Sometimes,
as the editor of iRun, I review shoes. And sometimes,
like the start of spring, there tends to be lots of them.
Reviewing a slew of new running shoes recently, I dropped
a word that was considered offensive: sneakers.
“SNEAKERS???? I’VE
BEEN WEARING RUNNING SHOES ALL MY LIFE. WHY WOULD I SWITCH
TO SNEAKERS?” WROTE ONE READER.
“If I want reviews
on “sneakers,” I go to Sneaker’s World
or Canadian Sneaker Magazine or maybe iSneaker,”
wrote another.
Confused, I took the question
to Facebook, where our audience considered the word. Responses
varied. “I have sneakers and running shoes, and
they are for separate purposes,” a reader opined.
Another one said: “I
wouldn’t read an article about sneakers because
I don’t wear sneakers.”
“I don’t run
in my sneakers, but I have sneakers. I run in my running
shoes,” went a very good reply.
After Facebook, my next best
source for anything running is Canadian marathon great
and running coach Reid Coolsaet. Coolsaet first shared
this post from Citius magazine to describe his feelings:
Coolsaet also said: “I’m fine with the word
“jogging.” I often go for a jog, and enjoy
it. But when I’m running fast, please don’t
call it “jogging.”
Usually what Reid says is
a good barometer of morality in our sport. Dayna Pidhoresky,
currently training for the Tokyo Olympics, also weighed
in.
“I use the words trainers,
training shoes (when referring to a daily mileage shoe),
as well as runners and running shoes (for any and all
running shoes). Sneakers is funny,” she said. “Makes
me think of a cartoon character sneaking around in loud-sounding
shoes—definitely not as atrocious as saying 5K marathon!“
Often I’m a guest on
Mark Sutcliffe’s iRun podcast and every time I drop
the s-word, he corrects me. I’m American, he’s
Canadian and perhaps that’s the difference. Oftentimes
Americans use different terminology than Canadians. John
Stanton, the running great and iconic founder of the Running
Room, agrees.
“RUNNING SHOES OR
SNEAKERS IS TRULY A CANADIAN THING, PARTS OF CANADA PROUDLY
REFER TO THEIR SHOES AS “SNEAKERS,” WHILE
OTHER AREAS ARE EQUALLY PROUD OF THEIR “RUNNERS”
OR REFERRED TO AS “RUNNING SHOES.” BOTH APPLY
EQUALLY TO OUR FOOT COVERING EQUIPMENT USED IN OUR SPORT.”
So is it OK to call running
shoes sneakers? Plenty of iRun readers said yes.
“If you are a good
runner, you can call them any damn thing you want!”
one reader wrote.
Another one said: “Only
running snobs who run in “tribes” give a sh!t
what you call your shoes. Call them whatever you want
and have fun.”
“Don’t get hung
on the “sneakers” word, you could call them
“kicks” for all that matter,” said someone
else.
I was feeling pretty good
about my word choice and ready to call it a day until
I reached out to one more running hero, Krista DuChene,
Olympian, Marathon Mom, legend.
When asked if I could call running shoes sneakers, she
offered a one word reply: “Nope,” and when
Krista talks, runners listen—19 runners liked her
response.
Time to go for a fast jog
in my new sneakers
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