Every Fall and Spring, the Running Network LLC announces its award winners for the Fall and Spring Shoe Reviews. It is done with little fanfare, but it is signifigant. Cregg Weinmann and his merry band of wear testers influence over 750,000 runners and walkers and infuriate store owners in 500 running stores across the U.S. Many stores will tell you that they have very little use for the shoe review.
Yet, besides the obvious ad sales garnered as revenue from the shoe reviews, this writer, who is the person who sells those ads, thinks that there is another value from the reviews…..
Before you start throwing rotten tomatoes, let’s discuss the value of shoe reviews. I have a copy of the first one done for running shoes, dating back to 1967, and the first issue of Runners’ World. Written at the time by Jeff Johnson, the first employee at Blue Ribbon Sports, which later become Nike, the shoe review spoke of the few shoes available at the time-PUMA, Onitsuka, New Balance, and adidas, I believe.
When I first started subscribing to Runners’ World in 1974, I loved to get their shoe review issue-which publisher Bob Anderson once told me he did in October because it was a bad ad month. The reviews, I believe at that time, had alot to do with the improved quality of product. The guys involved in the process at the time, from
Peter Kavanugh, to Bob Wischnia, made a serious effort to provide info on brands no one else knew about. I remember reading about Osaga, Saucony, New Balance, Pony, Brooks and yes, this brand called Nike.
Today, the quality of running shoes has never been better. It is a terribly competitive business and the store owners are masters of their domains. They can complain about a shoe and it is changed. Brands that support specialty and focus on performance not only thrive in the specialty business, but their less technical business thrives because they are authentic brands. Consumers want something real.
The place for the shoe review? It is not the end all or be all for a runner looking for a shoe, but a starting point. Many times the store staff will stear the runner to a completely different shoe than what the runner first requested, but that is good, it gives the runner a chance to find, and a better chance now than ever before, a chance to find the best shoe for their needs.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Larry Eder, President, Running Network, LLC
Phone: 920.563.5551
Email: [email protected]
RUNNING NETWORK, LLC ANNOUNCES FALL 2007 RUNNING SHOE AWARD WINNERS
September 13, 2007 (Fort Atkinson, WI)– The Running Network, LLC, announces the award winners for its Fall 2007 Shoe Review, a 24-page, printed insert, that is provided to its 26 regional and six national specialty running magazine partners for distribution in their September and October issues.
“Our 750,000 plus combined individual readers and 3.5 million unique visitors on our websites see the Fall and Spring shoe reviews, which we deliver in print and electronically,” noted Larry Eder, President of the Running Network, LLC. “We are excited about the high quality of the product in this review in particular and the competitive nature of the performance running footwear business in general in 2007!”
The Fall 2007 Best Shoe award winners are:
Best Lightweight (tie) NIke Air Zoom Skylon and Saucony Grid Tangent 3
Best Motion Stabilizing Brooks Trance 7
Best Neutral Reebok Premier Road Cushion KFS
Best New Shoe Newton Motus-Motion
Best Renovation Nike Air Pegasus 2007
“What we are noticing in the performance running category is the high level of excellence in running footwear,” said Eder. “Good shoes just do not make it. The life of a brand is won or lost every time a shoe sale is completed in one of the 500 local running stores across North America. This makes for a great series of choices for the running consumer and a breath of excellent product for the local running store manager to place on his or her wall.” He recommends readers use the shoe review in conjunction with the expert advice from their local specialty running stores to find the shoe model that best meets their individual needs.
Running Network footwear editor, Cregg Weinmann compiles information and comments from several hundred individual wear testers and uses their feedback along with his own testing for each review.
About The Running Network, LLC
The Running Network LLC, was established in 1986 and represents 34 regional and national specialty running magazines in North America and has been publishing shoe reviews since 1999. For more information about the Running Network, LLC, including a list of all the partner publications visit www.runningnetwork.com, call 920-563-5551 x112 or email [email protected].
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