Did you know Running Shoes Guru sees almost one million visitors each month? That we review more than 100 pair of shoes a year? That after 6 long years of working on the site at 5am, 10pm and in weekends I left my day job to work on this site full time? Here’s the story…
Running Shoes Guru started as a simple blog, entirely written by me, in April 2009.
At the time I had just finihsed working for Reebok/Adidas, after many years with Nike. I was always in sports footwear. Working in sports was a dream and it helped both cementing and celebrating my passion for running shoes.
The net was full of websites with detailed reviews of televisions, gaming consoles, mobile phones… but nowhere you could really find a good, honest and detailed review of running shoes.
Running shoes was what I had been doing for a living and I thought… why not a blog dedicated entirely to running shoes?
Compared to most people out there, I really knew what I was talking about and I believe my strength was to cut through most of the marketing BS and explaining clearly the shoes I was testing.
What started as a simple analysis of the shoes me or my running buddies were running in very soon attracted many visitors. People started writing me emails, asking me “hey please review this shoe” or “I am this kind of runner, would you recommend shoe X or shoe Y?”
I needed a team, and I didn’t even know it!
More or less one year later, I realized I could not possibly test and review all the shoes out there on my own, keeping the quality as high as I wanted.
I started “recruiting” runners I trusted to help me write reviews. Soon enough I started adding ultra runners, USATF coaches, competitive (some semi-elite) marathon and 10k runners… and the team is now of a dozen reviewers!
Right now we review approximately 120 shoes every year. Here is how we do it.
Planning the season
You might not know it, but new running shoes are released into the market mainly 2 times a year, called “seasons”: Spring (January) and Fall (July).
Each season, we track what shoes are coming out new, which ones are updates of the previous versions, what’s new etc.
Once we have the full list of shoes, we select which ones go to which reviewer. That is an art. The shoe needs to be reviewed by the right runner. We try and give each shoe to the runner it was meant for. Cushioned, racing… with the years, our reviewers will have tested many version of the same shoe – or many different shoes aimed at the same kind of runner. This ensures that when we talk about a shoe, we know how it stacks with its direct competitors.
NOTE: We used to get these shoes for free from the companies. NOT ANYMORE. Some companies stopped sending us shoes when the reviews where not respecting their narratives. So, to make it fair, we decided to NEVER get free samples for reviewing, but to actually buy them ourselves with our own money.
Testing the shoes
Testing is the fun part: once we receive the shoes we shoot a few pictures and then we start running in them! We always run 50 miles (at least) in a shoe before starting to write anything. Depending on the shoe, it can be tested anywhere between the track, the road or the trails…
Shoes are usually inserted in a shoe rotation, so that is very immediate for us to compare one shoe with the other ones we’re testing at the moment.
Writing the shoe review
Running shoes are a very subjective matter. We try and make it as objective as possible and the fact we review so many running shoes helps us with that.
I let the testers free to write what they want about a shoe. If they loved a shoe, they write so. If they didn’t, same.
What is important is that both love and hate reviews are backed up by facts. The way I explain it to new testers is “don’t be afraid to tell if a shoe sucks. you don’t write ‘this shoe sucks’, you explain why it does and back it up with facts, for example ‘this shoe does not give me the support I need because my ankle is not supported by the lacing’.
We are an independent outlet. Our credibility is the only thing we have. We strive to write the best running shoe reviews out there. While we don’t spend 500 words explaining the exact foam compound a shoe midsole is using, we surely test and write how and why it works (or doesn’t) so that you can understand if it works for you.
What’s in a review
A typical review consists of 4 parts:
- a general info/introduction: where we explain what the shoes is, who is it meant for and what our expectations and first impressions are
- a sole unit section: this is where the reviewer talks about the bottom of the shoe, both explaining the tech specs (what the shoe is supposed to do) and first hand impressions (if the shoe performed as expected)
- a upper section: same as before, but for the upper of the shoe
- a conclusion: this is what the tester says about the shoe after the 50 miles of testing
The secret ingredient
I believe the best thing that happened to Running Shoes Guru has been the option (since 2011!) for readers to add their own reviews of a shoe, with a star rating. For sure we were the first website to do this and we might still be the only ones.
Our reviews are great (if we might say so ourselves), but when you have 50 or more other comments by other runners like you… that is hard to beat. When you read our site, please DO add a review to the shoes you have run in. Give back to the running community and help other runners find the right shoe!
Do we review other things?
The answer is.. sometimes. We prefer to do one thing and do it well. As runners, we use gadgets, apparel, training plans, specific diets…
We don’t write about them often, but when we do we always try and give you independent advice that you can trust. Have a look for example to our GPS watch buying guide, best running accessories or the best running apps for iPhone or Android.
People email us all the time asking for advice and review on running apparel. We are working on something and we’ll let you know when it’s ready!
Want to start your own site?
Starting this website has been an incredible journey for me. I met many amazing runners and helped thousands of others finding the right shoes. I learned a lot about the industry, about running a website and even a business.
There is obviously much more that goes on in the creation and operation of a now large website and while we love doing it – it’s a lot of work.
Want to know how to start your own blog and potentially change your life? Check this guide!
