Qype: Runners Need Ltd in London

London - Shopping - Sport

So you need some running shoes… First thing to do is find your way into the shop. Which means walking through the bike shop. Once in, forget browsing the shelves. You need help. No seriously. Fashion is out the window. All that matters here is that you get shoes that fit and suit your gait. The assistant will inspect your current footwear for wear patterns (so it’s best if you wear something old). They’ll then suggest a shoe. If you are very lucky you might even get a choice. But please don’t comment on the colour. Next you get to try them out: maybe on the treadmill, maybe running up and down the pavement outside (yes, in public). If they do the job, you are going home with them. If they’re ugly you’ll just have to get them covered in mud quickly. Clean shoes are not cool in running circles anyway…

Seriously though, the point of coming to a place like this is to get properly fitted. Assistants in many of the chain ‘sports’ stores actually have no idea about the mysteries of gaits and arches, and could well sell you a shoe that can lead to injury. I have especially hard to fit feet (unusually small and broad) and they struggled to find me a shoe first visit. I ended up getting a discontinued shoe from another shop, but what I’d found out at Runners Need helped. Since, with my gait having changed somewhat as I’ve got fitter, they’ve been able to sort me out no trouble. Though it’s strange coming to a shoe shop and being told only one shoe suits your foot! Certainly speeds things up for a terminal ditherer like me.

Of course, you can also get other stuff here, like socks, bum bags, water bottles and sports bars. But it’s the shoes that are the main thing…

Check out my review of Runners Need Ltd - I am moonrising - on Qype