Drying Out Wet Running Shoes . . .

Stream crossing at the Seneca-Greenway Marathon

So you got up early this morning to run. It was still dark, and a very light rain was falling. No problem--it's certainly better than a hot, humid morning. Off you go. A couple of miles from home, it starts to rain a little more. Pretty soon its torrential, and the water rushing along the curbs is occasionally ankle deep. You're soaked to the skin, your shoes are sloshing, and it's raining so hard that water is going up your nose.

Every runner is going to get soaked every now and then--some of us more frequently than others--but not everyone knows how to dry out a pair of running shoes. If you don't already know how to do this, read on.

Decent running shoes are pretty delicate, so sending them on a trip through the wash or a for a tumble in the dryer is really hard on them and shortens their useful life. ("Useful" is the cushion, protect, and stabilize part of their design, not the look-cool-in-a-colorfully-geeky-way part.) Their delicacy allows them to dry pretty quickly, though, if you follow some simple steps(!).