What are the most DURABLE RUNNING SHOES you have ever had?

I'm at 707 on my Brooks Beasts. Pretty dang durable but they remind me of the "special" training shoes that Kramer borrowed on "the Jimmy" episode of Seinfeld.

Once got 1100 on a pair of $40 Nikes when I was younger and more durable myself.

Here's the Jimmy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0w2xTexfAg

Air pegasus in the 80's when they used airplane tire rubber for the soles. Went through 2 pairs, not sure how many miles, but enough that the uppers had many holes in them. One pair still had the "nubs" on most of the tread.

Air Streak Vapor IV's. I guess there wasn't a whole lot to begin with, but I've easily exceeded 600 miles on all four pairs that I have.

I've taken two pairs of Air Zoom Miler trainers through a combined 2700 miles, the first pair going 1500 and the second pair going 1200 (the upper was completely ripped, but there was still life in the shoe).

Even though the outersoles on my Vomero 2's are wearing through, the cushioning in them just feels good as new.

I'd be getting close to 800 miles in them, I'll be getting beyond 1000 for sure.

A pair of Asics Sortie Magics, a model sold only in Japan. I had over 2,000 miles on them.

man, this thread is just gonna get out of hand when some of the serious minimalists find it.

as for me, i run in the onitsuka ultimate 81. my current pair has only about 800 miles, my two other backup pairs (for when the current pair is wet or something) have >1600 and >1300 miles, and my original pair died after ~1850 miles. by "died," i mean that the midsole/insole developed a large crack directly under the ball of my right foot. the outsole and upper are still fine.

i'm sure someone ran like 50000 miles in a pair of car tire sandals, but i can't help but think that the 81s are some of the most durable shoes out there.

Dang, i cant believe how many miles you all put on your shoes. I change mine out at about 400 miles.

When I was younger and could put up with about anything (training-wise and apparel-wise), I had run almost 3000 miles (just short of 5000km) on a pair of Adidas Eq. Salvation, which was using the technology Feet you wear. The shoe was pretty simple though and I loved it. BTW, Gebrselassie is wearing those shoes in the initial song of the movie Endurance.

Here is the pic of the shoes I found somewhere on the web:

http://www.aukro.sk/item320868177-320868177.html#photo

I have 415 miles on my T5 Racers (Brooks)

I always get at least 1000 on my Free 5.0s

Got 650 on a pair of DOC MARTIN BOOTS seriously

distance runner wrote:

Dang, i cant believe how many miles you all put on your shoes. I change mine out at about 400 miles.

You're likely to see posts with big numbers from those of us who run in "minimal" shoes because what does in a traditional shoe is compression of the mid sole and a loss of cushioning.

A shoe like the Ultimate 81, Sortie Magic, H Street, spikeless racer has very little cushioning and therefore won't wear out until the shoe begins to fall apart. A traditional shoe can look pretty new and be past its prime. But a minimalist shoe that looks like it has some life in it still does.

Nike Internationalists 1979. More than 2000 miles. Only stopped wearing them when I won another pair at a 10k.

That actually makes a lot of sense. I sell running shoes and I've never heard that. I guess all my shoes are considered traditional shoes. Nike vomeros, saucony triumphs, the old pegasus(04) etc.

I think I posted this here before and someone had me beat, but the most miles that I've put into a shoe was at least 4,400 miles in a pair of Converse ABM-400s. These were mid- to lower end medially posted stability shoes that retailed for $40 in 1989 or thereabouts. The midsole foam was cheap sheet EVA (as opposed to compression molded EVA) that visibly broke down (squished looking) in the forefoot within the first week, but they felt great to me that way. I guess that shows that "standard" shoes don't necessarily have to be tossed sooner than minimalistic shoes. The uppers were probably full of holes for at least half of the life of the shoe. I ran the highest miles per week and per year in those shoes... many 140 mile weeks and about 5,000 miles for the year.

I also ran about 3,800 miles in a pair of Adidas Web Techs.

I usually toss out my shoes when the uppers break down, so most of my shoes last more than 1,000 miles. The last couple of years, I've mostly run in Nike Frees.

You guys are crazy. If you are a competitive distance runner and care at all about your legs don't go more than 500-600 miles on a pair of shoes.

If you are a not minimalist runner then I would try the brooks adrenaline. I got about 1000 miles on a pair when I was running mostly on trails and grass. Now I run on concrete and roads (plus I am being over careful so as not to get hurt) so I get about 500.