PUBLISHED 10/30/2006
Ten of the world's leading running shoe manufacturers will present their upcoming 2007 product lines to the editors of each of Runner's World's eight global editions this week as part of the magazine's Shoe Summit, to be held from Wednesday, November 1 through Saturday, November 4 in New York City.
The International Shoe Summit marks a major step in Runner's World's global initiative to find, test and designate the best shoes in the world for its readers in the ten countries where it currently publishes. At the Summit's conclusion, the editors will also announce their selection for the second-annual Runner's World International Editor's Choice "Shoe of the Year" for 2006, a designation that is bestowed annually.
Representatives from Adidas, Asics, Brooks, Fila, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike, Puma, Reebok and Saucony will be presenting at the Summit before editors from the eight international editions of Runner's World--Australia/New Zealand, Germany, the Netherlands/Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the flagship U.S. title.
"Creating a more consistent and uniform RW Shoe Guide across all of our international platforms will be a boon to shoe companies, retailers, and certainly to the audience we all care most about--our runners," said Adam Bean, International Managing Editor for Runner's World.
"For nearly 40 years, Runner's World has been the No. 1 most trusted, independent source people turn to for all running information. As we continue to grow internationally, we felt that it was vital that the scope of our research expand accordingly. And as the international running shoe business now probably accounts for more than $10 billion in annual sales, the manufacturers are eager to talk to our global audience about their product development."
Presently, in North America, running shoes are put through rigorous testing by Runner's World editors, the magazine's 300 independent wear-testers, and via mechanical testing at its one-of-a-kind Runner's World Shoe Lab at Michigan State University in conjunction with the MSU Department of Sports Medicine. Runner's World is the only publication in the world that independently tests running shoes this way.
Runner's World is now poised to greatly expand its shoe-testing process. Each of Runner's World's global editions will be sharing the findings of their own respective groups of wear-testers, as well as the RW Shoe Lab data. In the near future, a central information databank created by parent company Rodale Inc. will also enable the global editor group to test footwear simultaneously and to have ongoing, real-time dialogue on the shoes they're collectively reviewing.
"As a truly worldwide brand, our goal is to determine how to create a consistent shoe-testing method in order to produce a more global and uniform Runner's World Shoe Guide for each of our eight editions," said Bean.
