Christopher McDougall’s recent book, Born to Run, published by Profile Books, investigates the development of the designer athletic shoe over the years since jogging became established as a popular pastime as a result of former university coach Bill Bowerman’s book, Jogging. Bowerman and a university runner, Phil Knight, together founded Nike and an industry, currently worth $US 25 billion was established.
McDougall argues that having established a demand, Nike and other companies that followed sought to meet the demand on the basis that improved running shoe design would enable better performance and reduce injury.
Do Running Shoes Improve Performance and Reduce Injury?
McDougall’s argument is that these assumptions about improved performance and reductions on injuries are not backed up by the evidence. He suggests that the evidence actually demonstrates that the human foot is best designed for running on the flat and that the material put into designer athletic shoes to cushion the heel and sole serves to increase the chances of injury rather than reduce them. He also suggests that there is scant evidence to support the idea that designer running shoes will make the runner run faster.
Christopher McDougall’s controversial conclusion is that runners are better off running in athletic shoes with very thin soles rather like the plimsolls that people used to use for athletics and gym classes before Nike and other designer pump manufacturers began to produce designer shoes.
Running Barefoot May be Better for You
In support of his thesis, McDougall marshals a raft of evidence. Challenging the orthodoxy that feet need protecting with special equipment, he cites runners such as Zola Budd who ran barefoot and ‘running cultures’ such as the Mexican Tarahumara tribe whose members often ultra-run for up to two days covering nearly 500 km at a time wearing nothing but sandals made from bits of old tyre or leather thongs. This tribe’s members also fail to warm up, train or maintain their hydration with specially designed sports drinks. As he says, they are a coach’s nightmare.
Is There Any Scientific Evidence that Running Shoes Prevent Injury?
With regard to the claim that designer athletics shoes prevent injury, McDougall looks to scientific research and also anecdote. He points, for example, to Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes, who ran as an amateur, often straight from work, wore thin-soled running shoes and never suffered an injury.
He also quotes Dr Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University who argues that a lot of injuries ‘are caused by people running with shoes that actually make our feet weak’ and also draws on a review of the scientific literature undertaken by Dr Craig Richards of Australia’s University of Newcastle.
Dr Richards found that there are no evidence-based studies supporting the contention that designer running shoes help to prevent running-related injuries. He has challenged the companies manufacturing athletics shoes to provide him with any evidence they have, but McDougall reports that none was forthcoming.
Should Parents Buy Expensive Designer Athletic Shoes?
For many years now parents have argued with their children that they didn’t need expensive designer running athletic shoes in order to perform well. Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run, offers such parents another line of argument to try. Whether science will win out over fashion in the argument remains to be seen.
Alistair McCulloch - Alistair McCulloch has been listening to good music since his early teenage years in the 1960s. It is his genuine belief that music ...
Join the Conversation