Resources
How we research our running gear guides
The RunV running gear guides are independent. We do not sell gear, carry no affiliate links and take no paid placements. Each guide is checked every week by a research agent working to the rules below, and changes that touch health, safety or a brand's legal trouble go to a person first.
The rules every entry follows
- Primary sources first: brand newsrooms, peer-reviewed journals, World Athletics and government regulators.
- Then named independent testers with a track record, such as DC Rainmaker, the5krunner, RunRepeat, Doctors of Running, Road Trail Run and iRunFar.
- We ignore thin round-ups and anything with no named author or date.
- Every claim records its source, the publisher, the publish date and the date we checked it.
- Every number (a price, a weight, a percentage) must appear in the source. We do not estimate.
- We write in our own words and link to the source. We never copy text.
- When sources disagree, we say so on the page.
- A status label only changes with two independent sources.
- We make no health or injury promises. We report what a study found, and its limits.
What the labels mean
- Mainstream
- Widely sold and used, with evidence or a track record behind it.
- Rising
- On sale and growing fast, but still early.
- In research
- Prototypes, betas and lab studies. Not something to rely on yet.
- Unproven
- On sale, but the evidence is thin or mixed.
- Failed
- Discontinued, shut down or dropped by the market. We say why.
How often we check
Once a week each guide scans the past seven days for launches, shutdowns, records, rule changes and new studies, and re-checks the oldest quarter of its entries, so every entry is reviewed about once a month. Every change is listed in the guide's “What changed” log.
