment of shoes -- any shoes -- had arrived. Most of the time, they were disappointed; shipments were irregular at best, and when they did arrive, it seemed their size would not be available. Less-than-stellar quality control added to a road runner's woes. About that time, a number of runners, including a guy by the name of Phil Knight, started selling shoes out of the trunks of their cars at track meets, road races, and anywhere else runners might congregate. In the late 1970s, "running shoe stores" began popping up around the country, managed by elite runners such as Steve Hoag, John Vitale, Gary Tuttle, Bill Rodgers and others. These stores became a mecca for all things running, from an increasing supply of shoes to information and race news that was all too slow to arrive in the days before the Internet.Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A short history of running shoes
New shoes have a strong attraction for a lot of runners -- the smell of fresh glue and new materials, an inkling that the new shoes will lead to a training breakthrough, or the simple pleasure of buying something bright and shiny to replace the current dirt-and sweat-encrusted ones -- all combine to create this strange enchantment. Back in the "good old days," it wasn't as easy to buy a new pair of running shoes as it is now. In the 1960s, the few avid road runners would travel from sporting goods store to sporting goods store, hoping that a new shipment of shoes -- any shoes -- had arrived. Most of the time, they were disappointed; shipments were irregular at best, and when they did arrive, it seemed their size would not be available. Less-than-stellar quality control added to a road runner's woes. About that time, a number of runners, including a guy by the name of Phil Knight, started selling shoes out of the trunks of their cars at track meets, road races, and anywhere else runners might congregate. In the late 1970s, "running shoe stores" began popping up around the country, managed by elite runners such as Steve Hoag, John Vitale, Gary Tuttle, Bill Rodgers and others. These stores became a mecca for all things running, from an increasing supply of shoes to information and race news that was all too slow to arrive in the days before the Internet.
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