There are spikes designed for short sprints, long sprints, middle distances, long distances, cross country, the steeplechase, and field events. Some spiked shoes are cushioned like a training shoe. Others, in the interest of saving every ounce of weight, are stripped down to the bare essentials. The actual spike part of the shoe is called a "pin." Some shoes have three, others as many as eight. A spiked shoe may have a significant heel, no heel at all, permanent pins, or replaceable pins. Some even have holes to allow water-or as the steeplechasers for whom they're made like to joke, the blood-to run out.
With so many choices, even world-class athletes admit to being flustered by the array of options. Two-time Olympian Marla Runyan recalls once heading to the track with eight different pairs of shoes, and running her warm-up strides in each pair to test them out. "I am very picky about my racing
