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[QUOTE=Cynosure;2626289]BTW, walking/running shoes are for providing arch support and shock absorption while walking/running on hard and flat surfaces such as concrete or asphalt, which is where modern-day people do the vast majority of their walking/running. So, yes, we do indeed need such shoes. (Whether a $150 pair of Nike walking/running shoes are better than a much cheaper brand's, is another discussion entirely.)
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That's actually incorrect. Zola Budd broke the women's 5k record twice and didn't wear shoes in competition OR training. Haile Gebreselassie didn't wear shoes in training until he was 16 and already one of the most feared runners on the junior circuit.
Given that the Kenyan national team (of which they all were or are a part) trains partially on paved roads in the mountains outside of Eldoret, what makes it bizarre is that the national team is sponsored by Nike.
And Abebe Bikela, the great Ethopian, didn't wear shoes in Rome or in Tokyo.
So, if you grow up running with no shoes, you can keep doing that, regardless of surface. Until the shoe companies, who provide the majority of the funding, pay you to wear their shoes, which you'll gladly do since you almost certainly grew up too poor to afford shoes in the first place. The author of the linked piece is correct that runners don't necessarily need shoes. But his rationale for that sucks.
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