I had the complete opposite experience as Crafter-man. When I started running, I had a pair of $20 generic shoes. If I ran anywhere other than on the cooshy track at the local high school, I’d get horrible shin splints. I remember trying to run the .5 miles to the school and back and even that low amount of running would put me in pain. I tried every stretch you could think of, did a big warm up, etc etc. Nothing helped.
I finally broke down and spent the money to buy decent running shoes. The pain went away immediately.
So there ya go, our anecdotes cancel each other out. Y’all can now proceed with this thread. 