lol ... no sooner do I type the above and the latest Running Insight (trademag for specialty running shoe stores) arrives in my inbox......
We discussed this in a couple of other threads - I noted that if you go back through the last 12 or so months of Runners World magazine, you see NO claims in the advertisements by the 'traditional' running shoe manufacturers about injury prevention and treatment
(which is correct as there is no evidence to support or refute that), but they do make claims about the biomechanical effects of their shoes
(which has evidence to support that those changes do happen). The only claims made in the advertisements in Runners World about injury prevention and lower injuries were coming from the minimalist running shoe manufacturers
(which is risky as there is NO evidence to support that).
Now we see
Vibram and
Adidas being sued over the injury/health claims made for their minimalist shoes (not to mention the
Skechers and
Reebok settlements with the FTC!). There was no evidence to back the injury prevention/reduction claims that they made and the claimed health benefits did not eventuate to the purchaser (that is what the class action is alleging). In the most recent issue of Running Insight, I notice that one of the minimalist companies that prominently featured that if you run in their shoes you get less injuries ... well ... they have quietly dropped that from there advertisement!