The Best Running Shoes for Women, Criteria and the Best Brands

The market today is overflowing with running shoes and it is hard to find one pair that fits the title of best running shoes. The choice of athletic shoes depends on the runner’s specific requirement and foot type so what might be suitable for one runner might not be so for another. Until recently most sport wear companies considered women’s sport shoes as just a smaller version of the men’s sizes colored pink or orange. Today these same companies have discovered that there is a unique market niche for female runners and are investing in innovative styles and engineering of these shoes to accommodate the differences found in women.

The criteria used when grading the best running shoes for women include cushioning, stability and motion control.

Cushion shoes are recommended for women who have high arches because their feet hit the ground harder they need the extra cushion. These shoes are soft and have deep carved flex grooves. In this category the brand that is considered top of the line is the Nike Zoom Vomero 6 which has a version made specifically for women with a sole and upper totally different from the engineering in the men’s version.

Also found in this category is the Asics Gel Cumulus 13 which is a strong competitor against the Nike Zoom Vomero for cushion shoes for women. The Cumulus is less flexible than the Nike but a great shoe for the heavy female runner it gives them good support, absorbs shock well and is considered a high mileage shoe.

The final shoe in this category is the Brooks Ghost 4 introduced recently on the market but nevertheless very popular. This shoe offers great flexibility and the cushion makes it ideal for long races as well as for workouts that are short and fast.

Stability shoes combine perfect support with the right amount of cushion. These shoes are especially good and starting from the least stable to the most stable we begin with the Asics Gel Kayano 18, which is considered a luxury shoe that mixes a soft upper with a nice cushion resulting in minimal stability. Next in line is the Nike Zoom Structure Triax 15, this brand well known for its cushion shoes fits perfectly and is great even for marathons. The final shoe in this category is the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12 which gives maximum stability and its firefoot flexibility is like none other in its class.

Shoes for motion control are built specifically for the flat footed runner who tends to have severe overpronation that can hurt his heel when he sprints to the finish line. These shoes minimize the rolling of the feet when in motion and the hands down winner in this category is the Mizuno Wave Alchemy 9. Another recommended brand in this group is the Adidas adiStar Control.

The reason women’s shoes have to be different from men’s shoes is that they need to accommodate the differences in their running biomechanics. So companies nowadays are constantly researching to address these issues in order to produce running shoes that are best for today’s woman.