We're they just naive and "went for it" so to speak, without preconceived notions?
Were we(people under 35) raised soft?
I just recently bought an a pair of Karhu Champions from 1975 and I thought to myself, "my goodness how did they run in this garbage?"
1. It was Bill Rodgers who put the mayo on pizza. Frank was an Ivy man.
2. Some of the *racing* shoes from BITD were exceptionally light. (Plus many shoes training and racing were made to order for individuals.)
3. Shh. Don't tell a certain person, but: some of the tracks were very high quality, as well.
Sorry for the typos. Wrote that post on my mobile phone .
I've been looking through my mother's old RW magazine issues I just found in the basement. They're mostly from 1977-84. Practically everyone made running shoes back then. Converse and Vans even made shoes. Also Roos, there was a brand named Roos with a zipper pocket on their shoes.
The top running shoes advertised were Saucony and New Balance. Shoes like the Saucony Jazz and Adidas Marathon seemed to be a big deal. I also saw advertisements for the original Brooks Vantage.
Underneath the insole of my Karhu Champions is a big brown piece of rigid cardboard. This is called the "strobel". Apparently this allowed shoes from falling apart.
Did runners back then follow the shoe dictum of buying a new pair after every 500 miles.? I have a hard time believing guys who averaged 70 mpw in the mid 70s bought 7 pairs of shoes a year.
I also picked up an old copy of Jim Fixx's book. That's one thin pair of Asics he's wearing on the cover. Do they still make that model?
Onitsuka at the time, not Asics.
The company does reissue vintage shoes but not that exact one.
3 words: Blue Ribbon Sports.
Shoes which cost under $20 in the day or was it $15.
Funny how, looking at current events, I am actually looking at the Gerry Ford years with a sort of nostalgia, despite the spying on the Warren Commission he did for the FBI.
Only posters of a certain vintage will have any notion what I'm talking about. Who'd have thought Nixon would ALMOST...ALMOST mind you...look like a statesman in retrospect?
Wow.
That was all we had...
They just ran, baby.
Some time ago I communicated with ASICS asking these very questions. The issue is that they have simpler models available on the Japanese market but won't sell them in the US of A.
Y'gotta know someone in Japan to get something like the Sortie or something similar.
The styles the OP is referring to were pretty simple, worked fine and SHOULD be easy for manufacturers to make...one would think.
Note, too, if you couldn't handle running in the Tiger G-9 or G-22 (which you can find advertised on copies of the ancient and honorable Long Distance Log on the RRCA website) or the very ANCIENT New Balance Trackster models, you took up hoops or baseball or something.
Granted our feet and connective tissue were still in their salad days back then.
Remember that Jim Peters, the 1950's marathon WR holder, did his training in what were essentially sneakers. I read somewhere that he switched shoes: left to right and right to left after a time so they wouldn't 'wear out in the same place'.
Big, brass ones Mr. Peters had.
Those were the best running shoes of the day. Maybe in 30-40 years they'll look at the shoes of 2014 and wonder how WE ran in those crappy shoes.
Owwwwwwww wrote:
Remember that Jim Peters, the 1950's marathon WR holder, did his training in what were essentially sneakers. I read somewhere that he switched shoes: left to right and right to left after a time so they wouldn't 'wear out in the same place'.
Big, brass ones Mr. Peters had.
What's the melting point of brass? I think it was that hot at the Commonwealth Games in '54.
Owwwwwwww wrote:
Some time ago I communicated with ASICS asking these very questions. The issue is that they have simpler models available on the Japanese market but won't sell them in the US of A.
Y'gotta know someone in Japan to get something like the Sortie or something similar.
The styles the OP is referring to were pretty simple, worked fine and SHOULD be easy for manufacturers to make...one would think.
Note, too, if you couldn't handle running in the Tiger G-9 or G-22 (which you can find advertised on copies of the ancient and honorable Long Distance Log on the RRCA website) or the very ANCIENT New Balance Trackster models, you took up hoops or baseball or something.
Granted our feet and connective tissue were still in their salad days back then.
Remember that Jim Peters, the 1950's marathon WR holder, did his training in what were essentially sneakers. I read somewhere that he switched shoes: left to right and right to left after a time so they wouldn't 'wear out in the same place'.
Big, brass ones Mr. Peters had.
The Japanese guys love the sortie.
http://lydiardfoundation.deliriousvisions.com/what-i-learned-from-arthur-lydiard-about-running-shoes/Yup. He emptied the gas tank that day, right into legend.
What you call technological advances aren't really advances at all.
It's hard to believe that back then Apple was once the largest PC manufacturer in the world -- now it's the largest toy manufacturer in the world.
Bill Gates became the richest man in the world by selling a defective product then replacing it with another new and improved defective product for over four decades. Had the CEO of GM or Pfizer or P&G done the same thing they'd be in prison and the company would have been bankrupt.
Hard to believe isn't it?
kipisfast wrote:
Those were the best running shoes of the day. Maybe in 30-40 years they'll look at the shoes of 2014 and wonder how WE ran in those crappy shoes.
We wonder about it already.
showguy90 wrote:
We're they just naive and "went for it" so to speak, without preconceived notions?
Were we(people under 35) raised soft?
I just recently bought an a pair of Karhu Champions from 1975 and I thought to myself, "my goodness how did they run in this garbage?"
The same way Africans ran so fast without shoes. They grew up with it, and it was the only kind of shoes they knew.
showguy90 wrote:
Underneath the insole of my Karhu Champions is a big brown piece of rigid cardboard. This is called the "strobel". Apparently this allowed shoes from falling apart.
Did runners back then follow the shoe dictum of buying a new pair after every 500 miles.? I have a hard time believing guys who averaged 70 mpw in the mid 70s bought 7 pairs of shoes a year.
I also picked up an old copy of Jim Fixx's book. That's one thin pair of Asics he's wearing on the cover. Do they still make that model?
Yeah, sure kid they still make that model 40 yrs later.
Do you have any other questions in your Book of Clown Questions?
Malmo: We could be asking ourselves worse questions 30 years from now.
Plus there's no more music like this anymore:
Apparently these running shoes from the 70s are still the number one casual shoe in Australia.
newname wrote:
showguy90 wrote:Underneath the insole of my Karhu Champions is a big brown piece of rigid cardboard. This is called the "strobel". Apparently this allowed shoes from falling apart.
Did runners back then follow the shoe dictum of buying a new pair after every 500 miles.? I have a hard time believing guys who averaged 70 mpw in the mid 70s bought 7 pairs of shoes a year.
I also picked up an old copy of Jim Fixx's book. That's one thin pair of Asics he's wearing on the cover. Do they still make that model?
Yeah, sure kid they still make that model 40 yrs later.
Do you have any other questions in your Book of Clown Questions?
An old pair from a few years back, in a different colorway.
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/karhu-originals-champion-shoes-for-men-and-women~p~1440v/http://karhu.com/runningshoes/lifestyle