Those who ran or run in Melbourne might recognize this wall.
The Era of Support - 1990's
Running shoes have gone through quite a few different phases. The early 1990's was the support phase. Some support was good, more support was better.
Asics
During the 1990's Asics became the runner's brand. It was rare to find a runner who didn't run in Asics. They built a huge following on what they now call structured cushioning.
GT and more importantly the GT II. This shoe would eventually become one of the best selling running shoes of all time when it transitioned into the GT 2100.
Gel Kayano first debuted in 1993 as a premium supportive cushion shoe.
Gel DS Trainer - This shoe would go on for a decade or more as the leader of the category of Lightweight support.
One of the hardest things to do in the early days was build a shoe that fit what is known as "True to Size". Asics always fit 1/2 size short on almost every size. This one brand defined your "running"shoe size. You may wear a size 10 work shoe but in Asics you wear a 10.5. One year the DS Trainer came out and it fit a whopping 1.5 sizes short. If you wore a size 10 work shoe you needed to buy a size 11.5 Ds Trainer. If that happened today the shoe would sit on the shelves. There are too many good shoes. But in the mid 90's when the DS Trainer was the only shoe of it's kind, the runners adjusted.
Other notable support shoes.
Brooks Adrenaline - The Adrenaline first appeared from Brooks in the mid 90's. It was not a very good shoe and it languished for years. The shoe we know today as the Adrenaline GTS was a few years away.
adidas Supernova - This one shoe would be the catalyst for many. It was such a good shoe that adidas kept it around calling it the Supernova Classic. It was in the market without a single change for more than 10 years.
Motion Control
Started in the later 1980's the category of Motion Control took off in the early 90's. A runner who displayed flat "floppy" feet needed a shoe that would help control that excessive motion.
Brooks Beast - More support is better. This shoe would become the most successful motion control shoe in history.
Brooks Addiction -I lighter version of the Beast.
Mizuno Sumo Trainer - I kid you not at all. They had a shoe called the Sumo Trainer. The fit was so bad that it eventually killed itself.
In the late 1990's Asics would bring out 2 shoes that would completely rival what Nike was doing on the neutral cushioning side of the business. Their launch coincided with one of the monumental events in running history. Without one, we may not see the other.......
