![]() The spike plate (the forefoot platform into which pins are mounted) of a sprint shoe also has the maximum number of pins to provide as much traction as possible. Sprint spikes are designed to put an athlete on his or her toes and, to save weight, have little or no heel. The Right Spikes For You Greg Weich, track and cross-country coach at girls' state champion Smoky Hill High School in the Denver area, says athletes should first decide on the purpose of their spikes: for sprinting, distance running or field events. "I am very picky about my racing spikes," she says. 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. With so many choices, even world-class athletes admit to being flustered by the array of options. Some even have holes to allow water-or as the steeplechasers for whom they're made like to joke, the blood-to run out. A spiked shoe may have a significant heel, no heel at all, permanent pins, or replaceable pins. The actual spike part of the shoe is called a "pin." Some shoes have three, others as many as eight. Others, in the interest of saving every ounce of weight, are stripped down to the bare essentials. Some spiked shoes are cushioned like a training shoe. Not All Spikes Are Alike There are spikes designed for short sprints, long sprints, middle distances, long distances, cross country, the steeplechase, and field events. But finding the right spiked shoes for your needs is not always a clear-cut proposition. Just as soccer and football cleats offer grip on a grass field, spiked shoes provide traction and speed on a track-and they're much lighter than a training shoe.
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