£12.99 Crivit Running Shoes Review

Image of Crivit Running Shoes I bought for £12.99 from Lidl

Is it possible to run faster without buying a pair of expensive shoes? I believe so and that's what prompted me to buy a pair of Crivit Running Shoes for £12.99 from Lidl and go and find out!

What are Crivit Running Shoes?

These are running shoes that can be found in the #middleoflidl from time to time when Lidl do a promotion on sport and exercise.

They're literally an average pair of running shoes, good amount of cushioning but no carbon plates/rods or any of the fancy technology you'll find in the shoes you'll see online for £200+.

Crivit Running Shoes I bought from Lidl for £12.99

Why I tested them

I wanted to test them out of curiosity mainly.

I've believed for a long time that we can run faster in any pair of shoes. I remember Runners World magazine highly rating Hi-Tec shoes in the late 90s when I began my running journey because they didn't promise anything, were fairly cheap (around £25) and had a decent amount of cushioning in them and that's what sprung to mind when I was thinking about these.

Since I saw them for the first time, I've been desperate to get a pair so I could go test them.

Unfortunately, as I wear size 11/11.5, they don't usually have my size but when I was in a couple of weeks ago, they did and I just had to go buy them! This was a sign!

The Tests

I couldn't make up my mind whether to test them by simply repeating the same sessions as I normally do and see how they compared to my normal shoes (Adidas Boston 12) or to go for it at Perth parkrun and see what I could do in them, so I did both!

Test 1

I run at Perth parkrun every week and I often go run 5km first, try to run each km quicker than the one before, then try to run harder in the second 5km. I've been doing this as part of marathon training and get used to running on tired legs to replicate the latter miles of the marathon.

Test 2

I wanted to have a shorter run to warm up then go for it at parkrun. I started a little further back so I could start slower and hopefully finish quicker. I also thought about if I had been wearing a pair of super shoes, how would I run then tried to replicate it.

When you're wearing a pair of carbon plated shoes, you tend more to be pushed forward as you run so I thought about trying to do that in the Crivits.

The Results

In the first test, the first run went very well but I was tired during parkrun so it didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped.

In the first test, the shoes were probably let down by the person wearing them!

The second test was different. I felt I controlled my run better, started a little slower so I could speed up as I went along. I was past the halfway mark before I remembered I was wearing them and still managed a sprint to the finish!

I finished a good 12 seconds quicker than in the first test!

My Opinion

I really like them! The shoes themselves are well ventilated, have plenty of space for your feet and have a decent amount of cushioning in them. They feel great on your feet and I'd say they're great shoes for parkrun.

I'm not sure I'd wear them on my longer runs in marathon training though but then they're not designed for that purpose. It will be curious to see how long they last, how many miles I can get out of them before they need to be replaced.

At £12.99, if I get a year out of them then they're an absolute bargain!

The really interesting thing for me is when I compare these to the Adidas Boston 12s. In those shoes, I can feel my feet are well supported, put me in a position where I can run well but at the same time, it feels like I wouldn't notice if my ankles were unstable or my balance wasn't great.

In the Crivits, I'd notice straight away if my ankles were unstable. This isn't a bad thing.

My concern is if we're wearing more expensive shoes that mask these kind of weaknesses then we risk getting little injuries in the lower leg if we do a lot of running in them. If we don't know there's a weakness, we're not going to feel inclined to address the issue.

Unless you need stability shoes, I'd recommend these to everyone.

At £12.99, they're an absolute steal and if you tend to pay up to £80 for your shoes, I'd look at these first.

In an ideal world, these would be the best pair of shoes to start your running journey with and combining with exercises to improve your balance and stability in your ankles (stand on one foot with shoes off), you'd certainly notice the improvements and the super shoes would be a great investment further down the line, like putting the cherry on top of the cake.

It depends on whether you're patient or not.

#middleoflidl