Are running shoes really necessary, or can you get away with buying cheap shoes?
Have you ever stood in front of a rack of running shoes, and wonder why it is that they cost so much? Or thumbed through a catalog trying to decide if the shoes were really worth the money?
You aren’t alone. While there are a lot of good toys and destination races that can stretch a runner’s budget, our most basic cost for our sport tends to be one that at some point in our running careers we consider skimping on.
The worst time for me was when I was in college and funds were limited. I went through (on average) one and a half pairs of shoes per season, and I ran year round. That can get to be pretty expensive, especially if you need any sort of motion control or stability shoes.
What turned my thinking around came when a teammate decided to try an experiment to lower his shoe costs. He figured out that if he could get 400-500 miles out of a good pair of shoes that cost (on average) $95, then it made more sense to buy a $20 pair of shoes that he could get 150 miles out of before replacing. That would theoretically cut out a third of his per mile running cost and bring it down to slightly above the per mile cost of gas in his car.
It was a brilliant idea in theory, but not so much in execution. The first time that he ran out in the rain with them, the glue in the shoes dissolved and he very quickly had no shoes any more.
The cost of proper running shoes is well worth it, especially given the low costs for participating in our sport compared to others. Do not take that to mean that more expensive shoes mean better shoes, however, because that is not necessarily the case.
The average current model running shoe costs between $80 and $130. At the lower end, you have fairly neutral shoes that don’t have a lot of padding or stability, and at the higher end you have full motion control shoes for severe pronaters or folks with plantar fascia problems. Running in the proper shoes for your feet and gait is more important than how much those shoes cost.
If you aren’t sure what kind of shoes that you need, it is worth heading to your local running store where they can do a gait analysis and help you figure it out. Another method is to just keep trying new pairs of shoes until you find ones that work out well for you, which is what you’ll be doing even with a gait analysis.
Reducing the Cost of Running Shoes
There are some ways to reduce the costs of your running shoes that don’t involve sacrificing the quality of the shoe.
The first and easiest method is to buy last year’s model when it goes on clearance. In college, I bought 4 pairs of Asics GT-2040s when the 2050s came out. Those shoes lasted me a long time, since I got injured and took some time off around the time that I had bought them and did not get back to the crazy levels of mileage for most of a year.
The second method, which is also pretty easy, is to order your shoes online. I tend not to do this for a few reasons, first and foremost being that I would rather keep my money local if I am going to being paying at or near full retail for a pair of shoes. Saving $5 isn’t worth sending the money out of my community. Be careful that the store you order from has a good return policy as well, in case the shoes don’t fit right or are damaged in transit. I tried Vitruvian running shoes once, and they were a pleasure to do business with and had an excellent return policy.
The third method is to keep an eye out for deals, both online and in person. I will buy from the national online retailers when they have a really good deal, or if they bring some old stock to a marathon expo or other event and cut the cost of the shoes at least 25% off of retail. I managed to get a pair of Asics GT-2090s once for $30 through a combination of coupons and clearance savings.
The fourth method is to join a sponsored club or team. This can be a little difficult and can vary depending upon the area you live in and your own running abilities. Here in Southern Maine, most club teams can get a 15% discount from the Maine Running Company on any of their shoes, which can be added to a $5 credit for recycling old shoes. If there is a local store that does something similar in your area, that can save you a lot of money. You might also find a competitive team that is directly sponsored by one of the major shoe companies. My team, Dirigo, belongs to the Nike club program which lets us purchase late model shoes at 25% off of the wholesale price, bringing the cost of most shoes down to around $40.
The fifth method is to find free shoes. This is the best method, but can also be the most difficult. The two main ways to find free shoes are to obtain a personal sponsorship or to win shoes in a race or raffle. Most people can get a shot at free shoes in a raffle, especially if you have to be present to win and it is after an awards ceremony. Winning shoes in a race requires a little more talent and hard work and can be very difficult unless a race is ill-attended. Obtaining a professional sponsorship from a shoe company is much more difficult. Even elite athletes can sometimes find it difficult to find sponsorships.
I have managed to obtain shoes through each of those methods at one point or another. I try to make my shoes last as long as possible, and when it is time to rotate in a new pair I will assess my needs and my options to find the cheapest pair that I can. I never sacrifice quality for price, though. Most of the shoes that I would personally wear cost less than $100 at full retail, so if that is what I need to pay in order to participate in my sport I am more than willing to do so.