£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!

Background

We all want to be able to run faster at parkrun or at races and in recent years, there's been the rise of the 'super shoe' to help us do it and feel like we're among the elites. When I say 'super shoe', what I mean is the running shoes with carbon rods or plates, designed to spring you forwards with each footstrike, and generally cost upwards of £200.

They're brilliant shoes and I've had a pair or two myself but waited until the end of the season and got them a bit cheaper!

I've believed for a long time that we can improve our times by improving the runner wearing the shoes as much as the shoes themselves and the shoes should really be seen as the icing on the cake rather than just bought and expected to turn us into faster runners!

I've often seen the running shoes at my local Lidl and been keen to try them out but as someone who wears size 11.5, they don't often have my size. Recently though, they did and I saw this as the sign that it was time for me to go try them out and out them to the test!

The Test

I couldn't make my mind up whether to test the shoes by trying to run faster in them or to do as I normally do and see how they compare so I've decided to do both!

To give you a little insight into my running, I normally run 5km at 8.30am, trying to run each km quicker than the one before, then go race Perth parkrun as part of my marathon training. This is a great way to build up endurance and so on Saturday, I chose the latter test and see how they compared to normal.

In my first 5km, they felt pretty good and I successfully completed the session. Unfortunately, thanks to the warm evenings on Thursday and Friday, I didn't sleep well either night and so by the time parkrun started, I was struggling a bit.

The shoes were fine, it was a shame about the person wearing them!

The Result

I'm pleased to say I finished parkrun in a time of 21:12, which is not far off what I've been running recently.

I could certainly tell the difference between these and the £100+ Adidas shoes I often wear, which have a bit more spring in them. That said, I felt when I was running in these that on a better day when I wasn't tired, I could run faster in them and know what I need to do.

After all, speed in running comes from having more forward drive from the hips, good back mobility and spending less time on the floor. I'm really looking forward to this coming Saturday to do Test Part 2 so stay tuned!

My overall impression of them is that if you're not wearing a pair of super shoes then these are just as good as any shoes in the £50-£80 bracket.

For £12.99, I'd recommend getting a pair of them and try them out for yourself. You may just get the bargain of a lifetime!