By: Cory Van Auken & Tim Nooney
CVA: The transition from a fairly athletic individual to an unathletic dad happened fast. Gone are the days of sprinting around a soccer pitch, chirping at the ref to feel alive. Now, a rushed 30-minute gym session squeezed between daycare dropoff and Teams meetings suffices. Still, it doesn’t stop me from having opinions on things I know very little about.
The endurance industry is having a crossover moment, nay…a crossover decade. And frankly, I can’t stand the shoes. How much cushion does a human need for their delicate pads?
But I’m nothing else if not a man willing to learn. And so I’ve convinced my esteemed colleague, Tim Nooney, to educate me. He’s an ultramarathoner with calves the size of grapefruits and a metabolism to die for.
Tim not only talks the talk, but he also walks the walk. He leads our Endurance PR efforts and knows almost everything about the industry, its trends, and where it’s headed. If anyone can educate me on why running shoes now resemble platform sneaks…it’s Mr. Nooney.
An Uneducated View
One day, my wife returned home with a new pair of bright pink [redacted]*. These behemoths possessed enough cushion to safely absorb a fall from a second-story window. Think one wrong step on a sidewalk and roll your ankle amount of cushion. Or Princess and the Pea, but in shoe form, amount of cushion.
She didn’t get them for running; she got them for nursing. And as she put it, “these are a floor nurse’s best friend.” Now, staring directly into her eyes due to her sudden cushion-supported height increase, who was I to dispute a first responder?
Then, I saw these platform running shoes creeping into everyday interactions: my accountant neighbor waiting at the bus stop, a gym dad standing 4 inches taller at the free weights, and Gordon, a fellow PR practitioner with two cushioned hooves resting beneath his desk as he tippity-tapped away on his keyboard.
According to a quick bit of research, my wife, neighbor, and colleague aren’t alone. Running shoes are projected to outpace the broader athletic footwear market through 2031.
And when we talk about heel stack (the official name of this god-forsaken cushion explosion), we’re now seeing heights of 50mm or more…a measurement that’s been ruled illegal in competitive racing. Think about that—the shoes my wife wears to work would disqualify her from racing in the Olympics because they’re too cushion-y.
As I log the occasional miles, wondering when this so-called runner’s high will kick in, I feel my joints complain ever-so-slightly and think, maybe it’s time. So, I’m stuck between my lack of conditioning and my ego. I need Tim’s help. I need his expert opinion on how we got here and whether all this cushion…is, in fact, needed.
*As I ran this idea by my fellow cardio-hating colleague, Gordon, I expected a rousing, “Dude, I totally agree.” Instead, he vehemently disagreed and proceeded to pontificate on the sheer comfort that a robust heel stack can provide. He found my attempt to “slander” said design choice…distasteful (his words). Out of respect for him (and my wife), I have redacted all mention of their favorite shoe brand.
“I usually downplay my running by saying something terse like, “I jog around a bit,” but I suppose I’ll say it with my chest here: I’m a professional trail runner, I typically log 10-15 hours a week of running, with an extra hour or two of gym work. Lots of 4 am starts, lots of midsoles worn out. I’ve got some opinions.”
— Tim Nooney
The Rise of Cushion
TN: The humble running shoe has undergone plenty of “solutions” iterations and massive marketing campaigns to make running a little less punitive. Brands have played around with softness and durometer, 12mm heel-to-toe drop to zero-drop, performance fits, or wider options for toe splay. All are just flavors of differentiation and brands’ attempts to establish identities and connect with consumers.
In the early 2000’s, we began to see the industry shift its focus to increasing the stack height of its midsoles. More stack height means more foam cushioning, perceived comfort, and happy runners. Right?
This opened doors for a whole range of customers, and the cultural milieu slowly adapted the trend beyond the dorky running world to disparate audiences, most notably the medical community.
Foam and Sins
Look, I think you should enjoy your coffee any way you like. Same with your personal preference for footwear. If you’re getting out and having fun, good, that’s the point. That said, from a runner’s perspective, all that foam does a great job covering up your running form sins.
By increasing the lever length with something like 40mm+ stack height, your gait cycles change dramatically. The stabilizer muscles that typically develop slowly over successive isotonic loading take a backseat to the ocean of foam underneath your foot, making you a weaker and more injury-prone athlete. While you might not feel the impact in your hips or knees from your foot strikes jostling and rebounding off a hard surface as much, you’re also numbing the cues that naturally guide form improvements that help it move efficiently over time and terrain, ultimately inhibiting progression and improvement.
Sure, I’ll accept some pushback on max-cushion recovery shoes, but even then, I’d just say run slower, be lighter on your feet, and less as you build up. Races present an interesting case. Since it’s a performance event, which is beyond what I’d consider “running for health,” where your form breaks down from muscle fatigue and the main goal is finishing the damn thing, it’s much less egregious to give yourself an artificial 1.5” growth spurt for the duration of the event.
Though as a daily trainer, max-cushion shoes at best numb important biofeedback; at worst, reinforce a form that is holding you back or injuring you. That is, unless you’re racing an ultra or standing on your feet for 12 hours straight saving lives, then wear whatever you want.
Endurance PR
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