Plus, tips on how to take care of your shoes, and how to tell if they are worn out.

Your running shoes do a lot. With every step you take, they’re absorbing impact, guiding your stride, protecting your feet from debris on the roads and trails and making it possible for you to get in your easy run, hard workout, and everything in between. But they don’t last forever. 

And wearing a pair of running shoes past their prime means sacrificing the shoes’ ability to help keep you running strong, which can lead to achy joints, blisters, not-so-fun runs, and, yes, even injuries. 

But with the price tag of running shoes going up every year, it’s important to find the sweet spot: knowing how long you can wear your shoes before you need to replace them while also doing all the things to help make them last just a smidge longer. 

Here’s everything you need to know about when to replace your worn out running shoes, signs they’re worn out and tips for making your running shoes last longer. 

Signs You Need to Replace Your Worn Out Running Shoes

Deciding when your shoes are toast is a blend of obvious visual clues and closely listening to your body’s feedback. Here’s a comprehensive list of what to look for: 

1. First, and perhaps the most obvious, is seeing holes in the upper along with fraying fabric. However, if you’re seeing holes in your shoes they have passed their running lifespan.

2. Second, check out the midsole. Do you see visible creases that indicate the cushioning isn’t bouncing back to its original shape? If so, this is a good sign your shoes are done. If you’re seeing this, you may also be experiencing some joint pain or a general lack-of-cushion feel when you run. (Not seeing this, but still feeling a lack of bounce in your stride? Move on to assess sleep and coffee consumption first.)

3. Next do you see uneven wear patterns on the bottom and/or an overall worn-out outsole that indicates the shoe has lost some of its original structure? This can also show up as feedback while you run: Do you feel like you’re landing a bit lopsided or that one shoe feels different than the other in a way that it didn’t previously?

4. Blisters forming that you didn’t use to get in the same shoes can be another telltale sign. 

5. Finally, if you’re hearing any sort of weird noises coming from your shoes like clicking or squashing (most likely from cushioning wear or general structural changes), you need new ones. 

Now, all of this said, sometimes you aren’t going to notice every worn-out-shoe symptom at once. So how else can you solve this shoe-getting-worn-out dilemma? 

The tried and true method is to replace your running shoes every 300 to 500 miles. So if you’ve worn your current pair somewhere in that range, and you’re experiencing any one of the above symptoms, they might be worn out and its time to upgrade your shoe quiver. (You can use your smartwatch, Strava or a good ol’ fashioned spreadsheet or notebook to track your mileage if you want to get very specific). 

Can Running Shoes Last Beyond 500 Miles? 

While 300 to 500 miles is the general guideline for running shoe lifespan because the midsole often loses cushion and resiliency after this much wear, we all wear through shoes a little bit differently and therefore it’s not truly an exact science. 

So how many miles should running shoes last? It’s important to go by feel. Mileage your shoes can handle depends on many factors: the make, model and materials of a shoe, the way you run, how far you run, your weight, the terrain you run on, even the way you put on and take off your shoes, etc.

What’s more, shoe materials continue to evolve. Some running shoes are more durable today than just a few years ago thanks to a blend of EVA and TPU. While soft and light, EVA breaks down quicker than TPU, which is a more durable, heavy material. Modern racing shoes and super trainers are made from much more delicate midsole materials that aren’t built to last 300 to 500 miles.

So, if you notice your daily trainers lasting longer than your racing shoes, it’s probably because the cushioning is a blend of materials offer more durability. (That’s a good reminder that lighter isn’t always better!)

How to Make Running Shoes Last Longer 

You can take a few simple steps to squeeze as much life out of your running shoes as possible. 

First, buy multiple pairs at once and rotate them. A simple rotation of two to three running shoes can go a long way. Not only does it extend the time between shoe purchases, but it also extends the life of each shoe by giving the shoe a rest between uses. Learn more about shoe rotation in our article, Rotating Your Running Shoes Can Help You Prevent Injuries. 

While it’s totally fine (and expected) to get your running shoes dirty, cleaning off clumps of dirt, washing them (by hand, spraying with a hose, or in a washing machine on a low-spin mode with a non-abrasive soap), and then drying them with newspaper or a shoe dryer if they get really wet and dirty can help to prevent premature breakdown of the materials. (Runner beware: If you dry your shoes by letting them sit in the sun, there is a chance some of the materials will shrink a bit and they will feel tighter when you put them on again.)

This also goes for storage. Keep your shoes inside rather than on your porch or in your car. Heat especially can break down EVA quicker, and sometimes even affect glues used to connect parts of the shoe’s midsole and upper. So keeping them indoors with temperature control ensures they live a happy life.  

While this might sound like an extra step, unlace your shoes and remove them with your hands versus kicking them off with your feet all laced up. Taking shoes off the wrong way (yes, there’s a wrong way), can wear down the structure of the heel, and change the way the shoe feels before they’re technically worn out (which could lead to early shoe retirement; not what you want). 

Finally, keep your running shoes just for running, rather than running errands. Because even if you’re just walking through parking lots and the grocery store aisles, it’s mileage that adds up over time. 

Bottom line? Listen to your body, pay attention to your shoes and track your mileage so you don’t push your worn out shoes farther than they can go.

Contributing editor Ashley Arnold is the director of brand at Fleet Feet and an ultrarunner who lives in Missoula, Montana, with her husband and two young children. She tells stories through video, words and photos, and is most at home running trails, adventuring in wild places with her family and sipping coffee while eating cake.

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