Long-distance running times are dropping. The first sub-two hour marathon was completed in 2019 by Eliud Kipchoge. Some runners have argued that advances in design are allowing proper footwear to enhance running performance.
How proper footwear can enhance running performance
Over the last two decades, there have been advancements on the engineering of sports equipment, including running shoes. While we are seeing quick development in this area, these steps are often slow, incremental improvements rather than sudden, major strides of change.
The first ever running shoe was made 200 years ago and clearly, materials and design have improved significantly since then. If you consider the changes from year-to-year, the changes are fractional and simply add up over time.
Preventing Injury
A running shoe can protect the foot from injury. It provides stability for the foot and protects skin from damage. It also limits potentially harmful impact forces, while returning energy to the runner.
Running shoes are designed to make running more efficient. If you can reduce the energy, you should be able to run at the same speed or faster for a longer duration. For most shoes, the mass is made to be lighter. This will allow a runner to swing their legs easier. Many running shoes also use more cushioning in the midsole, which allows the athlete can run with straighter legs, reducing injury risk and making running more efficient.
Nike Vaporfly 4%
Nike released a running shoe 8 years ago with the goal of making distance runners faster. After seeing numerous runners improve their time while donning the shoes, the running world began to believe the claims.
This model was called the Nike Vaporfly 4%. After a research team at BYU ran tests, they found that the shoes allowed runners to reduce their energy cost by 2.8 percent on average compared to other running shoes. This improvement in energy cost can improve a race time by several minutes depending on the distance.
The shoe allows runners to use less energy while running at the same speed with less effort. They appear to improve ground contact time, causing their feet to spend less time on the ground and naturally move quicker than those who spend greater time on the ground.
The study was published online in the Journal of Sport Sciences. They compare the Nike Vaporfly 4% with the Nike Zoom Streak, another popular shoe for elite distance runners.
To test the effect of the shoes, 19 men participated in two days of running. In order to be one of the test subjects, each of the men had to have run a 10-kilometer race in under 32 minutes within the past year. Subjects ran for 5 minutes at 6:00 minutes per mile on a treadmill. Afterwards, they would take five minute-breaks to change shoes until they had worn both models twice.
Wearing proper running shoes can reduce impact and help prevent injury in runners by minimizing shock absorption. The design of running shoes are lighter than regular shoes, making running easier and less tiring.
The treadmill used for the study measures force while someone is running on it. It takes information such as ground contact time, how much he or she is pushing backwards and forwards on each step, where the foot hits the ground(forefoot, midfoot or heel strike), how much force and stride length.
“Muscles contract to aide tendons in absorbing and returning energy,” Professor Iain Hunter said. Therefore, if the design of a shoe is energy efficient, it takes less muscle to run faster, which improves speed.
The data showed differences in oxygen uptake, which directly affects energy cost. This improvement in oxygen uptake results in an increased running economy. Running economy is the amount of energy a runner requires to go a certain distance. There are multiple external factors that have an impact on running economy. This is a major component of endurance performance and even a small change in oxygen uptake can make an improvement in a runner’s endurance performance.
The Nike Vaporfly 4% shoe also led to an average increased stride length, likely as a result of its higher heel height. Even small changes in stride length can add up over long distance races and result in a major improvement.
Differences in runners
Major sport brands spend a lot of time designing and improving running shoes, but the difficult thing for them to account for is that every runner is very different. The impact a running shoe has is heavily dependent on the runner, and what they need. Each person has their own running style and every foot is unique.
A sprinting shoe is entirely different to a marathon shoe, for example. Marathon footwear requires cushioning to reduce injury risk from the impacts of a long distance. On the contrary, a sprinting shoe could benefit from being stiffer and doesn’t require as much cushioning.
Positive gains from running shoes
Materials are one of the most crucial aspects in footwear science. Many of the latest improvements in running shoes are based around the materials included. The shape of a shoe is based on the shape of the foot. However, they also might make the midsole thicker with more resilient material, providing a bigger distance for it to compress over, so it can absorb and return more energy.
Runners can consider different variables when looking at different materials. They might want to consider using lighter materials or materials that return more energy. Running shoe midsoles typically include materials like EVA foam. The bottom of a shoe has to provide grip, and often textiles go on top to form the upper.
Future of running shoes
The future of running footwear is in sustainability and technological advancements. Some runners could be able to design their own shoes to their preference. Companies may design shoes to better suit the needs of the specific runner. For example, they might monitor how someone runs in the lab and then design a pair of shoes specifically for them.
Advances in science have allowed sport companies to design shoes that provide substantial benefit to runners. This has caused proper footwear to enhance running performance.
