A question for runners from the 60's-70's era

I used to get my running stuff from a place called Specialty Sports in either Houston or San Antonio.

Anybody else remember Specialty Sports?

Yes, in early 60's as well, it was converse all stars and leather spikes. I trained a few times with friends but did not run copetitively but they just wore their basketball shoes to run in. Training was not as intense, imagine runing 60-80 MPW in canvas BB shoes!

"the New Balance I recall had the ripple soles that collected pebbles. Not good"

I remember the advertising about them. It was something like rippled soles helped you grip the road. LOL. I think I still have an old issue of Runners World with that kind of advertisement. I have 2 years worth of ancient RW. Its really fun to read all that old crazy stuff and laugh and how stupid we were back then. We have come a long way.... havent we??????

When I 'went out' for the track team as a high school soph on Jan. 2, 1973, I did a mile time trial in the best running shoes I had - some black, low-top Converse basketball shoes. Five minutes and thirty-one seconds later I was the fourth miler on my team. Fifteen weeks later those shoes had served me well as I placed fifth in the Greater Miami Atheletic Conference frosh/soph meet in 4:47 while wearing my red Adidas spikes - yes, the same spikes worn by my school's sprinters. My junior year after an indoctrination to cross country, I decided that running ten miles every day would really get me strong for track season. My parents splurged and bought me a second pair of Converse basketball shoes - this time maroon in color. I remember my dad telling friends he bought me 'the best shoes he could find.' This is because they cost about $6.99 at W.T. Grants, while store brand tennis shoes were only half of that. On a bartender's low wages and tips with mom at home with four sons, that was a lot of money. When the heel wore through I cut a piece of cardboard and put it in my shoe to protect my high tube socks from getting a hole. After 100 days in a row of 'double figures' mileage of ten or more per day my track season was succesful and a highlight was when I won the GMAC 2-mile. Yes, I was down to 9:50 training in those wonderful Converse b-ball shoes. My senior year those shoes served me well as I was now seventh and All-State in cross country. Geoff Pietsch, who responded earlier, was teaching and coaching in Miami at the time. Over the winter my parents decided I needed to step up to 'real' running shoes and bought me a pair of Onitsuka Tiger Cortez. I don't think I had them long before they were stolen at my high school. Oh, the hazards of innner city schooling. Maybe they were a precursor to the status symbol of owning 'Air Jordans.' It was back to my tried-and-true Converse basketball shoes which must have worked as a third place State 2-mile in 9:20.4 capped my senior year. Two years and four months training almost exclusively in those shoes and I went from a novice runner to a pretty decent high school 2-miler. In college I remember wearing Puma 'bananas,' that lasted for well over 2,000 miles, and various Nike shoes including the waffle trainer, LD-100 and LDV, but I'll always have a fondness for those $6.99 Converse basketball shoes from W.T. Grants.

HRE wrote:

Saucony is till selling the original Jazz.

Hey, I own a pair of these. I actually like them, don't wear em very often tho (no cushioning), but my feet feel really free in them.

new shoe buyer wrote:

What do you guys think of shoes like the nike free 5.0?

I love the Free 3.0s, for what it's worth. I even remove the insoles to maximize the minimalism. Gives a nice feel for the ground. Great for the trails and track.

bump

Nike has reissued the Nike Cortez from 1972.

I remember as a kid everyone in our club wore the Nike Wally Waffles. Great shoes.

http://sneakerplay.s3.amazonaws.com/gallery/328045_6456b68dc0_l.jpg

Never had stress fracture ever. Marathon Trainers the only shoe. 50 bucks 5000 miles minimum. Best training shoe ever.