This ad features the Saucony Freedom GT.
“The Freedom GT: Shoes for the Great American Athlete”
One of the more interesting things about looking at these old ads is the evolution that the companies logos have all gone through. Well, except for Nike and Asics, they have retained almost identical logos to their older models.
Anyway, enough of that, leave a comment!
“Why Beardsley, Benoit, Decker, Durden, Rodgers, Salazar, Scott, Shorter, or Virgin hasn’t yet endorsed SAKO running shoes”
Whilst perusing through a Running Times from October of 1984, I came upon this little gem.
It’s always interesting to see the brands that had failed as well as the familiar brands. This brand seems to be non-existent today, but if you know anything about them, share your info!
Say “SOCKO” in the comments if you enjoyed this obscure piece of running history.
“Why runners make lousy communists.”
Here’s a cold war era advertisement from New Balance highlighting the diversity of New Balance shoe models. The models highlighted in the ad include (From left to right) : 410, 460, 770, 990 (They still make this model!), The 700, A racing flat(unknown model), 565, 670, 850, and the 1300.
Leave a comment after the break.
“Fresh From Our Lab.”
The Hi-Tec Badwater 146 was a trail running shoe with an “interchangeable air ball” for different running styles. Lots of cool facts about the Badwater to Mt. Whitney run are included in the ad.
Hi-Tec was not always known as a great running shoe, but the Badwater was very successful. Leave a comment!
Innovation Doesn’t Carry The Weight It Once Carried.
According to the ad it weighs a mere 264 grams, or about 9.3 ounces. Considering the features of this shoe and the technology in 1988 that’s very light!
“Proof once again that, when it comes to innovation, we don’t drag our feet. Or yours.”
As always, leave a comment if you enjoy the ad.
The road can be brutal. It’ll even call you names.
Here we have an ad from 1997 featuring the original Adrenaline, and the second generation Addiction.
It’s always cool to see the original shoe that sparked a current-day favorite. Let us know in the comments if you had either of these shoes, we love to hear your stories!
Here comes an interesting ad from the people at Thor•Lo.
“I race in Thor•Lo and sometimes I even wear shoes!”
Jeff Jacobs ran a 10k in nothing but a pair of socks, that’s pretty impressive!
Thorlo is still making the same high-quality socks today, even something similar to the sock pictured in the ad. Leave a comment!
“Serious Performance”
Another Brooks ad, this one from 1990 and featuring the Rage, King Kongquest, and The Blast. Dave Scott also appears in this ad as a six time Ironman Triathlon winner, and 1989 runner-up.
I don’t remember any of the shoes featured in this ad, so if you do please leave a comment as we would love to know more about them.
Runners are crazy. That’s okay.
Another classic ad from Nike. The Air Structure brand is still around today, as the Air Structure Triax. This particular shoe had a “redesigned Nike Footbridge” and “extra large Air units”.
Please, practice safe running. In a pair of Nike Air Structures.
Please leave a comment as well, especially if you remember wearing a pair of these.
Until 1999, No One Else Can Make A Shoe This Good.
The Etonic Quasar was a very popular shoe when it was available since many people liked the Rear Foot Lacing System. This particular ad goes into detail on Etonics’ many patents such as the Dr. Rob Roy McGregor Foot Cradle, and the Dynamic Reaction Plate. Take a closer look.
If you had a pair of these, let us hear your story in the comments below.
