By Noel Paine In just five years, running shoes have undergone more significant changes than in the previous two decades. Where once racing flats hugged the road at 10–20 mm of foam, today’s elite marathon shoes hover near the 40 mm legal maximum set by World Athletics (WA). On November 1, 2024, WA extended its […]
How to Lace Your Running Shoes for a Better Fit
By Noel Paine I have been a runner for a long time (more than 38 years) and have worked at a couple of specialty running shops, as well as in the field of Pedorthics (orthotics). I have seen a lot of feet and tried fitting many shoes to different kinds of feet over the years. […]
How to Clean Your Running Shoes – Step by Step
By Noel Paine Running shoes are the primary tools for runners. A good pair of running shoes that cushion the impact of training and help someone train hard and often is essential. Running shoes can help prevent injuries and help when the only running surface is hard pavement or sidewalk.When the weather is nice and […]
Running Shoe Weight – How Light Should You Go?
By Noel Paine Running shoe science has evolved over the years, from hard leather running shoes that broke your feet in, to rubber and foam, to the high-tech, often carbon fibre-infused lace-up training shoes we have now. Runners have also always been obsessed with the weight of their shoes and how much time they can […]
Can Anyone Run a Sub-3 Hour Marathon? My Tried and Tested Approach
By Paul Freary I’ve run for more than 40 years and although completed 12 marathons, it’s only in the last couple of years that I have begun to consider myself a marathoner!Whilst my times at shorter distances indicate a sub-three hour marathon should be within my grasp, to run a sub-3 hour marathon is always […]
What is a Running Shoe Rotation? Do I Need One and How to Build One?
By Paul Freary Having my own running store for over 20 years, spent the 10 years before that working for major shoe brands and spent several years as a sponsored athlete, I’ve never been short of a vast selection of running shoes.Throughout most of these years, I’d use a specific shoe for easy runs, a […]
How I Ran a 2:40 Marathon at Age 55 – Running Tips for the ‘Older’ Runner
By Paul Freary As a long-time runner and one who hopes to continue running for the foreseeable future, I’ve learned many things that have helped me maintain a reasonable standard and that I hope others will find useful in both starting and continuing to run into their 50s.So before I get into running a 2:40 […]
Cushioning – How Does it Stack Up?
By Paul Freary In recent years we’ve seen the amount of cushioning or stack height of running shoes increase more and more. It began increasing at such a rate that World Athletics, the sport’s global governing body introduced a limit on the amount of cushioning in a shoe, or at least in competition shoes for elites.HOKA […]
What are Carbon Plated Running Shoes?
By Kieran Alger Ever since Eliud Kipchoge started smashing marathon records in the original Nike Vaporfly 4%, carbon running shoes have transformed running. From the elites right down to your Saturday morning parkrun, they’ve been a bona-fide game changer. They had such a dramatic impact at the top level, that World Athletics had to regulate […]
What are Support Shoes? Do I Need them and Do they Work?
By Paul Freary The running shoe market is growing constantly with both new and established brands introducing new models on what seems like a weekly basis. The choice and variety of shoes on offer are enormous and can be confusing, even bewildering at times.Reading descriptions of new models from brands themselves can often add to […]
