Jerry the rat billingham wrote:
http://chrismcdougall.com/blog/2010/05/dr-runners-world-and-mr-hyde/“Back in the ’60s, we ran way more and way faster in the thinnest little shoes, and we never got hurt. I never even remember talking about injuries back then. So you’ve got to wonder,” Amby mused, “what’s changed…”
I think Amby's assesment is a little bit off. In the 1960's the only people who ran were competitive runners like himself, not the jolly jogger set that takes up running to run/walk a marathon to check it off their bucket list. Most of the competitive runners I have been friends with, both in high school and college have had few injuries. Meanwhile many of the runners I encounter who run twice a week for maybe 8-10 miles always seem to have something wrong with them. I don't believe this is a coincidence either.
To me you see more injuries today because a greater amount of people are taking the sport up who, 45 years ago would probably have remained sedentary because running wasn't yet acceptable to the masses. To Paraphrase the quote someone wrote a couple of pages back "minimalism is great for those who can run that way, but not for the 5' 8" 220lb guy that just wants to lose some weight".