How Long Do Running Shoes Live?

How many miles can you put on a running shoe before it is no longer a running shoe? Gina Kolata, a veteran runner and health columnist for the New York Times, put the question to several knowledgeable people and got several informed answers: all different. Runner Ryan Hall puts 200 miles on his shoes before he calls them garbage. Another runner gets 500 miles. Kolata herself gets 300. Who’s right? Kolata cites a study conducted at Odense University Hospital in Denmark that “failed to find any clear relationship between how long running shoes were worn and a runner’s risk of injury.” Another study conducted at the biomechanics laboratory at University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany concluded that “the sort of mechanical testing that shoe manufacturers do to evaluate cushioning materials does not reflect what happens when people actually run.” The Germans found that Europeans typically wear shoes for about 600 miles, but they also found that shoes could last much longer. In the end, the answer to the question “when is it time to buy new shoes?” is much easier than it seems: Whenever you want to. Read more in the New York Times.