Do you recall the great old running shoes of the 70's?

Not so. Once EVA came in the 70's there were several good shoes that provided good cushioning. Around '79 or so Nike Air soles did not compress so even better. The uppers were sometimes too flimsy then, though. Its amazing how little running shoes have changed in 40 years.

Saturday Afternoon Fever wrote:

For road racing - Tiger Marathon without a doubt. Blue nylon with white trim. No weight or cushioning.

Training - Adidas SL72 actually had this thing called a 'midsole'. My all-time fave was the original Nike Pegasus grey/black swoosh - was that early '80's?

Cross country - Lawrence Ripples.

Track - Tiger Spartan B

I had the SL76 and the Spartan B. The shoe I really liked was the Nike Elite. It was a very thin midsole. What was really great was that you could order them in you school colors for only a few extra dollars through the Athletes Foot stores.

In the late 60s early 70 I used shoe from Belgium all I remember was Patricks racing flats- I ran sprints so we were in adidas spikes more often.

Nike Cortez and the Waffle Trainer (which I think is from the 80's) were the only Nike shoes I've ever been able to wear. I never had any injury issues.

The best shoe for me was the Brooks Axiom from the 80's. Whatever it was in terms of fit, weight and whatever, they were great for me. It's been an albatross in a search for a shoe as good ever since.

New Balance Trackster, Trackster II and III.

Darn things weighed like 14 oz each!

Had a ripple sole. No heel support. Thin mid sole.

But I never knew anyone to get injured wearing them (They were standard issue at my D III school.)

I loved the things and mourned their replacement by the 320, which was a good shoe, too. Although, my school switched to the adidas SL72, which was like running on stone slabs. We all got hurt.

Trackster III:

http://www.defynewyork.com/2011/10/11/new-balance-trackster-iii-running-shoe-1977/

Historical NB shoes:

http://sneakersaddict.com/en/new-balance-museum-by-suedeandmesh-86740

It depended on what you were doing.

For road distance people it was the TIGER yellow with rubber sole. Nice fit and pretty good on your feet.

For trackies it was Tiger and adidas for running around. The best spikes was the adidas Titan, blue or red. With blue rubber soles. The removable spikes let them be used on all types of track. They did not slip on boards. Tiger spikes are also popular. The Nike shoes, waffle especially, were just appearing, and they were less expensive than others, and could be used by HS'ers on any track or gym.

How about the Adidas Olympiad?? I wore out more than one pair of these.

They were heavy with no cushioning. When they got old the kangaroo leather would crack and dig in and make sores on the foot. But they were great!! LOL

Ya Ya wrote:

I had the SL76 and the Spartan B. The shoe I really liked was the Nike Elite. It was a very thin midsole. What was really great was that you could order them in you school colors for only a few extra dollars through the Athletes Foot stores.[/quote]

Had the identical shoes. Still have the Spartan B's in the closet - ran all 4 yrs of college XC/track in them, +last yr. of HS also. Great shoes.

HATED the 76's, rubber midsole and all. Replaced them with Brooks Vantages; got 1500 miles out of 1 pair, 1200 out of the next - shoe goo helped that cause!

LOVED the Elites. Amazing shoe

trackjc wrote:

For road distance people it was the TIGER yellow with rubber sole. Nice fit and pretty good on your feet.

jawhawks, i believe

In 70's, Lawrence ripples for xc, tiger marathons (ahead of their time) Reebok's and Nike waffle trainers

My faves from early 80's......Mizuno m3(lasted forever),mizuno m5, Pegasus, NB 620 (not 420 or 730), Etonic ?, Nike marathons. For spikes, Spartan B was the gold standard, but I loved the Nike Vainqueurs except for the fluoro color.

SWEDES wrote:

I'll think of it, I had a pair of the flats they also had the same look in spikes. White with red on one side and blue on the other. I had a pair of those also until just recently when my wife made me throw them away during our move!! Loved those spikes

The Flats are the Nike Air Edge.

The Spikes are the Nike Olympic Zoom D.

That was the Nike Air Edge! What a great racing flat. I ran my 10k PR in those. Nike had such a great run of now legendary racing flats in the early to mid 80's with the Mariah, American Eagle, Spiridon Gold, and Air Edge etc. Great shoes, great times.

Yes, the Air Edge that is it.

I still remember wearing the Mariah's at the Houston marathon, gosh it must have been in 84 or 85. Got a huge blister across the entire side of my foot. Good times.

I ran thousands of track miles in Adidas Tokyo '64 spikes under Mihaly Igloi. The shoes had kangaroo uppers; a very light weight shoe with four removable spikes. Rarely had injury issues. Also, ran in the '72 Olympic Trials marathon and received a pair of custom Bowerman made waffle racers. The shoes had a split in the waffle sole from Mrs. Bowerman's waffle iron. I think my wife through the shoes away; inspite of that we are still maaried.

The Mariah was the Marathon with a full length airsole which made it heavier, less flexible and 'taller" ie less stable. More cushy, though.

Started with Nike, but soon I was a Brooks devotee. Wore the blue trainer with white trim; soon discovered the RT-1 and was hooked. Tried to emulate Walker on the track. Remember being bummed my RT-1’s did not have Brooks on the back as shown in the ads.

You guys must have been very well off during the 70s. I lived in a major city and you only had two choices for shoes; the big department stores or the local sporting goods store. Either of those only carried a few brands or you could special order at the sporting good store for some outrageous price. Adidas was popular at the department stores so most of us had those. Heel cups were a necessary item at the start of every season due to shin splints. The top runner on our team had a pair of the nylon upper Tigers that he only wore during my indoor meets.

My adidas Roma's, i can still smell their aroma now. Soft White leather with the 3 green stripes. Lots of miles on them, even got them resoled.

The Nike Waffle Trainer. It was the most innovative at the time. It had the "waffle sole" which still lasts in just about all running shoes in some way although in a different shape.