2010, January: the road to Molly Malone's

[El Gordo]

EG's policy of hoarding several pairs of a favorite shoe - the Marcos theory - is shown to be a masterstroke.

According to a Runner's World article I once read, this actually backfires, as the compounds shoe manufacturers use for cushioning start breaking down after about 12 months whether the shoe is used or not.

I've no idea how true this is of course. Where's Riazor Blue when you need him - he would know, wouldn't he? BB, do you still see him at all?

Have you noticed any problem with hoarding shoes, EG?

Hard to say. Since reading the same thing -- that EVA in shoes has a shelf life -- I've sort of believed stored shoes to be not as good as newly-bought ones, but this may well be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The perception that they've deteriorated is the same as the actual. Still sounds a bit ludicrous to me though, and I can report that there's no very obvious manifestation of the problem. If it was true that shoes started deteriorating within a short period (a year, apparently), wouldn't they be stamped with a date of manufacture and a 'use by' date?

I suspect, like a lot of things, there might be a grain of truth in it, but that it's been encouraged to turn into a bigger truth by the marketing people who don't want people hoarding shoes bought on cheap deals.

In other words, I've no idea.