As regular readers will know I started running (properly and consistently) pretty much in late 2011 with my first race the December 2011 (postponed to January 2012) Grim Challenge. I bought a pair of 7 inch Nike shorts, some 3/4 length Nike tights and a couple of decathlon running tops – I was all set save for some shoes. I went for the Asics Lahar because they seemed solid, had good tread and were muted in colour enough that nobody would laugh at me. I bought them from a Sports Direct in Kent because I knew no better. The service was terrible, the help in fitting was the passing of the box to me but the price seemed reasonable (£42) for a pair of shoes I might only wear for this one event.

Now sadly I bought a size 9 when actually I should have been buying 9.5’s but regardless that shoe and I did a lot of distance and I still have them in my ‘Shoe Nirvana’ (the loft). If they fitted I’d probably still be wearing those beauts!

Fast forward a few months and I’d gotten the running bug and discovered Sweatshop. Here I made a decision that would affect my spending forever – buy the best, most appropriate running shoes you can afford – don’t look at the price because buying cheap might not be the best got your feet.

With that as a retail mantra I found that £67 later and I was the very proud owner of the original Adidas Adios.

In those shoes I could move mountains, defy the speed of light and leap deep puddles in a single bound – 5km, 10km, 10mile, half marathons and even marathons fell at the altar of the Adios. These shoes made me faster and that made £67 seem like a bargain, especially as I did over 1500miles in those gods of running.

I added in the Adios 2 (£76) about 6 months later and slowly but surely I saw the price of my shoes rising and the general cost of shoes rising, well above rises in earnings. As an example, my original pair of Adidas Kanadia cost around £27, now bought from a conventional sports shop (rather than the disgusting sports direct) you’re looking at between £40 and £55 – that’s a decent price rise over the 3 years since I bought mine and the Kanadia are cack.

Yes you can find shoes heavily discounted online if you know where to look but when I’m looking for shoes it’s usually rather specialist ones like Hoka One One (over £100) Inov8 (around £100) or Vibram FiveFingers (over £100) and it seems that runners are being punished for loving their sport. Furthermore the cost saving in buying online is often negated by delivery and returns costs (as I’ve just discovered trying to buy new Hoka).

I saw a post from ahealthiermoo (which interestingly my iPhone recognised as a phrase I type!) which looked at a years running cost and in it there was the suggestion running should be inexpensive, but as the excellent post proved, running ain’t cheap, it becomes a very expensive business rather quickly.?

I know that manufacturing has improved, technology is improving, our trainers are super space age – Rmat, EVA, boost, torsion, Tri-C, meta-rockers, rock plates, etc but does it really justify significant price hikes in such a short space of time? I’m even aware that companies need to make money, they invest in R&D, sponsorship, marketing, etc but even so this is a multi-million pound industry and we are constantly being lured in by promises of better, faster, longer. Hmmm.

I suppose I’m lucky in that I can afford the shoes I feel I need but runners have lots of cost associated with their sporting endeavours and I’d urge running shoe manufacturers to keep in mind that keeping prices high is doing no favours to the community.

Failing that runners, buy last seasons shoes and get those well tested and reviewed shoes at what I consider to be a reasonable price for the right shoe for you. Remember you only get one pair of feet – treat them right but at the right price!