The "perfect" combination of cushioning, wear (and quality looks!) was provided in the Nike Internationalists from back in 1978 or so. I honestly put more than 4,000 miles on one pair without wearing out the out-sole and they still had the same cushioning (albiet less than today to start with) than when they were brand new. ( I know some will dispute this, but it's true! Remember, I weighed less than $1.20 and couldn't afford a new pair anyway!) I saved them and could still run in them if a gun was held to my head. (Sometimes that is what it takes nowadays to run anyway.) Nike even brought them back a few years ago, but they weren't the same and came in colors that were less than desirable.
By the way, Adidas Spiders were the "perfect" spike, just to show I can give some love to the other companies. That green suede was indestructible, even when a teammate spiked you in a cross country meet, removing your big toenail with surgical precision. (Don Ziter, this means you.) My toe was mangled but the shoe lived on. The trip to Ritenour (Wait an Hour) Health Center was memorable and sealed my choice of profession, if only to treat others better than I was treated that day.
I want feedback on "the greatest shoe ever made". Give me a comment on your ideal shoe in the comment section below!
Coming Soon: Another Photo Caption Contest with Prize to be determined when I'm in State College for the Penn State National.
Great subject!
ReplyDeleteThe Internationalist ~ This was my FAVORITE Nike training flat. By chance I was able to get them up until 1987 at a place called "Athletica" (they had the shoe made for them). I didn't know they brought it back, I would have liked to seen it.
As for a spike, I never found one I really liked although it didn't matter. I was terrible on the track!
I have included a photo of the "resurrected" Nike Internationalist. Walt, by chance, you didn't have anything to do with the original version, did you? I loved those shoes. I think they came after the LDV debacle (the ones which were about a foot wide at the heel!).
ReplyDeleteThe Internationalist was a curved last LDV (ok, it was an entirely different shoe). The LDV had a couple of versions, one extremely wide (blue and white maybe) then a slightly less flaired shoe (yellow and blue).
ReplyDeleteI was involved in the Internationalist fit trials and the wear testing of the prototypes but it was the creation of Jeff Johnson. The Air shoes were being phased in at that time, 1979/80, but this non Air was superior in my opinion. After years in various models, I am now wearing the NIKE Lunar Fly from their new line and like it a lot. The resurrected Internationalist looks horrible.
Thanks, Walt. I knew you would know more. The wide LDV was the one I was thinking of. A biomechanical nightmare. (Not as bad as Brooks kinetic forefoot wedge and varus heel wedges, by the way.) Dr. Cavanaugh rejected me years ago from working on the Runner's World shoe review when I couldn't remember who my academic advisor was (someone I never had the need to meet!) C'est La Vie. Revenge was mine years later, but that's another story...
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