Super Shoes Must End

Preaching to the choir. They are here to stay though sadly

Yes! If you’re using any sort of foot covering beyond a huarache sandal you’re mechanically doping and should be put in stocks in the village square, publicly shamed, and pelted with rotten vegetables.

Exactly. I wish they hadn't been invented, but they were, and they're not going anywhere.

Basic running shoes are still a technological advancement. This argument is basically advocating running barefoot.

c money wrote:

The only reason to compete in a foot race is to see who is the fastest human on the given day. When we add shoes that provide a performance advantage to the sport, it becomes who is the fastest technologically aided human and that is a slippery slope. This distorts the main goal of the sport, of finding the fastest human. The fastest technologically aided human is an astronaut, or someone in a supersonic jet. What we need to measure is physical running aptitude without technological assistance. That is all. Thank you.

What if everybody in da race is wearing da supa shoes? Then no advantage. 🤔

c money wrote:

The only reason to compete in a foot race is to see who is the fastest human on the given day. When we add shoes that provide a performance advantage to the sport, it becomes who is the fastest technologically aided human and that is a slippery slope. This distorts the main goal of the sport, of finding the fastest human. The fastest technologically aided human is an astronaut, or someone in a supersonic jet. What we need to measure is physical running aptitude without technological assistance. That is all. Thank you.

Technology has always been a slippery slope. No such thing as “without technological assistance” unless you run barefoot and without any awareness of physiology and nutritional science and on cinder tracks. Shoes protect against injuries, especially in sprinting. We wear shoes in everyday life even outside of running.

What we *need* to measure is nothing at all. All sport is just of entertainment value to society. Fairness is all what most people care about in sport. So if a shoe is widely available, people and IAAF are happy coz it’s f as it. The percentage improvement they yield is modest anyway, not game changing.

The only fair way would be to put the people in a chamber on sea level surrounded to walls running barefoot, no clothes, no hat, no face covering so that you won’t get any advantage with shoes, clothes, hats, sunglasses. Then all weather will also be equal with no rain, no wind, no breeze. Altitude won’t be factor too since you’ll be in sea level. But that would be kind of boring.

I’m saying yes to protection against wounds and injury and no to propulsion. The dividing line is fuzzy we get that, but super shoes have gone too far.

Honestly you make good points, but it doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. We need to draw a line somewhere otherwise why not just roller-skate . I’m arguing that the latest iteration of shoe technology has gone too far. We need to take a more minimalist approach.

Zero chance Shalane would have been able to do her WMM tour without super shoes

No thanks, I like the feeling and the fact my legs aren't trashed all the time.

op c money wrote:

We need to take a more minimalist approach.

In that case you'll be against spikes on track shoes.

Mate, the horse has bolted as far as super shoes, spikes, synthetic tracks, etc, etc is concerned.

op c money wrote:

We need to draw a line somewhere otherwise why not just roller-skate.

3/10

Hey C Money, sounds like you need to get your money up and purchase a pair. Super shoes are here to stay so might as well rack up.

op c money wrote:

Honestly you make good points, but it doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. We need to draw a line somewhere otherwise why not just roller-skate . I’m arguing that the latest iteration of shoe technology has gone too far. We need to take a more minimalist approach.

There are roller-skating competitions too that are separate from running. We just don’t mix the two for fairness. FWIW, in the wake of Nike’s shoes, IAAF already did add a limit to shoe maximalism by placing a 40mm stack height limit, so that is a nod towards minimalism.

What more limits would you like IAAF to codify?