What it’s like to test running kit as a job
How I review running shoes and why I'm not injured.
A couple of times each month, a box will arrive at my house and out will come a new pair of running shoes. I test running kit for Women’s Running magazine, something that I’ve done for a few years now, and this year they asked me to be Reviews Editor. This means I get to choose which kit features each issue and which tester will be reviewing it. It’s an enviable job for a lot of runners, so I thought I’d discuss what it’s really like.
How it started
I’ve been a journalist for 20 years now. I’ve worked in a lot of places from a local newspaper to trade magazines and charities. Back in 2008, when I started running, I also started a blog called, you guessed it, ‘Lazy Girl Running’. After a couple of years of writing it, I started to get the occasional piece of kit to try and include in my blog.
When I first started writing for Women’s Running magazine in 2018, it was a column about getting back into running after having my son. Then I started doing the training plans and then I became part of the kit testing panel too. I had no idea what and when kit would arrive. Sometimes it was good and sometimes it was terrible. There have been shoes that I’ve got a mile down the road in before turning back for home to change.
The Run Testers asked me to be part of their team back in 2021. I’d done some workout videos for YouTube during lockdown so they knew I wasn’t camera shy and that I had some PR contacts for getting kit. I learnt a lot working with The Run Testers. Their knowledge of shoe technology is extensive and they were really supportive. Especially when commenters were patronising or unkind. I remember one person commented that my ‘inexperience was showing’ because of how I tied my shoes. I replied that I had 20 years experience as a journalist and more than 30 thing shoe laces.
The testing process
Sometimes a pair of shoes or piece of kit will arrive and I will be excited to get out in it straight away. But depending on my training that week and the weather, I might have to wait. Most shoes that I’m not familiar with will start with a 3 or 4 mile run to see how they go. So I’m the peak of marathon training, when two of my runs are much longer than that, I struggle to get them in. Other times, the runs will dictate my running that week - whether I’m running on trail or road, easy or efforts.