How many miles can you get out of racing flats?

I don't know for sure as I didn't measure the mileage. I just replaced my Brooks T3 Racers this year after using them since 2004. I only used them for running races of 10K or less and up to Oly triathlon. Over that period of time I probably did 40-50 races, maybe more. So racing miles were somewhere between 150-300, plus warmups for the races probably added at least 50 miles.

Based on that I would say 300+ miles is reasonable.

I run in regular Saucony shoes for all my training and get only 350 - 400 out of them before my joints start to rebel.

My Fastwitch 1 (Saucony racing shoes) only lasted around 175 miles before blowing out the sides of them.  The II's are still going strong, but I race in my Zoot shoes now.

On average, flats/lightweights typically last around 150 - 200 miles.

I have read that racing flats typically last half as many miles as your regular training shoes so ya 150 to 200 miles ish, depending on the brand (some break down really quickly).

I have read that racing flats typically last half as many miles as your regular training shoes so ya 150 to 200 miles ish, depending on the brand (some break down really quickly).

The most I run in my running flats is 3 miles a week (which isn't very often) so they last a really long time.  They don't have much of an orthotic to them so it's not like it wears out.  You could use my convenient color chart to judge their age.  The left one is over 10 years old.  The right one is about two years old.  I could conceivably run a short race in the ones on the left, but they've gotten so old and crusty I'm not sure I would.  The problem is not with the shoe or age.  It's how long you want your ankles, knees, hip and back exposed to abrupt contact with the ground.  The ones with the yellow bottoms have no cushion at all.  The blue one a little.  The white one a little more.  They seem to take about 5 seconds a mile off my pace.

I had a pair of Grid Sinisters that I got just over 100 miles out of. I'm a mid to fore foot striker and the sole up front just wore down to nothing in 100 miles. I'm currently racing only in a pair of Pearl Izumi Streaks that I've got about 130 miles on and they are just starting to wear. I'm hoping to get my fall road racing in before replacing them.

Edited by jmickle11 2009-09-11 7:09 PM

Thanks for your thoughts everyone!! We'll see how these hold up for me...

I've been running on them (sinisters rock!!) for about 350 miles now, and I'm starting to get the little aches that tell me it's almost time to change them.

John