cushioned vs lightweight shoes

Rickshaw · Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:11 pm

I've read a couple of interesting discussions recently about running in minimalist shoes: basically racing flats, or some other lightweight shoe. Most everyone today wears cushioned trainers, with raised heels, stability features, etc, and I've never really thought to question why. Shouldn't the human foot be pretty well adapted to the task of walking and running? By raising the heel, counteracting pronation, and providing tons of cushioning, are modern shoes just enouraging poor running style?

Trail Runner published an interview with this year's Leadville 100 winner, and he runs in very minimal shoes. He even cuts out part of the heel and most of the tongue. His claim was that fancier shoes (especially ones with more heel lift) encourage heel striking and other bad habits, and prevents full use of the achilles tendon for impact absorption. His arguments make some sense to me. Why does a shoe need to do anything other that keep pointy rocks from cutting you? Is the human foot such a poor design that it needs artificial correction?