No, You Don’t Always Have to Replace Your Running Shoes Every Few Months

Everybody knows that shoes don’t last forever, and for runners it’s infinitely more of a concern. Quick, constant slamming of your feet into a hard surface- the ground- is bound to exhaust a shoe’s lifespan more quickly than if you were using them for something other than running. Old and worn shoes can pose a lot of problems for runners, including hip and knee injury, so it’s important to replace them every once in a while. 

“[Running shoes] can get worn out and you can get injured more easily,” explained Kayla Biggica, a member of the girl’s cross country team. “I’ve had mine for a year, but that’s because I only run cross country.”

A quick Google search will provide you with an overwhelming number of results all saying the same thing: you should replace your shoes every 300-500 miles. For a lot of runners, this generally equates to 3 or 4 months with their newest fit before having to cycle it out. That’s really frequent, and shoes cost money, so heeding this advice is going to take a lot out of your pocket. 

300-500 miles is only a rule of thumb though. “I’ve had my shoes for 8 months,” says track/cross country runner Will Magnus. Yeah, eight months is probably too long to wait if you’re exercising constantly, but it’s not as bad as you might think.  Don’t fall into the mileage trap to get your information- instead, perform routine checks for actual indicators of aging, and you might be able to get a lot more out of your shoes than you thought.

The most obvious of these indicators should be, you know, that you’re in pain. Although this could be a product of other factors, such as tying poorly or incorrect form, feeling worse in your shoes after an extended period of time is often a sign that they need to go. Magnus is a fan of this strategy, commenting, “I only replace my sneakers when they start to feel terrible or get really raggy.” Some of the types of pain most closely associated with bad shoes include: ankle discomfort/sprains, shin splints, runner’s knee, and lower back pain. Even though this alone usually isn’t enough information for you to identify the cause, it can signal a need to look into potential causes- which very well may be, in part, your gear.

That’s simple though. Beyond that, understanding the mechanics of shoes on at least a basic level is important for identifying whether they’re still good to go. The first thing to note is that visible wear on the underside of a shoe is completely fine; it’s the location of it that matters. When it comes to running shoes, problematic wear occurs on the outsides of the shoe. This is because worn down areas of the shoe bear more of your weight, so while wear along the center won’t be a problem, wear near the tip or the heel may lead to unhealthy running. 


On a similar note, problems can occur with the “cushioning” of the shoe, known as the midsole. This part of the shoe serves as a shock absorber, but over time it begins to compress and lose rigidity. That wrinkling you may notice on an old pair of sneakers indicates that it’s not going to pad your feet as well. For that reason, your shoes have felt less supportive recently, check for a significant number of folds that could compromise your running. 

There’s also the “twist test”. From the name alone it might not sound the most reliable, but it’s actually one of many valuable methods of determining whether a shoe is still a good fit for you specifically. The test is just this: place one hand at each of the front and back (heel) of the shoe, twisting the front to the left and the back to the right. This allows you to evaluate how sturdy the shoe is overall.

The more easily you’re able to turn the two ends in opposite directions, the more likely they are to do so under intense stress- and that is, of course, bad. You can even apply this test to a potential athletic purchase, which will help in finding shoes with the longest lifespan. Just keep in mind that if you try this on any pair of day-to-day sneakers, it’s likely that it’ll “fail”. That just means the shoes you’re wearing aren’t supportive enough for running, not that you can’t use them at all.

It’s best to have two different pairs anyway! I asked Harry Diner, a first time track athlete, if he’s needed to replace his shoes yet. “No, but I’m going to get ones with spikes next year,” was his answer. This comes with its own problems, as spiked shoes are very expensive, but if you split your distance between these and a second pair of running shoes you can get more out of both.

“Replace your shoes after 300-500 miles” is, for the most part, a valid adage to go by. But rather than logging your distance every day and still having to rely on a professional- who probably wants to sell you stuff- for specifics, back up your suspicions with the things that you can do to identify whether or not to put your kicks to the curb. 

Francis DeGregorio