I have no idea what "going bananas" mean... but here is some of my observations with regards to the kids today:

- there is no way the Vaporfly Next% or similar shoes will their their daily shoes. Vans wins there
- the only crossover shoes between running/daily for the kids are the Adidas Boost shoes
- I surmise the reason for kids not wearing "running shoes" as daily kicks like we did back when is because the comfort level between running shoes and casual shoes are smaller these days - and of course the running shoes with all neon colors and whatnot are kind of dorky

This could change of course, it's all a fad.

Means Going crazy. I know it because my bipolar ex girlfriend used to go bananas.

What? Lots of women qualified for Olympic trials this Saturday using the cheater shoes.. 500 or so vs 200 for men. I guess the shoes are like inline skating boom of 90s. But don't see that around anymore

the irony is that the majority of the industry remains unable or unwilling to make a shoe i can run in. i would consider it innovative for, say, newton or on running or 361° or mizuno or new balance to simply make a shoe in which i can run. in my experience, this is the problem. chasing the "innovation" while avoiding the mundane science of making a proper shoe.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Also nike pegasus and some other nike shoes depending where you draw the line between everyday trainer and casual athletic/lifestyle nike shoes

New Balance Beacon...Just run, baby!

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"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Dan,

There are shoes out there from New Balance, Asics, Saucony and Brooks you could run in. In fact we should go shopping at a running store together and for sure we’d find shoes for you. The Innovations are being built for you 30 years ago. Your Air Mariah days. As you know the brands were really tired of chasing. I believe that’s why they didn’t chase your current favorite running brand. They didn’t see it as a reason to chase. Some are just now addressing it as the shoes become normalized. The New Balance 1080 V 10 is a perfect example. The rails and stack height of that shoe are something to be admired.
No shoe in our recent history has come close to the dominance of the Vapor Fly. In 2017 in Boston roughly 15% of the runners wore a racing flat. The #1 flat was the adidas adios. I’ll just say the Vapor Fly is far more important than the adios ever was. That’s what is exciting the market. Performance running is a money maker again. You know the general costing of a running shoe. You can do the math. Even better is the majority of the sale is direct to consumer. That math is even better.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

Just curious, Dan, are you planning to try/review the Infinity React?

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

High school girls are into athletic shoes. My two high school daughters have several pairs of Adidas Ultraburst sneakers, different colors. One also has several pairs of Nike running shoes. And neither of them run. They wear them when going out with friends. Mostly when wearing tights/leggings. All their friends are the same. Was just at my daughters high school basketball game. All the varsity girls came in wearing tights or sweats and all were wearing running shoes. And these girls weren't playing that night, they came to watch the JV team. Athletic shoes are a fashion accessory for them.

just to refresh, i'm celebrating my 52nd year as a competitive runner. during that time i've endured 3 stretches of 2 years or more where i couldn't run, the first one a 4yr stretch from age-17 to 21. i'm not a well-constructed runner. overpronator. heavier than typical. 170+ lb. i am not typically outrun by those in my AG, whether in a triathlon or in a footrace, unless it's a pretty well-populated race.

which is to say i'm done experimenting with shoes and techniques that don't work for me. i'm not an expert in very much, but i'm the world's foremost expert in my own running. not anybody else's running, but in my running. the experts who tried to tell me how to run 10 and 15 years ago are now doing something else with their lives. they not only aren't running experts anymore, they themselves probably don't run anymore. or can't run. meanwhile, next year is year-53 of running for me.

you worked for a shoe brand and so did i. i got to watch the sausage getting made up close. the problem i have with shoe product managers is the problem i have with bike product managers. the shoe managers don't run; the cycling managers don't ride (or, in the case of triathlon, they don't ride triathlon bikes). run shoe brands do not know how to talk about their run shoes. there is no brand today that can create a cogent narrative, for the running consumer, about its shoes. and you know me; i'm a HOKA devotee. that brand is a particular case in point. those people do... not... flipping... know... a... GD... thing about what they make. they don't know what stability means. what neutral means. what plush or responsive is. even tho they use those terms. they employ no method to determine themselves whether their shoes do or don't exhibit cushion, and they obviously have no interest in acquiring one.

so, maybe you're right. maybe the footwear industry makes brands i could run it. but if they do, it's by accident. it's freak good luck that they made a decent shoe for me, if they did. yes, nike makes decent shoes for africans to run in. but get ready for a five-fingers-like response to this in a couple of years. get ready for the injury blowback to this. because there's more to a run shoe than cushion, especially if you outweigh someone whose name is chelimo by 40 pounds. and, btw, that chelimo fellow? he's 22. he won't be running when he's 28. so who cares what he can run in today? is there a kenyan who's been an ardent runner for as long as i have? anywhere in that country? who is that guy? because, if that guy doesn't exist, there's my case in point. nikes are for temporary runners. yes, i could run in a mariah. race only. 5k or maybe 10k. when i was in my 30s. and only because it had some of the important features it took nike another 30 years to rediscover: cushion, and forefoot cushion.

technical running is not only the least scientific, least data-based, fact-based, testing-based, metrics-based, analytical segment in all of endurance sport, it revels in it. these folks are positively trumpian. they revel in their ignorance and stubbornness, they do not, will not, learn from anyone or any trend, or admit what they don't know, unless their noses are rubbed in it by market forces. a guy will lead his brand into the toilet, and get fired. never along the way will he admit that his approach was wrong.

so, i'm very careful what i put on my feet. if i put the wrong shoes on my feet, go out for a run, and come up lame, this is my reward for listening to someone's expert opinion. yes, maybe there are shoes out there for me. but the run industry has made it impossible to know. that's a good reason to have a relationship with a run specialty store, not because the fellow who owns it will know anything, but because i at least can see and try on the shoes in person.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I would like to copy this and send it to the VP of product management at Nike. For some reason they think that everyones feet fit into ballerina slippers and we have no forefoot width or height/volume needed in our toe box.

OK rant over. I am sure there are a few product managers who actually run, but on the flip side, the best product managers can't be end users for every use case of their products, but they DO NEED TO UNDERSTAND all the use cases, why they are important for customers and how they can monetize that.

Maybe they are just happy being able to monetize without knowing their customer/market and if they are more power to them.

So just to clarify you think shoe companies are doing a great job lol.