When I look back at the last 40 -50 years of this sport... I find dozens of forms of what the Guardian is calling “technological doping“, that is technology that gives some runners an unfair advantage over other runners.
In the 80’s it was HR monitors and threshold testing. In the 90s it was altitude tents, mondo surfacing, and smarter recovery nutrition. Since 2000 a tiny percent of runners have been able to augment training with alterG treadmills and TUEs to regulate thyroid, sleep, and hormone production.
My point is, distance running has always had an element of an arms race where wealthier runners can purchase an advantage. Michael Johnson’s spikes in Atlanta, Galen’s TUEs, Americans’ access to softer faster tracks at their universities compared to say athletes in Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America. So why is it the shoes that gets Russ Tucker all in a twist? In five years every athlete will have access the same way as they did with HR monitor tech, altitude tents, track surfaces, and nutrition/medications. It’s the original trickledown economy.