RUNNING WORLD

Athletic shoe is a generic name for the footwear primarily designed for sport or other forms of physical exercise, but in recent years has come to be used for casual everyday activities.

Athletic training shoes or trainers (British English), sand shoes, gym boots or joggers (Australian English and George English in the UK), running shoes, runners or guttiest (Canadian English, Australian English, Scottish English and Hiberno-English), sneakers (North American English and New Zealand English), tennis shoes (North American English and Australian English), gym shoes, tennies, sports shoes, sneaks, takkies (South African English and Hiberno-English), rubber shoes (Philippine English) or canvers (Nigerian English).

The term 'athletic shoes' is typically used for running in a marathon or half marathon, basketball, and tennis (amongst others), but tends to exclude shoes for sports played on grass such as association football and rugby football, which are generally known as 'studs' or in North America as 'cleats'.

Attributes of an athletic shoe include a flexible sole, appropriate tread for the function, and ability to absorb impact. As the industry and designs have expanded, the term "athletic shoes" is based more on the design of the bottom of the shoe than the aesthetics of the top of the shoe. Today's designs include sandals, Mary Janes, and even elevated styles suitable for running, dancing, and jumping.

The shoes themselves are made of flexible compounds, typically featuring a sole made of dense rubber. While the original design was basic, manufacturers have since tailored athletic shoes for the different purposes of use. A specific example of this is the spiked shoe developed for track running. Many of these shoes are made up to a very large size because of athletes with large feet.

Running shoes come in a range of shapes suited to different running styles/abilities. Generally, they are divided by running style: the majority are for heel-toe joggers/runners which are further subdivided into 'neutral', 'overpronation' and 'underpronation. These are constructed with a complex structure of "rubber" with plastic/metal stiffeners to restrict foot movement. More advanced runners tend to wear flatter and flexible shoes, which allow them to run more quickly with greater comfort.