I burnt my hokas: here's why...

Hoka has been shilling their liberal views for far too long. Just like I did with Nike, I bought 17 pairs of top-quality Hokas and burned them in my backyard- yes, rubber and all!

How's that for your clean energy/violent environmentalist agenda? #savetheplastic

The recipe that most runners would have to follow to stay injury free, or mostly injury free and to avoid serious problems altogether, is not what they want to follow. No HOKIE shoes are going to change that.

Having a race goal , in and of itself , has proven to be a high indicator for injury probability. Let that sink in, going for the best you got is almost an injury guarantee. Keep doing it over and over again, and most of us will join the huge ranks of people who used to run. Sorry, I like to run too much for that and I am good , but not good enough to say the risk was worth it ....and neither are most people who will read this thread.

I don't know...runners wearing Hokas have somehow managed to finish 1st and 2nd at 2019 western states (both course record times), break the 40 year old 50 mile WB, and run a 2:09 at Boston. I'd say they are working out just fine.

I started running in the Clifton One but it fell apart and I returned them. So I didn't run in Hokas until the Clifton 2/3, I didn't notice it immediately but over time it started to mess with my form. Not too long after that, I started getting injured more often than I was healthy. I did research and found many others were in the same boat with me. I then found research that showed all the extra cushioning actually decreased stability and increased impact forces. I since went back to running in regular shoes and my biomechanics and stability improved. I now run exclusively in the Altra One squared and the Escalante Racer and everything has improved.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5992812/

https://www.runnersworld.com/health-injuries/a27259092/how-maximalist-shoes-affect-biomechanics/

I'm not sure that you can blame the Hokas as much has you can blame your increase in mileage and training. I've had four pairs plus I tried the Cavu and Clifton. I'm a 48-year old and ran a 1:41 at New Bedford this year on 30-35 miles a week. I am 6'4 and weighed 225 when I ran that. I have since lost almost 20 lbs. and I'm running in the Bondi 6. I benefited from the cushion when I was heavier and now when I run, I'm obviously running faster with less weight. Whenever I increase my mileage again, injuries pop up: Nike, Asics, Saucony...whatever the shoe is. Hoka was a brand I laughed at but honestly, it has me running more and my legs are not as banged up anymore, granted I am running less mileage. I DID have trouble with the Clifton 1 which they ran on sale...my Achilless killed but I was running sub-7's again on 5 mile runs. It was too light, not enough support. I am surprised when I can run fast in the Bondis.....I actually ran a 1:40 1/2 the week after NB solo in them. I don't have racers....burned them in my 20s. My knees feel great....Did you try the Bondis or were in you Cliftons? Two very different shoes.

plus, they're terribly terribly ugly.

Hoka's mostly absorb energy, not return it. Really for slower slow slow running. Or maybe a Clydesdale(is that still pc??)

Hoka's are a 4mm drop usually. Not great for heel strikers. You really need to be quite strong on the forefoot. I wouldn't recommend 4mm for mid-foot if its hilly. You can really stretch the Achilles in a bad way.

didnt need to burn them. Give them to someone that needs shoes.

My watch out for those of you that might tend to roll your ankles, is that when you do roll your ankles (or come close to rolling your ankles) the high platform will magnify the collapse of your foot and put a lot of tension on your tendons. I loved my Hoka Bondis because they were so soft yet had great rebound so I didn't listen to the warning signs, rolling my ankle substantially 4 times in the span of less than 100miles. The fifth time I rolled my ankle it rolled so bad that one tendon pulled on the bone so much it cracked my left outer metatarsal; this happened while running on a paved road. Since returning to running (after 8 wks off), haven't rolled my ankle in either my Vomeros or Kinvaras and have run much more difficult terrain and I've run about 150miles each of those shoes.

ForgetHoka,

Agreed on hills being a problem on 4mm drop shoes (any, not just Hoka). I wear Challenger ATR4s on rolling trail and they are great for that, but the calves definitely get strained on steeper stuff. The tradeoff is on downhills, which an experienced runner knows, has a lot more impact on a long race than the uphills due to your quads getting trashed. I find I can run harder on downhills in Hokas than other shoes.

Another poster mentioned rolling ankles but that is due to stack height. Any high stack shoe makes you more susceptible to rolling ankles. Some shoes mitigate this by having a wider base but then you lose feel and are less nimble on technical terrain.

People get hurt in all brands of shoes and I have never heard that Hokas cause more injuries. Your form and mileage has a lot more to do with it than the shoe.