Fordyce: shoes not an exact science

It has been 38 years since I last bought a pair of running shoes, but the good times can’t last forever and in recent months, I realised that the days of enjoying the status of being a sponsored runner were coming to an end.

The end came quite abruptly, and I understood that I’ve been consigned to history. I also realised that in order to get a new pair of running shoes I could no longer rely on picking up the phone, but that I would have to visit a running shoe shop and guess what, I realised I would have to pay for them. I quite enjoyed the experience, feeling a close bond with my fellow runners as we sat shoulder-toshoulder, legs pointing at the shoe fitting stools in a busy running shop.

While the very enthusiastic and helpful Megan unwrapped tissue from shoeboxes and handed me brand new shoes that were eye-wateringly expensive, I marvelled at how in some ways times have changed, but in others not at all. The technology and concomitant prices have soared into the stratosphere, but after 38 years, runners still want the reassurance that they have bought the best possible shoes to help them have the best possible run on race day.

For a while in the very early days I paid for my own shoes. At just under R10 a pair they were considered expensive and they came in an exciting choice of three colours, red, blue or white. But then I ran a couple of fast marathons and a third- place finish in the 1979 Comrades brought me a partial sponsorship. As a result of that performance I only paid cost price for my shoes. This was a huge bonus for a struggling student. A Comrades win two years later brought me a full sponsorship and I was given five free pairs of shoes a year. Continued success ensured continued sponsorship and so the years rolled by and even after my winning years were gone, elder statesman status seemed to help.

But eventually even elder statesman status no longer holds much sway and understandably sponsorship budgets must be spent on the new generations of stars. After all they are the runners who will most influence opinion and guide runners to the latest models.

And how those latest models have evolved over the years. The technology became ultra-complex and then ultra-simple again. Now the pendulum seems to have paused somewhere in the no-man’s land between complex and simple.

But the price, the price! Suddenly there was a R50 pair of shoes and those of us who read all the running literature gobbled them up. Only our good friends in KZN baulked at the price and some even continued to run in tennis shoes, prompting Johnny Halberstadt to name them “old Natal takkies”.

Johnny is probably the greatest and most decorated distance runner South Africa has ever known, but ironically, in his first attempt at the Comrades, he lost to the late Piet Vorster, the ultimate Natal old takkie. Next came the R100 running shoe and from then on, the price just climbed dizzyingly.

I was ready for the price tag of the shoes I recently bought and thanks to Megan for the generous discount. I won’t reveal the price, but suffice to say it was a great deal more than the price I paid for those first running shoes that came in a choice of three basic colours. There is something quite liberating about being a retired sponsored runner. Suddenly I can choose my own shoes. I don’t have to wear the latest model. I can examine several brands and most importantly I can wear the shoes that best suit my funny narrow feet and best protect my dodgy knee.

When next you see me running somewhere you will know that the shoes I’m wearing are the ones I genuinely fancy, the ones I believe will give me the best trouble-free running.

And right now, as the training days slip past, thousands of Comrades runners are gradually deciding which shoes they will wear on Comrades morning on June 10.

The most important first step they can take is to understand their own biomechanics.

Once runners understand how they run they will understand which shoe suits them best. This will save them a fortune in wasted money and weeks of frustrated injury time.

I know my own peculiar biomechanics intimately. I am a heavy pronator with a ridiculously thin floppy foot. When I walk barefooted across an uncarpeted floor my family members all squeal in horror at the squelching noises my flat suction feet emit. I am told my walking sounds like a tree frog or Tolkien’s Gollum with a suction cup foot. Whatever my family’s opinion I know I run on the inside of both ankles and that I must wear a supportive shoe with anti-pronation features. There are dozens of shoes I simply must not even bother to try.

The assistants in specialist running shoe shops will help advise those in doubt about their individual biomechanics.

Once the correct shoe has been selected I recommend that runners torture test these shoes in all sorts of conditions; on long, slow runs, at speed in short-distance races and time trials, on steep descents and long climbs and on both fresh and tired legs. Never be afraid to customise your shoes.

Most of the shoes we wear aren’t made for ultra-marathons. They may need some altering with a snip here and a cut there. Wear these shoes for a couple of weeks of training and then put them aside at the back of a dark cupboard somewhere and only bring them out again in race week, for a gentle dressrehearsal and then of course for race day.

And the sign of the perfect pair of shoes? During the race the shoes gave no problems and you were never aware you were wearing them.