BioMoGo: Brooks Goes Green

Warren Greene

Each November, around the ING New York City marathon, Runner’s World brings together the footwear editors from our 10 international editions to meet with running shoe manufacturers. (I know, you thought I was unique. I’m not. There are editors at each Runner’s World edition who do something very similar to what I do here in the U.S.)

One of the last brands to present to us was Brooks. These meetings can get a bit dry, even for shoe geeks – we ask each footwear brand to present their entire 2008 line. By the time Brooks came to speak with us, we were beat.

I have to say, Brooks blew us away. At the end of their presentation they talked to us about something they’re calling “BioMoGo.” It’s a midsole (the white section of your running shoe between the upper and outsole rubber) that biodegrades in 20 to 25 years. As you may remember from my last post, current running shoe midsoles can last for 1,000 years in a landfill. Runners on average buy about 3.5 pairs of running shoes a year. That’s a whole lot of landfill space.