Asphalt vs Concrete: Does it really matter? (Page 3)

As for the top pretty much fact as you know being a Civil Engineer.

Shin Splints no studies general opinion of observations from running in High School with indoor track in a High School without an indoor track.  A very long time ago.  From this experience I would say it makes a difference. 

10% is an opinion.

I would agree with your shoe opinion.

When I can, I prefer to run on good intentions or the souls of the unrepentant, but those surfaces aren't available in most areas and weren't part of the original discussion.

again, it isn't about deformation(strain) of the surface.  

right, but there isn't enough stress on the materials for them to behave differently. 

It's obvious to me... I can not understand how anyone can think that the soft tissues of the human body will be more protected from running on asphalt over concrete. That there is some measurable difference to the body that translates into a more forgiving surface for the human body to pound itself onto a million times.

I run mostly on dirt, and any smooth, hardened dirt path can be just as hard to me as concrete. Maybe not to a simi, but to me it is. I run on dirt because most paths are not clean smooth hardened paths and there is soft dirt to run on. If anything I think it is slower and I "feel" faster on race day on hard surfaces... can't tell you if that is actually true. Other than that, I just happen to like running n the paths here that are dirt compared to the ones that are concrete.

And I also don't care what slope roads are "supposed" to have. Around my neighborhood, there are cracks, swells, trees, and bushes obstructing side walks. I run on the road for a while, but the crown/slope is pretty bad and bugs me. Well over 2%. The only recourse is to run in the middle of the road... which works for a bit until I feel stupid and go back to the crappy sidewalk... hence my desire to go run on dirt paths around me.

Nice!!

mccloskeybatesld31  this is a pretty old thread but a subject I have been thinking a lot about over the past 2 months and so I can throw my 2-cents worth in.  I started the process of moving to Cypress, TX the end of February (closing on the home in Oklahoma in 4 weeks, fingers crossed).  Cypress is the only place I have lived in my life that is 95% concrete.  All the roads are concrete, all the sidewalks are concrete, and even the walking/running paths at the parks are contrete.  I found about 1 mile of Asphalt in an older neighborhood and one running path that has about 3 miles of blacktop (although it is really hard so I don't know if it is asphalt or just concrete with a black surface).  The concrete is really hammering my knees on the runs.  It puts 25% more impact on your knees than asphalt.  So I have been trying to switch a lot of my miles to dirt and grass trails as well as making good use of the 3 miles of blacktop and 1 mile of asphalt.  I have to say that the first time on the asphalt after a month on concrete that the 1-mile stretch felt awesome.  Instead of a clunk-clunk-clunk with every step, the ground felt like it was rolling with me.