How many miles will you get from your running shoes?

Kinvara 3's: 1000 Km and still looking good

Today's run (treadmill): 4.1 miles

Besides race entry fees, shoes are usually a runner's biggest expense. If you look on the web, you'll find different recommendations for when to replace a pair. Running shoe companies like Brooks recommend replacement between 400 and 500 miles and even less for minimal models. However, a study conducted by a German University biomechanics lab concluded that "the lifetime for a high quality running shoe is expected to be much higher than 1000 km" (621 miles).

In an interesting coincidence, I saw on my Daily Mile gear tracker that my Saucony Kinvara 3's have just hit 621 miles. I had covered 470 miles running on roads and put on the last 151 running on the treadmill. Now that I've reached this point, I wonder how many more miles these shoes might have before they need to be replaced. Does "much higher than 1000 km" mean 200? 500? Even more? The shoes don't feel any different than they did when I got them, and I don't experience any knee pain after I use them.

The venerable GTS-10's

I retired my Brooks GTS 9's at 711 miles but stopped running in the 10's before I hit 400. That was because I moved to more minimal shoes (the original Kinvara and Hattori). Although the GTS 10's were retired for running, they have been my daily casual shoes for over three years. Further, they still feel good enough to return to my running shoe rotation.  

I've put more than 200 miles on my main road shoes (Saucony Virratas) and I'm expecting to get at least 500 more before I'm done with them. Since I rotate in my Brooks Puredrifts, Spira XLT's and Helly Hansen Trail Lizards, I probably won't be buying new shoes in 2014. But if one of these running shoe companies wants to send some new shoes to test on Running Gear Adviser, I would certainly give them a try.