Latest running articles

Shock absorption refers to a shoe’s ability to reduce and spread out the impact forces that hit your body with every footstrike. When running, each step can create forces up to 3 times your body weight, leading to muscle fatigue and more stress on bones and joints. That’s why many modern shoes focus on improving shock absorption. So it's very clear that shock absorption is one of the key features in running shoes, yet it’s often ignored because testing[…]

The phrase “energy return” has only gained attention in the last decade as advanced materials like TPU, TPEE, PEBA, and A-TPU entered the scene. This guide covers every nuance about energy return based on our lab data (500+ shoes tested for energy return) and consultations with lots of experts on the topic. What is energy return and why it’s important in running shoes Energy return in running shoes refers to how efficiently the midsole foam rebounds aft[…]

Running shoe companies aren't as transparent as we'd love, making it difficult for both casual and advanced runners to gather detailed information about specific running shoe foams. Recognizing this challenge, we've done an extensive guide for you, presenting our findings and knowledge about running shoe midsoles in a clear and comprehensive manner. What makes foam so important for running shoes? The midsole in a running shoe is undeniably the most crucial component, as[…]

This report covers trail running race participation from 1984 to 2022. It includes 15.6 million race results from 116.947 races in 127 countries. It’s the most extensive report on trail running participation ever conducted. The report was done in collaboration with World Athletics. For journalists or academia: reach out to jens@runrepeat.com for questions, and feel free to use data, charts, and quotes from the report. For further reading, check out The State of Run[…]

Are new versions better or worse? Should you upgrade to the newest version which is typically more expensive? Let’s find out. The Reddit group r/RunningShoeGeeks helped come up with this idea. Check out their group if you’re geeky about shoes. The analysis is based on our database of about 2000 running shoes released in the last 7 years from 2015 to 2021. Limitations and disclaimer We don’t publish every single shoe on RunRepeat. Some are so rare that o[…]

In 2021, we began a project dedicating a significant amount of time towards researching the scientific benefits of exercise for your health. Reading, reviewing, analyzing, and reporting the findings of hundreds of studies showing how everything from regular physical activity to working out benefits you. Health benefits of exercise Exercise is the act of increasing your physical activity and exerting more effort than you normally would. It increases your heart rate and re[…]

We wanted to understand how the exercise habits of people who were forced to work remotely during the pandemic were impacted by returning to the office full-time. To do this, we surveyed 2,494 people who were working remotely during the pandemic about their exercise habits before and after returning to work. Key findings: Returning to work in the office full-time, after being forced to work remotely during the pandemic has resulted in: 59.52% of non-exercisers are active[…]

RunRepeat recently surveyed 3,774 gym members and found more than 50% of women have been harassed at the gym while working out. To find out if this problem is isolated to gyms or a wider issue, we surveyed 4,709 runners* to understand the extent of harassment that runners face and what impact this has. For the purpose of this survey, a runner is defined as someone who runs at least once a week. Key findings: 45.85% of female runners have experienced harassment 9.56% of a[…]

The pandemic has forced drastic changes upon the fitness industry, producing a sizable shift in how people approach staying fit and maintaining the health benefits of regular exercise. In order to learn about what the newest trends in fitness were for 2021, we surveyed 4,538 active adults from 122 countries (active adults are respondents who reported being active at the start of 2020). These respondents shared what they believe was the best way to stay fit in 2021, in co[…]

We surveyed 3,961 current runners to investigate how many began during the pandemic. We wanted to learn about their motivations for running, whether they’ll participate in races, and how they differ from those that began before COVID. You can see more running stats, facts, and trends here. Key findings: 28.76% of current runners started running during the pandemic These new-pandemic runners are 19.82% less likely to participate in in-person races over the next 12 m[…]