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Women’s running shoes for 2008

Why should a woman’s running shoes be different from a man’s?

• Women tend to have narrower heels, so the last the shoe is made on needs to be different from a man’s.

• Women tend to weigh less than men, so their shoes need to be more flexible, and don’t need to have as much cushioning.

• Women tend to strike with a slightly different part of the foot, due to having a wider pelvis, so the outsole may need to be different

For a while shoe manufacturers considered that the best way of making a shoe specific to women was by having a lavender and rose colour scheme. Fortunately that (dare we say patronising and chauvinistic) view has changed, and there are now shoes out there that work well for women. Here are some of the best for 2008.

• Asics Gel Nimbus
• Brooks Glycerin
• New Balance 1062
• Mizuno Wave Rider

These are neutral shoes. The Nimbus aren’t as durable as some, in fact the boss at Run and Become we spoke to was a little scathing about Asics’s midsole durability, but for lighter runners they do a good job. The Glycerin tends to come in a bit small on sizing, but otherwise these are good choices for fairly high-mileage runners. The New Balance is impressively light for the style of shoe it is. The Mizuno Rider has always served those with higher arches very well, and continues to do so.

• Mizuno Wave Alchemy
• Adidas Adistar Control
• Saucony Grid Stabil
• Nike Air Structure Triax

These shoes have more support, even motion control, but maintain a decent degree of flexibility required for the female frame. The Adidas was praised for its fit, but is more for lighter runners, while the others would all suit slightly heavier runners.

• New Balance 902 – New Balance usually do fit well and the 902 is not an exception. The 902 is a lightweight shoe for racing and faster training.

• Asics Gel Ds Trainer 13. Also a trainer-racer, or performance trainer, and a perennial success from Asics.

Happy running!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under Top ten, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.