Hey - I like that thought. Can you give some more details? Like how much someone would spend on sneakers each month if they have to buy two pairs a year (or whatever is realistic) compared to the medicine you have to be on when you have heart disease. Andrew might be able to help with that...

Let’s see:

Running Shoes

You can buy a pair of technical running shoes for $75-100 (not counting custom insoles). Obviously you can spend less (sales, closeouts, less technical models) and also quite a bit more, but I think $75-100 is a reasonable range for most runners.

It’s recommended that you replace your running shoes every 350-550 miles (your mileage may vary, I find that mine runs to the lower end and when I don’t replace my shoes fast enough I end up with shin splints or other pains).

If you run 30 miles a week, for example, you’ll probably need new shoes every 11.6 to 18.3 weeks, for 4.48 to 2.84 pairs of shoes a year. That comes out to $213-336 a year (for the $75 models) or $284-$448 (for the shiny $100 models).

Heart Disease

According to the CDC, in 2005 the cost of heart disease and stroke in the United States was projected to exceed $394 billion. Since there are more than 300 million Americans, that works out to $1,313 per American—not patient.

Also according to the CDC, about 70 million Americans (almost one-fourth of the population) have some form of cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for more than 6 million hospitalizations each year. So that would be $5,628 per person with cardiovascular disease.

Then of course there’s that whole “leading cause of death,” which you can’t put a number on…

The Winner...
I’ll keep buying the running shoes. Even the snazzy $100 ones are looking like a bargain.