Your First Running Shoe

klop wrote:

Brooks Guy wrote:

Brooks Villanova 1980

Yep, me too. Same shoe, same year. Hideous blue shoes with orange stripe. When I got "serious" a couple years later, I felt I could justify spending FORTY DOLLARS for the Vantage which was in all the running magazines.

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Same here. 1977. $18. Also had the Adidas Country and Tiger Pinto.

I may have had a pair of those--I did have a pair of blue Etonics in that era and do remember stained socks somewhere along the line. I liked the shoes.

Line of classics

1977. Those Red Tigers like Jim Fixx's on the Complete Runner. Got issued a pair of those from our team in 1977 and ran in them all school year, so probably another 2000 miles.

1977-78. Tiger Jayhawk spikes and flats. They were the bomb.

1978-80. Almost completely sucked in by Nike, and had the suite of classics: Elite, LDV, Waffle Trainer, Oregon Waffle, Vanquor (spelling? but they good spikes). I tried a pair of Brooks Vantage and within two weeks broke my foot when I stepped off a curb and it twisted--blamed it on the Varus wedge.

81-82--about the right time for the blue Etonics

83-won a pair of Nike Pegasus--about their first air shoe-- and promptly got ITBS which knocked me out for the better part of a year.

84 and beyond--Brooks, Asics

new balance MR1906. worst shoe i've ever run in

I had Bata Bullets too, in 1969, and also soon moved to the Tigers, although I'm not sure they were Cortz (perhaps Antelopes?). I was SO happy with Tiger came out with their nylon uppers!

1989 Etonic Trans Am trainer

i kinda like running wrote:

Maria Juana wrote:

Nike Zoom Spiridon

That was my first pair as well. Did you have the black/red ones or the purple/white? I had the purple/white, which led to some snickers from my teammates because they looked kinda fruity, but I loved those shoes.

Not sure if we are talking about the same shoes. Im talking about the "new" (2003?) ones. If I remember correctly, there was a winter version (grey/black) and then orange and blue versions, I had the orange ones:

Lagat in a commercial with the shoes:

A black Converse shoe with a canvas upper. I believe it was called the Roadrunner.

does the shoe really matter ?

Nike Hirachi

My first pair were Sears Winners in 1979. They were kind of knock offs of the adidas Country.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68825388/vintage-70s-sears-running-shoes-the

After that, I moved up to the Brooks Vantage.

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/factor-jpn/item/10000036/

You just can't find clunky blue suede running shoes anymore:(

New Balance (I think) Trackster. Sept 1971

Around 1982 I got a pair of New Balance at a small shop in east Hyde Park, Chicago. This style of shoe was a new invention, a step of from the Converse all-stars and PF flyers of my childhood. Not sure of the model but to the best of my memory I think it was 675. Great shoe, with suede upper. Cost was $29. I ran from Hyde Park to Evanston and back with those shoes, although I was just a fitness jobber.

I kind of wish I had the shoes still or at least a photo. But then again maybe not. Yesterday is gone.

Started out in Converse lows. Won the football pool $12. on a $1 bet spent $11.88 on Tiger Marathon II's fall 1973 I bought them at Lechmere Sales, raced and trained in them and still have them box and plastic draw string bag. Holes under the big toe both shoes fit like a glove after drying wet on my feet. Still running in Tiger's.

New Balance waffles from their original storefront on Mass Ave. in Cambridge in 1957, followed by years in Karhu flats from Finland.

really? hyde park to evanston is ~ 21 miles 1 way. you ran 40+ miles in one go? or was that not to be taken literally?

Hard to remember first trainer. I think Adidas Boston or Reebok DMX. First X-C spike was the Nike X-Country from fall 1998.

Waffle trainer 78 - then Tiger Montreal III, followed by asics/tiger explorer (excellent). Funny, many of the new minimalist shoes are on a par w/ my explorers. Favorite: Elite Classics.

Is anyone tempted to do 6-8 miler with any of these old shoes. If you have recently, what was it like?

Yup. New Balance Trackster II. Waffle Sole and red saddle shoe design. Ran through two pairs of them before they stopped making them. I sure wish I had saved them. This was back in 1968 when I ran at Tennessee.