Extra-padded shoes may not blunt running injuries

New York, Oct 12: – Soft cushioning in shoes has been marketed to runners as extra shock-absorption to prevent injuries, but in a new study the added padding made no difference in who got hurt. Researchers tested identical-looking shoes with different levels of cushioning in a blind trial with nearly 250 regular runners and found factors like body weight and overall fitness made some difference to injury rates, but shoe-softness did not. (agencies)