I have to admit.... wrote:
I've never looked at nor participated in the LR shoe review primarily because I am under the impression that it's mostly about this shoe. I always think to myself, I've never actually even seen a pair, so no way I'm joining the fan club.
Well, I saw one recently for the 1st time. Not a pair, just 1 shoe. I wouldn't be willing to try it on. So here's my theory about its popularity:
This may be changing, but in the recent past, high school mid distance running was almost exclusively done in Nike. I remember a picture in Running Times (so this is dating the info of course, but it was still well into this decade) of a high school race and the entire lineup was wearing them. Spiked shoes, not Pegasus, but 100% Nike. A later photo shoot showed a bunch of high school runners from across the country and there were maybe 3 wearing another brand. So, it was only around 99% at the time those pictures were taken.
I don't follow NCAA track super carefully but at last year's National meet, I saw a pair of New Balance. So we'll over 99% then, but noticed more than one pair of non-Nike this year, so significantly below 100% but still, it is rare for an American runner to go the school-affiliated route (and let's face it, does anyone young run on their own without school sanction these days?) and have worn anything else.
Maybe they tried something else briefly, but if you're 23, you may have run less than a 1000 miles in another brand. Maybe closer to 100. Likely none at all, as peer pressure is strong (why do you think these kids join the track team in the first place?) and their first pair is going to be what everyone else has.
How many of the MB poster does this describe? Changing to another brand later usually requires a pro contract. If someone else is paying you, that's a good enough reason to switch, otherwise, why not just stay with what you're used to.
Look at Ryan Hall. Well known for ASICS, but the day before that 1st contract was signed, guess what his closet was full of? Hint: he went to Stanford. If you're not Hall, switching to ASICS nor Jenny Barringer going to NB, and no one thinks you're good enough to pay, we'll, a lot of these folks just keep wearing Nike. It's all they've ever worn and why not stay with it?