Racing flats, or simply flats, are lightweight athletic shoes designed for "long distance" track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, and most often, road races

Road running

Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...

. They differ from normal training shoes mainly by the lack of a substantial heel (hence the name). They are also a great deal less durable and typically last half to a quarter of the distance of a normal training shoe (125–250 miles or 200-400 kilometers).

They are mostly sold as "for use upto 10k", but are used by some runners at any distance, including ultra marathons.

Construction

Racing flats have only small or no heel lift and little padding or support. They allow a prepared athlete to use their natural foot strength, elasticity, and proprioception to run quickly (Lieberman et al).

Because of the lack of support and cushioning, racing flats are typically not recommended as a daily training shoe for the uninitiated because of their lack of lower leg/foot strength. But as an athlete progresses with their training they will be able to make full use of them.

Before the invention of the Nike shoes in the 1970s everybody used flats because that was the only shoe available for road running.

Studies have suggested that some running injuries can occur as a result of the significant arch support and cushioning found in "traditional" running shoes. As a result, a growing number of runners train and race exclusively in racing flats, other minimalist shoes, or barefoot

Barefoot running

Barefoot running is running while barefoot—without wearing any shoes on the feet. Running in thin-soled, flexible shoes, often called minimalist running, such as moccasins is biomechanically related to running barefoot, but alters sensory feedback from the plantar mechanoreceptors...

. This is known as minimalism.

Manufacturers

Popular examples of racing flats include the Saucony

Saucony

Saucony is an American manufacturer of athletic shoes, best-known today for its premium running shoes and men's and women's apparel.-History:...

 Type A3, Saucony Fastwitch, Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 Zoom Streak, Nike Zoom Marathoner, Nike Lunaracer, Nike Mayfly, Adidas

Adidas

Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

 Adizero PR, Adizero RC, Asics

ASICS

ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company. ASICS produces professional footwear and sports equipment designed for football, running, netball, tennis, badminton, squash, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading, lacrosse, and for many other...

DS racer, Asics Piranha, Mizuno Wave Universe, and numerous others.