3863 Runners Voted -Top Running Shoes (Results)

From June through December, I ran a survey through Facebook and with my email list. The goal of the survey was to ask real runners what shoes they prefer to wear when running.  

The most popular running shoe brand based on 3863 survey responses is Brooks, who garnered 29% of the nationwide votes and the top running shoe overall is the Brooks Ghost line, who received 10% of the overall submissions. 

Below we break down the  actual runner responses in the largest statistically significant running shoes survey ever. 

Here are, by vote the most popular running shoes. 

Top Running Shoes

3,863 real runners were surveyed and asked to share their top running shoes. This case study shoes the actual results of the runners on what running shoe is the most popular.

Asking The Right Questions

My goal was to keep it super simple - ask as few questions as possible but ask the RIGHT questions to get good, statistically significant answers. 

What Running Shoe Brand Do You Wear When You Run?

A simple question which allowed survey takers to type in a specific brand or choose from a list. 

What Running Shoe Do You Wear When You Run? (Brand and Line of Shoe)

After question one the next question allowed survey takers to answer by writing in the specific shoes that they like to wear. 

Once I had the Google Form setup, I posted it to my running Facebook page and emailed folks on my list. After the first week, I had hundreds of survey responses and a bunch of comments. 

I decided to spend put some money and advertise it on Facebook to a wide running audience. Here are the final numbers on the actual post which does not include folks who actually submitted the survey. 


Here is the actual data from the survey. Taking what was posted in the comments AND the survey to compile this information.  

Question #1:

What Running Shoe Brand Do You Wear When You Run?

Running Brand

Total Votes

Percentage of Total Votes

Brooks

1107

29%

Asics

687

18%

Nike

414

11%

Hoka

388

10%

Saucony

353

9%

New Balance

305

8%

Altra

126

3%

Adidas

114

3%

Mizuno

109

3%

Under Armour

35

1%

Skechers

35

1%

On

34

1%

Reebok

21

< 1%

Topo

20

< 1%

Salomon

20

< 1%

Newton

18

< 1%

Merrell

15

< 1%

Vibram

9

< 1%

Cloud

6

< 1%

Atreyu

6

< 1%

361

4

< 1%

Other Brands Receiving 3 or less Votes

Fila

Puma

Barefoot

Enda

Inov-8

Avia

Champion

Whitin

Luna

Xero

Russell

Northface

LA Gear

Vivo

Zoot

Diadora

Modtlu

Body Glove

Karhu

Airwalk

Torin

Skora 


 


Question #1: TAKEAWAYS: 

Brooks

ASICS

NIKE

 Hoka

Saucony

29%
Fill Counter
18%
Fill Counter
11%
Fill Counter
10%
Fill Counter
9%
Fill Counter

1107 Votes

687 Votes

414 Votes

388 Votes

353 Votes


Question#2: What Running Shoe Do You Wear When You Run? (Brand and Line of Shoe)

Before I break down the tally for each shoe, there were over 415 different shoes  were submitted in the survey. 

Running Shoe

Total Votes

Percentage of Total Votes

Brooks Ghost

420

10%

Brooks Adrenaline

231

6%

Nike Pegasus

134

3%

Asics Gel Nimbus

124

3%

Asics Gel Kayano

118

3%

Hoka Clifton

117

3%

Hoka Bondi

99

2%

Brooks Glycerin

92

2%

Asics GT 2000

66

2%

Brooks Launch

61

2%

Saucony Triumph

58

1%

Other Shoes Receiving 50 or less Votes

Mizuno Wave Rider

Altra Torin

Asics Gel Cumulus

New Balance 860

Nike React Infinity Run Flyknit

Saucony Ride

Brooks Revel

Brooks Ravenna

Saucony Kinvara

Altra Escalante

New Balance 880

Saucony Guide

Adidas Ultra Boost

New Balance 1080

Hoka Arahi

Asics Gel Venture

Saucony Freedom

Asics Gel Contend

Brooks Levitate

Mizuno Wave Inspire

Saucony Cohesion

Altra Lone Peak

Hoka Rincon

Asics GT 1000

Nike Zoom Fly

Nike Flex Experience

Brooks Beast

Hoka Gaviota

Skechers Go Run

And 350 other shoes under 10 votes

Brooks Ghost & Adrenaline

Nike Pegasus

Asics Nimbus & Kayano

Hoka Clifton & Bondi

Asics GT 2000

16%
Fill Counter
3%
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6%
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5%
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2%
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651 Votes

134 Votes

242 Votes

216 Votes

66 Votes


Very interesting information - I was quite surprised that Brooks Ghost, Adrenaline, and Launch received 804 votes or almost 20% of all of the votes

So in the argument - Asics vs Brooks, Brooks wins the argument as the top running shoe. 

Hi, Jeremy Here, 

I am the the guy behind Train for a 5K. On this site, I share everything that learned along my running journey. The content I create is the running training I wish I had before we started this journeyAbout Jeremy. 

I have run over 250 races including the California International Marathon, Clarksburg Country Run, and various other 5K & 10K races throughout the United States. I am a former Athletics department employee at University of the Pacific and Shoe Consultant with Dicks Sporting Goods