Asics Archives - The Running Mann

4th March 20264th March 2026

Brand Loyalty, Chance Encounters & Running Milestones

I have big flat feet. I once had a podiatrist who told me, “With feet like that you shouldn’t be running marathons.” Naturally I found another podiatrist.

Some big, flat slabs of meat.

When I first started running, I got something called compartment syndrome which is where your feet roll and cause the small muscles under your shin to expand, similar to if you were doing bicep curls. When these expanding small muscles hit the shin bone it quickly escalates from severe discomfort to excruciating agony.

2nd August 20259th August 2025

Comrades 2025: Shoe Stats

This is part of a series of statistics articles on Comrades 2025. Other articles published: entry stats, qualifier stats. Other articles to come: elite women, elite men, full field statistics.

Asics retains their dominant the market share with 1 in 3 medallists stomping down to Durban in their footwear. In 2024 Adidas and Nike were joint second on 16% but the three-striped brand moves into clear second with a rapid rise to 22%. The Nike wearers who’d just done it in 2024 are now either in a period of ultra abstinence or have swapped brands dropping them to 13%, narrowly ahead of New Balance with 11%. The rise of Adidas and fall of Nike is marked by a comparison 2022: Adidas have moved from 11 to 22% and Nike from 20 to 13% in just three years. Over half the finishers (55%) cross the line wearing one of the two A-brands and combining the two N-brands brings this to 4 out of 5 finishers.

27th March 202027th March 2020

Hemel & Aarde Marathon (Leap year running)

[MARATHON #239 / Unique Marathon #139 / 29 February 2020]

For the last few years, my daughters’ mid-term break had provided the opportunity for the family to have a short holiday (and for dad to run a new marathon). This year it was down to the Fairest Cape for the inaugural Hemel and Aarde Marathon, run between Caledon and Hermanus.

For those unfamiliar with Afrikaans, ‘Hemel’ means Heaven and ‘Aarde’ means Earth. Despite what Belinda Carlisle sang in the 80s, Heaven is not a place on Earth, but the Hemel and Aarde is a marathon in the Western Cape.

Heaven might not be a place on earth but Hemel and Aarde is a marathon (and a valley) in the Western Cape.

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