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A lot of people swear by a certain type of shoe that they run in. A lot of people, though, do a specific kind of running. A soccer player would never wear track spikes, a football player would never wear Brooks and a runner would never wear converse.

Just like there are specific shoes for specific sports there are also specific shoes for specific runners.

New Balance

New balance has typically been known for their specialization in athletic shoes. However, a large part of their sales goes to runners who are more recreational runners than avid or competitive runners. My mother had a few pairs of New Balance and loved them. She would go on 3-5 mile runs every so often to stay in shape and keep active; they worked for her. New Balance might not be crafted for the elite runners but they are solid shoes featuring

• Not Flexible
• Maximum support
• Maximum cushioning

Any beginner runner or recreational runner will find these are very solid shoes

Brooks

Brooks and Adias and Ascics have battled it out the title of best competitive running shoe for a long time. While Ascics and Adias are great running shoes, Brooks has a hair over the competition. Brooks crafts beautiful running shoes, a large percentage of high school, college and serious runners use them. Many colleges (including my own) supply their runners with Brooks brand shoes by default because of their many beneficial features. Brooks shoes are made to provide enough of what is needed in a shoe to protect your feet, but using a minimalist approach brooks has created a sturdy shoe with long distance capabilities.

• Medium flexibility
• Efficient support system
• Balanced cushioning
• Durable

Runners who are looking for a quality shoe for quality work will fall in love with Brook’s design.

Nike Free

For a long time Michael Jordan and basketball has been simultaneous with the word Nike Swoosh logo. They made Nike Air, Nike Zoom and then Nike made Nike Free. The Free series started as a revolution to running, but in all honesty it like with any new invention it started as a Model T and ended as a convertible. The shoes are designed with enormous grooves like a checkerboard on the bottom of the shoe. This allows the shoe to being 360+ degrees making it the most flexible shoe in the world. The second big difference is their all-cloth construction. The shoes are VERY durable and as strong as their counterparts, however, by using an all cloth method of creation “lightweight” is the Nike Free’s middle name. Lightweight, flexible, durable, and with an extreme minimalist approach, absurdly responsive these shoes are unique. Nike Frees are also for advanced runners. Because of the lack of support, flexibility and cushioning these shoes require your legs to stabilize themselves rather than relying on the shoe. This A) can strengthen a strong runners stabilizing muscles to prevent injury and heal shin splints or B) CAUSE an injury in a less than fit runner who’s legs NEED the support of regular shoes.

• Extremely Lightweight
• Extremely Flexible
• Extremely Durable
• No support
• Minimum Cushioning

Despite Nike Free’s minimum cushioning these shoes are very comfortable and a strong runner will love the extra strength they provide during training. The shoes cause stabilizing tendons to strengthen as it leaves them on their own, without help. This strength can help prevent injuries as well as heal existing ones. I personally had deathly painful shin splints and within half a year of switching to Nike Free 3.0 shoes reduced my shin splints by 80%+.