Boston is coming up. Drop an OTQ in shoes like the ones Johnny Miles picked up at the Sydney Mines co-op in Nova Scotia. Then come back and tell everyone else off.
Did you ever wear spikes, the ultimate cheater shoe, if so asterisk on all your times.
besides, for the road what is a cheater shoes? Anything above 1cm stack height? Made from EVA from the 80’s onward? Or just the modern stuff because you are older now can cant PB
I agree, they look stupid and it's bad that you need them in order to compete with people at level playing field.
But if you want to compete you have to get them. You're just nerfing yourself otherwise and losing to people you shouldn't lose to. You can cope all you want about beating people, but if you're running against a guy with super shoes and he's the same ability as you, unless he runs really badly you're losing.
Totally support the OP. I, too, declare I will never wear super shoes. That said, I’m past 60, out of shape, and probably facing knee surgery. If I was young and competing I’m sure I would have a closet full of them. The sport evolves—try to keep up.
How would you be cheating? Imagine if a cyclist refused to use deep carbon wheels/disc. Seems like a logical decision to use whatever the fastest equipment the rules allow.
I also have never run in a super shoe. Here's an exhaustive list of why: . 1. I don't care. 2. I run because I enjoy it, not because I'm trying to cheat a minute or two off my marathon.
I run minimalist myself and most of my running is trail running. If I were in a position to win races and make enough money to do it for a living then I would definitely wear them. But I'm far from that. I will most likely never win a race. So, my running is mostly for my own personal satisfaction and health/fitness. For both of those objectives, less shoe is better. I like knowing that without any special equipment I could run if I needed to, and I like knowing that my body is strong and fit enough to perform at a relatively high level just by itself. I personally get satisfaction out of that. I might be able to run a minute or two faster in super shoes, but if the trade-off is that that I'm dependent on them and weak without them then it's not not a worthwhile trade-off for me.
I do not know about #2, but I agree with number one. If we are not careful, in the future they will be putting those paraolympic stilts on everyone to run sub 3:00 for the mile!
Why not have every shoe examined, just like they do for shot puts and discuses at Track & Field meets. Or have the government ban the certain shoes!
I run minimalist myself and most of my running is trail running. If I were in a position to win races and make enough money to do it for a living then I would definitely wear them. But I'm far from that. I will most likely never win a race. So, my running is mostly for my own personal satisfaction and health/fitness. For both of those objectives, less shoe is better. I like knowing that without any special equipment I could run if I needed to, and I like knowing that my body is strong and fit enough to perform at a relatively high level just by itself. I personally get satisfaction out of that. I might be able to run a minute or two faster in super shoes, but if the trade-off is that that I'm dependent on them and weak without them then it's not not a worthwhile trade-off for me.
And with that said, I still beat plenty of people in super shoes at races. Maybe there are a few people that I could beat if I wore different shoes but probably not. But the people I do beat would have zero chance against me without their super shoes.
With this view point I expect that you are running barefoot and only on grass or dirt tracks. Anything beyond that is clearly giving you an unfair advantage.
1. On point 1: Cheating means one gets an unfair advantage over the others. When all are allowed to use them, it is just changing one rule of the game, nothing more. You are free to organize a special league where such shoes are not allowed and enjoy the company.
2 On point 2: Agree that some of them look pretty ugly, but we are on road here and not on a fashion show podium.
It should be noted that many use "supershoes" to save their legs and not just gain 5 sec per mile or so.