What’s the best running shoe? The one you like, says Doug Katona of CrossFit Endurance.

“All running is natural,” he explains.

Simply teach athletes good mechanics and problems will go away, Katona says.

In terms of minimalist shoes, he says they’re great except for one problem: “If you’re heel striking in a flat shoe, you’re really screwed. If you’re wearing a Vibram and you ... run a mile in bad mechanics, you’re screwed. So I don’t care what kind of shoe you wear. Wear a skateboard shoe. It doesn’t really matter.”

Bottom line, he emphasizes, is that good mechanics are what matter most.

“Pick up any pair of shoes and go,” Katona says. “That’s what you should all be able to do. The shoe will not determine how good of a runner you are or how fast of a runner you are.”

9min 44sec

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Additional reading: Running the Wrong Way? by Dr. Lon Kilgore, published March 17, 2010.