“Survival of the fastest.”

This Saucony ad features the shoes that Rod Dixon wore to win the 1983 New York City Marathon.

The Dixon’s had holes drilled in the sole for “extra cushioning”, and its “flatter outsole helps propel you forward.”

As always, leave a comment if you enjoyed this unique piece of running history!

“For women who want to get back on their feet.”

A clever usage of the famous painting Whistler’s Mother, with a few tweaks of course. Advertising the Nike Air Control, specifically for women.

A pretty clever ad by Nike. Nike’s advertising budget must have been massive because nearly every magazine I open has a different 2-page, full-color advertisement. Leave a comment if you enjoyed the ad!

“A Racing Shoe Should Be Easy To Forget”

Weighing in at 6.2 ounces, it’s not a surprise to hear them bragging about a barely-there shoe.

I think the full-length air probably lowered the weight quite a bit, since it is far less dense than EVA. Anyway, leave a comment after you’ve enjoyed your trip to 1987.

“Does this look like it was designed for standing in brunch lines?”

Wow, a three page ad. Avia was a much stronger force in the running market during this era, and could afford to pay for this sort of advertising. I hope you have a widescreen monitor!

It features the Avia 2100 and the Avia 2090.

So if you enjoyed the extra-wide ad today, please leave a comment!

“Major Breakthrough: Brooks Introduces The Kinetic Wedge”

The Kinetic Wedge was a device designed to stabilize a runner’s forefoot. Check it out below.

The Kinetic Wedge allowed the big toe joint to drop, which according to the ad print reduced overuse injuries and greatly improved efficiency.

Leave a comment below if you enjoyed the ad!

“Travel By Air Without Any Reservations”

This ad is pretty cool because it has 20 different shoes in it, counting the men’s and women’s variations.

It features the Epic, men’s and women’s Equinox, men’s and women’s Vector, men’s and women’s Vortex, men’s and women’s Vengeance, 2 colors each in the men’s and womens Pegasus, men’s and women’s Dauntless, Airborne, Air Edge, Axis, Sock Racer, and Zoom Air.

Neat to see a whole lineup of shoes like that! Enjoy and leave a comment.

“Achieve New Balance”

Which happens to be the slogan that New Balance ran with for several years. You can take that pun home with you-it’s yours.

The M1200 was a stability shoe which utilized New Balance’s Stability Web and Graphite Rollbar technologies. Overall, a fairly simple ad with a picture of a runner in some cool scenery dominating the page.

“For The Motionally Unstable, Only!”

The Reebok Phase 1 seems to have been a motion control shoe by Reebok, although I don’t know the particulars on it.

The ad comically portrays runners as “unstable” and needing treatment for it.

Seems to have been a pretty good shoe. If you had a pair leave a comment! Or just leave a comment if you enjoyed the ad.

“Think of it as software for your Feet.”

Brooks actually still uses diagonal rollbar technology, a testament to it’s effectiveness.

This is the first example that I’m aware of where a shoe used a tri-density motion control cushioning system. Pretty cool if you ask me. We actually weren’t familiar with this shoe, but if you know anything about it, please share.

Leave a comment, as always!