Running in the 80’s

Thinking about the Almondbury 10k in 1989 got me taking a nostalgic trip through my memories of running in the 1980’s… I used to run ‘on and off’ from around the age of 18, in a fairly haphazard fashion, but as the decade wore on, I started to do it more consistently, and by 1989 I must have been running about 80 miles a week. Some things have really changed since then, and other haven’t….

1. Shoes fit properly now…

Thinking back, the equipment was absolutely rubbish – my first pair of ‘proper’ running shoes were grey ‘Hi Tech’ ones acquired in 1984 for the massive sum of 34 quid.  As well as running in them, they would also go to the pub, in the sea, get slopped in beer and worse... Not terribly clever in retrospect!

These were succeeded by some Reeboks,

…these absolutely sucked, they looked quite nice but just didn’t suit my running style.

Then I acquired my all time favourites, Nike Air Windrunners that I wore out in less than a year, and instantly upped my speed by some 30 seconds per mile, then followed by another pair of the same that weren't as good. The design seemed to have changed in subtly annoying way. I kept hoping that they would reintroduce the old version and I could buy 15 pairs.

I suppose the point is that I just went to a sports shop, asked for a size 8 pair of running shoes and coughed up the money. Sometimes they fitted brilliantly and suited your running style, sometimes they didn’t. But it was all a bit random…

 Obviously, it is a more involved task these days, with a trip to the shop featuring a run on the treadmill whilst having your lower leg filmed to assess how your foot is striking and accordingly if you need stability, neutral or barefoot type shoes. It is quite interesting to watch your lower leg running in slow motion – it looks terribly painful, as though your foot is about to fall off and your leg snap. The strain that your legs seem to be under in slow motion is just plain bizarre to look at.

The implausibly skinny and athletic chap who works in every running shop then disappears off into the back room and reappears with a huge assortment of the ‘right’ sort of shoes (currently neutral, trying to strike nice & flat since reading ‘Running with the Kenyans’) which you try on for about 20 minutes, before settling on your current make, because they feel the same… so another pair of Sauconys, another hundred odd quid!