On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first person to break the four-minute mile. He was obviously not wearing motion-control running shoes because they didn’t exist back then. Later that same year, Australia’s John Landy again broke the four-minute mark and New Zealand’s Peter Snell broke that mark in 1962. Again, they wore no high-tech cushioned shoe. Today, Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco holds the record for the mile at 3:43. Of course, he was wearing minimalist shoes known as racing flats.
The naysayers of minimalist shoes and barefoot running use the argument that today’s elite athletes may be racing in a flat or minimalist shoe, but they are doing their training runs in motion-control or cushioned shoes. Bannister and Snell were following the Lydiard method of training, which had them running up to 100 miles a week and sometimes even more. What were they wearing? They wore leather shoes that had no support, cushion or heel. In other words, they were minimalist shoes.
Regardless of what today’s record holders or those trying to break those records are training in, they appear to be performing best in minimalist shoes or racing flats. Even the elite marathoners are racing in minimalist shoes or racing flats. Meb Keflezighi, an Olympic silver marathon medalist, wears the GOrun minimalist shoe (Skechers). He came in fourth in the 2012 London Olympic marathon.