Running Shoes - with 'The Athlete's Foot' Guru Mick Elliott

I caught up with good mate Mick Elliott a couple of weeks ago to talk all things running shoes. Mick is now the owner of 4 Athlete’s Foot stores across NSW - The Galleries Victoria in Sydney City, Eastgardens, Bankstown and Tamworth. Mick was a great boss and mentor to me while I was battling my way through uni. I was keen to chat to Mick about this topic as I think an awareness of running shoes and what is out there is important for anyone at least a little serious about running and trying to prevent injuries. This is Part 1 of a 2 part series - in this part we will focus on considerations when selecting the right shoe.

Mick is not only a guru when it comes to fitting shoes he personally puts them to the test with his own sporting pursuits. He has played both cricket and AFL at high levels and now spreads his time between triathlons, trail runs, cycling and distance running. What is on the horizon for you?

At the moment it’s just to stay active rather than focus on anything too much.

City 2 Surf this year?

No I’ll be away. Probably the Sydney Marathon is next, that’s mid September and I’ve signed on again for the Western Sydney Half Ironman.

So what shoes are you currently training in?

I’m currently wearing a mixture - a Hoka Clifton, they’re going pretty well. A Brooks Glycerin, one of your favourites. Yes, good shoe. And the Asics Nimbus, they're the 3 at the moment.

When would you wear your Hoka’s? Bigger runs or do you mix it up a bit?

Mix it up. The Hokas are good because of the weight and cushioning. The weight of a racing shoe with 30% more cushioning than most shoes.

Hoka’s are becoming increasingly popular with runners, especially those with injuries, arthritic joints or lack of ankle joint mobility. Why is this?

Just through it’s volume of cushioning, now they have different fitting options which is also good. Mainly it reduces the required range of motion through the ankle joint which for most people will change their loading patterns from whatever footwear they have been wearing from forever. Whether you’re 30, 40, 50 or 60 - the basic anatomy of footwear over the past 25 years has been pretty similar. So that, and the rocker sole is the big difference. 

It wasn’t until I started working in your stores that I realised there was more to running shoes than what looks good, and it’s not just a matter of pulling them off the shelf and finding one that fits your foot. What are the main features of running shoes that benefit its owner?

You need the correct fitting - so heel to toe, for the vast majority of people the width, particularly as you get older. That is to avoid pressure points, hot spots and blisters. And then you’re looking for footwear with decent heel to toe cushioning (which all the good brands do). Some people might refer to it as a chunky shoe, but if you’re doing any form of training, whether it be gym or running, I believe you need 20-24mm minimum in the heel, and it’s just to protect you from the repetition of walking and running. The shape of the shoe is the other thing that will give you support typically. There’s been a shift away from having prescriptive medial support devices (firm supports for the inside of the shoe). Even though they still exist they are less inclined to be issued now than what they were 5 years ago. And that’s through the amount of choice in neutral shoes and the learnings of the minimalist theory… there was a big craze around barefoot running between 2009-2011. In it’s purity it is very good as it focuses on technique and anything that pushes technique is a good thing. 

So a Nike Free is more of a training tool than the shoe you want to do the bulk of your running in?

Correct. As a walking shoe they're great, as a gym shoe they’re great, but most people will struggle to run 20-100k’s a week in them.

Yeah, I’ve found I have had a few patients who would spend a day standing or walking in them and end up in pain.

Yeah you get tired.

Exactly, but I have used them myself as a running tool but only for short distances and mixing it up with a different shoe.

How do you… not convince… but someone is looking at a shoe and is swayed to it more by how it looks while you, and most likely they, know it is not the best shoe for them. How would you help them determine whether they will go for a shoe that looks better or the one that is actually better for their foot?

Depends what the priority is - if the priority is to do the Sydney Marathon in under 3 hours the look shouldn’t even come in to it.

And would you say most of the people who do have those kind of goals would usually go for the more comfortable shoe?

Correct, someone that has to stay healthy by walking 20 minutes a day, even they are less inclined to go for looks. Someone that buys a shoe more for the look, may be active or training, but don’t typically have a lot of problems, they just have to be more attentive to turn the shoe over when the time comes. You can have incorrectly fitting shoes - we’ve both had them - but we’ve been in the fortunate position where we can turn them over in 2 months if we’re not happy. But thankfully now there is a lot more black and white fashion shoes in all brands and all fittings.

So a common question I get is how should the shoe feel on the foot. So the best answer is the most comfortable. 

The most comfortable. Ultimately the customer is the one that makes the choice, we just help narrow down the options very quickly.

How many kms does it usually take to wear out a running shoe?

It is still about 600-800km in the average running population. You do hear of people running 2000-3000km in a running shoe, and hey if they're not broken why replace them? Then some people you hear of, like me, get barely 300km out of them, and that’s because I like the cushioning. It’s just a personal thing, the shoe still looks good, the shape is alright, the line is alright, in the end you’ve got to look for deformation in the shoe and when it starts to lose it’s shape either medially or laterally. Most biomechanics problems tend to happen medially, when the shoe stresses medially. 

We're only a few days out from Sydney's biggest running event - the City 2 Surf - is there enough time to ‘wear in’ a new pair of running shoes?

Plenty, I would say 5 hours is enough time. Running shoes are very soft these days and flexible. You just need o get the fitting right. The City 2 Surf is a tough race because you’re either running up hill or what I think is worse, running 7km down hill to Bondi because your toes are jamming up in the front of your shoes. I’ve done over 20 marathons and I’ve had more foot friction issues in the City 2 Surf than any other race. It comes down to the combination of a good shoe and a good sock. If you get fitted at The Athlete’s Foot or any good running store you should be good to run in the shoe straight away.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you have been able to take something out of this interview. Good luck to all competing in the City 2 Surf or whatever your running/training goals may be.

Part 2 of this talk will focus on the technical side or running shoes and how the market and footwear is changing.