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Want to move fast? Look for these materials in your next running shoes

Spiked running shoes with a rubbery material between the inner and outer soles, and a stiff plate to improve stability, seem to help people move faster

By Sara Novak

1 May 2024

The technology in your running shoes may affect your performance

mezzotint/Shutterstock

Choosing shoes with specific sole materials could help you beat your personal running best.

At the Tokyo Olympic games in 2021, most medals in the middle and long-distance track events were won by athletes wearing spiked running shoes with “advanced footwear technology”, Víctor Rodrigo-Carranza at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and his colleagues wrote in a research paper.

To learn more about the types of shoes that may be most beneficial, the team recruited 14 women and 16…

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