We’ll talk about minimal running shoes (and barefoot running) another time. When we do, we will begin with the assumption that the shoe industry has no credibility in the discussion. Why? Because the industry has descended to unimaginable depths of marketing flim-flammery. Maybe you already knew this. I suspected it, and my suspicions were confirmed this morning by a come-on New Balance dropped in my Inbox. “From light stability to optimal control, these walkers feature the technology to keep you comfortably moving forward,” says the solicitation. Seriously? We can argue about whether humans are natural runners as Chris McDougall, citing academic research, asserts in Born to Run, and we can argue as to whether in our modern world we runners need to wrap our feet in some kind of scientifically developed, lab-tested and quite expensive garment, but surely there can be no denying that the human being is built to walk and that to walk we simply need to put something (or maybe nothing!) on our feet that we find comfortable. Could be flip-flops. Could be army boots. Could be $20 sneakers. Put something on that’s reasonably comfortable for you, then walk. You can do it. Maybe the on-sale-for-$70 New Balance 847 will be comfortable for you, but you surely don’t need it for the “motion control” it purports to offer you as a walker, nor do you need the “stability” that the New Balance 860 promises. You don’t need “technology” to walk. I promise.
– Pete Danko
Image: Henri Evenepoel’s “Sunday Stroll in the Bois de Boulogne,” 1899, public domain.