“It would be so nice to have that hybrid between performance and comfort:” Co-designing women’s specific running shoes for competitive and recreational runners

Introduction: Despite many known anatomical, biomechanical, and social differences between men and women, most current running footwear is designed from and tested on men. These footwear prototypes are later shrunk to create smaller versions for women, allowing only minimal further shoe modifications. It is unknown if the currently available running footwear adequately meets the needs of women runners or if women would benefit from additional shoe variations and adaptations. This qualitative study explored the running footwear preferences and needs of competitive and recreational women runners and how these needs may change across the lifespan to inform the future development of a co-designed women ’s specific running shoe.
Source: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport - Category: Sports Medicine Authors: Tags: O2023SMA-204 Source Type: research