Running Shoe Roulette

I'm mystified by the variety of running shoes you can buy at a big box store like Sports Authority. It could make sense for runners who have previously been helped by professionals at a specialty running shoe store to pop in to pick up the same model. But how can the other 99 percent of these stores' customers possibly know which shoe to select? Is the fit right? Do you need cushioned, motion control, lightweight racing, stability, trail running, or walking shoes? A combination? Got a question? Just ask that 16-year-old "associate" slouching against the gun counter.

And who dictated the new style trend that the majority of running shorts sold at places like this should be extra-loose and baggy? American focus group participants who need extra-loose and baggy shorts? Certainly not somebody who has run more than three miles in the heat.

Sports Authority, for allowing customers to play running shoe roulette and encouraging them to wear floppy shorts bound to cause chafing when wet: You have been deactivated.