COFAM: What happened if they stopped making your running shoe?!

For the past eight years I have been wearing the same old pair of ASICS-Gel 1100 series running shoes. These shoes have virtually no bells and whistles and are one of the cheapest ASICS shoes in their lines, running anywhere from $50 to $70 through retailers and online shoe stores.  One day I thought to myself, "What if they stopped making my favorite running shoe?  Man, that would suck! What would I end up buying?!"  Well, it turns out ASICS has the next shoe within the same line called the GT-2000 series that gives you significantly more support than the Gel 1000s.  But what if ASICS stopped making shoes altogether, or got sold to a lower quality manufacturer that could potentially damage the quality of the shoes?!! Now, granted, the chances of this happening are probably slim-to-none, but it made me think about the fact there is another world out there full of other competing shoe companies with their own technologies that may or may not be better than ASICS. Hmmmmm...shall I test the waters?..... So I decided to hedge my bets and buy a pair of running shoes from an ASICS competitor.  After trying on a few different brands in a local specialty running shoe store, I decided on the Saucony Omni 7.  A stability shoe that carries the company's signature GRID technology.  After approximately 2 weeks worth of middle-runs, hill training and junk runs, I can say that this shoe provides really wonderful support and cushioning that I simply don't get with my ASICS Gel 1100s.  But that really should be no surprise to any experienced runner since a better comparison would be the ASICS GT-2000 series, which has more support and stabilizer bells and whistles than the spartan Gels.  Nevertheless, I believe like the way some airlines hedge against rising fuel prices, that it could be beneficial to you runners out there to hedge against the risk of your favorite shoe or brand of shoe no longer existing, whether it's because the company is sold and compromises on quality, or if the firm goes out of business. Keep on Runnin' Middlepacker Mike

Saucony Grid Technology