Running Shoe Type and Attrition During Marine Corps Basic Training

Abstract

PURPOSE To determine if an improved type of running shoe was associated with attrition during US Marine Corps recruit training. METHODS This prospective study consisted of 2,142 male recruits who entered the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MRCD), San Diego, CA between February and April 2003 and agreed to complete a health and fitness survey. Thirty-six percent of the recruits were assigned the test shoe and 64% were assigned the traditional running shoe by equipment issue personnel not involved with the study. Recruits were followed until graduation (at least 12 weeks) or separation. Three outcome measures were assessed; on-time graduation, delayed graduation, or separated prior to graduation. RESULTS The average age of the 2,142 recruits was 20 years and did not vary by shoe type. Further, no differences for shoe type on height, weight, BMI, shoe size, self-reported running pace, or race/ethnicity were found between the recruits in the two running shoe groups. The recruits were predominantly white (66%) and Hispanic (21%). Overall, 89.4% of the recruits finished the 12-week training and graduated (89.5% for the test shoe and 89.3% for the standard shoe), 82% of the recruits graduated on time (82.2% and 81.9%), and 10.6% separated prior to graduation (10.5% and 10.7%). Assigned shoe type was not associated with any of the attrition parameters measured. CONCLUSIONS The type of running shoe issued did not appear to affect graduation status, however, further analyses need to assess the relationship between injury status between the recruits who wore the test or traditional shoe. This work was supported by Naval Health Research Center under Work Unit No. 60213.