Crocs are a popular form of comfortable causal footwear and are sometimes the butt of ridicule, jokes and memes. The Crocs are not designed as a running shoe, but they are very occasionally used as a running shoe.
They gained some attention in the news media and social media when 18 yr old Benjamin Pachev finished 4th in the 2017 Utah Valley Half Marathon running in Crocs with a really good time of 1:06:33. His father, Alexander Pachev finished in 1:16:07, also running in Crocs. They have a large family and the father told Fox59 that running shoes for his entire family of 10 would be too expensive, but that he found Crocs to be affordable and durable for running. The family claims that the shoes can last for about 2,000 miles, which is good compared to the 500 or so miles that a typical running shoe probably lasts.
In an interview with the Indy Star:
“I was trying to figure out if there was a better way to run than in regular running shoes,” he said. “I was experimenting with different things.” His kids told him they preferred running and playing in Crocs, and he noticed that they had great form in the clogs. He tried a pair out for a run and was instantly sold. “I really liked the feeling, and I’ve run in them ever since,” Sasha said. “They’re really not that much different, speed-wise, from racing flats.”
“They basically feel like you’re running barefoot on grass, except you’re doing it on asphalt and you’re not losing the speed,” he said. “It’s a very good feeling.”
He told Runners World:
What he didn’t anticipate was the mental edge he’d gain in races. “There’s the shock factor on the competition,” he says. “They look at you and go, ‘Who’s this idiot wearing Crocs?’ You’re with them two-thirds of the way through, and the thought is in their minds: ‘This guy should not be with me.’ If that thought crosses your mind, you’ve lost the race.”
At the 2014 Kerikeri Half Marathon in New Zealand, 17 year old Callum Robertson-Barnes finished in 10th place running in Crocs after he had lost his running shoes the night before. The NZ Herald reported:
Fellow race entrants and Callum’s mates greeted his impressive effort with a mix of head-shaking amazement, or observations that he was slightly mad.
He’d run in them again, and reckons Crocs – maligned as a fashion item – could reinvent themselves as a sports shoe.
Another runner did run in a pair at the 2011 World Ironman Championship in Hawaii.
Jeff Garmine finished 22nd out of 439 runners in the Sweet Pea 5K in Bozeman, Montana on 7 August 2021 in a time of 19:05.26 wearing Crocs.
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At the 2024 New York City Marathon, Kevin Leimkuhler broke the world record for running the fastest marathon while wearing a pair of Crocs, with a time of 2:51:27. The previous world record was held by the British runner Chris Howett, finishing the Manchester Marathon in 2:58:24.
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Running shoes | Crocs
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A pair of Crocs (Podiatry Arena)
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