Cross-Country and Track Shoes for Girls Who Wear Orthotics: Trainers, Spikes and Growing Feet

Running is the simplest sport to start and one of the easiest to overdo. A girl joins cross-country in the fall, runs track in the spring, and logs miles all summer in between. Her running shoe is the easiest sports shoe to fit with an orthotic. Her spikes are the hardest, and for good reason. This guide is for parents of girls from middle-school running clubs through varsity cross-country and track. It covers what the research shows about girls who run, the injuries that matter most, and why fueling matters to her bones. It also explains how to choose a trainer for a wide, narrow, flat or high-arched foot. Finally, it shows where a custom orthotic fits, and where it does not.

Shopping for a son? Read our guide to cross-country and track shoes for boys. For every sport a high-school girl plays, see our varsity guide for girls. A teenager already in women's sizes can also use our women's running shoe guide.

What the Research Shows About Girls Who Run

Rauh and colleagues (2006) followed 421 runners on 23 high-school cross-country teams through one season. Girls had a higher injury rate than boys in that study, 19.6 compared with 15.0 for every 1,000 practices and races. Girls also had more injuries that kept them out for two weeks or longer. For girls, an injury during summer running before the season was one of the best predictors of another one. The runner who got hurt over the summer is the one to watch in the fall.

Tenforde and colleagues (2013) followed 748 high-school runners for about two seasons each. In that study, 5.4 percent of the girls had a stress fracture, most often in the shin bone. Four things raised a girl's risk in that study. They were a prior fracture, a low body weight for her height, a first period at fifteen or older, and a background in gymnastics or dance. Krabak and colleagues (2021) brought together an international panel on youth running. They found no evidence-based limit on how far a child should run at each age. Today's limits are expert opinion.

Fueling, Periods and Bone Stress

A girl who runs a lot and eats too little for her training can run short of energy. Doctors call it low energy availability. It can delay or stop her periods, and it can thin her bones. Barrack and colleagues (2014) followed 259 physically active girls and young women. The risk of a bone stress injury climbed as risk factors stacked up in that study. The factors included many hours of exercise a week, a low body weight, missed periods, restrictive eating and low bone density. With one factor, roughly 15 to 20 percent had a bone stress injury in that study, and with several, 30 to 50 percent did.

None of this is about shoes, and an orthotic will not fix it. If your daughter has missed periods, has lost weight during the season or has had a stress fracture, tell her doctor. A good sports medicine team will look at her nutrition and her bone health as well as her feet. Praise her for how she trains and races, not for how she looks.

The Sore Shin or Foot That Will Not Settle

A stress fracture often starts as an ache in the shin or on the top of the foot. It gets worse during a run and eases with rest. Later it hurts to walk, and one spot on the bone is tender to press. A runner with that pattern should stop running and be seen that week, not after the next race. Early X-rays can look normal, so a normal film does not end the question. Read our guide on telling a fracture from a sprain.

Heel Pain in a Growing Runner

In a girl between about eight and thirteen, heel pain is usually irritation of the growth plate at the back of the heel. That is where the Achilles tendon pulls on bone that has not finished growing. Wiegerinck and colleagues (2014) found 3.7 cases for every 1,000 registered patients aged six to seventeen in Dutch family practices. Hills, spikes and a growth spurt all aggravate it. James and colleagues (2016) randomized 124 children with this heel pain to a heel raise or a ready-made orthotic. Every group had improved about the same amount by the end of the year in that trial. A cushioned trainer with a heel cup, calf stretches and fewer spike sessions help most girls keep running. Read more about heel pain that won't go away.

Trainers, Spikes and Racing Shoes

A young runner needs a daily trainer before she needs anything else. Choose a neutral running shoe with a firm heel counter, a removable insole and enough cushion for the surfaces she runs on. Nielsen and colleagues (2014) followed 927 new runners for a year in a neutral shoe. Foot posture, from very flat to very arched, did not predict injury in that study. Fit and comfort matter more than a shoe's label. Malisoux and colleagues (2015) followed 264 adult recreational runners. Those who rotated more than one pair of shoes had a lower injury risk in that study. For a girl running most days, two pairs of trainers that she alternates is a reasonable habit.

Spikes are a different tool. Cross-country spikes have a thin sole, a few short pins and a flexible plate. Track spikes for distance events are similar, and sprint spikes have a stiff plate and almost no heel. None of them has room for a device, and none of them is meant for training miles. Keep spikes for races and a few hard workouts a week at most, and do the rest in trainers. A girl with heel pain may do better racing in a cross-country flat without pins, or in her trainers, until the pain settles. Lace any running shoe to the top eyelet with a heel-lock loop. Hagen and Hennig (2009) found that snug lacing through all the eyelets lowered heel pressure and loading in runners without making the shoe less comfortable.

Getting an Orthotic Into a Running Shoe

A running trainer is the easiest sports shoe to fit with a device. It is deep, and nearly every one has a factory insole that lifts out. Take the insole out, set the orthotic in, and check that her heel still sits deep in the counter. Bring the trainers to the fitting. Spikes and racing flats are too thin for a device. If she needs her orthotic, the answer is less time in spikes, not a device crammed into them.

A flat foot alone is not a reason for an orthotic. Wenger and colleagues (1989) followed 129 children with flexible flat feet in corrective shoes, heel cups, custom inserts or nothing. The arches improved in every group, and the treated children did no better than the untreated ones in that trial. An orthotic earns its place in a runner's shoe when there is a problem to treat. Heel pain, an arch that aches after runs and pain under the ball of the foot all count. See our guide to flat feet in children and our guide to choosing running shoes for your foot type.

Match the Shoe to Your Daughter's Foot

Proper fit comes first. Klein and colleagues (2009) measured 858 preschool children and their shoes in Austria. Most wore shoes that were too short, and short shoes were associated with a big toe that angled outward. Measure both feet each season and fit the longer one. Leave about a thumb's width of room past the longest toe in her running socks.

Wide Feet

New Balance and Saucony are the brands to start with. In big kids' sizes, New Balance sells its Fresh Foam Arishi in medium, wide and extra-wide. Its FuelCell Rebel comes in medium and wide. Saucony sells its Endorphin KDZ in medium and wide. We found no spike in a wide; Saucony describes its Kilkenny XC as an accommodating fit on a wider base.

Narrow Feet

Many girls have a narrow heel, and a shoe built for a broad foot lets it slide. A sliding foot blisters. Lace to the top eyelet with a heel-lock loop, and look for a trainer with a snug heel and midfoot.

Flat Feet

A flexible flat foot is common and usually does not hurt. In the Nielsen study, it did not predict injury. If it aches, a firm heel counter and an orthotic help more than a stiff shoe sold for stability. A stiff flat foot that does not form an arch on tiptoe needs an examination.

High Arches

A high-arched foot is stiff and lands hard on the heel and the ball of the foot. Choose a cushioned trainer with a roomy instep. If the top of the foot gets sore, lace around the high point of the instep.

Loose Ankles

Cross-country courses are uneven, and a loose ankle rolls on roots and ruts. A balance program helps, and a lace-up brace makes sense for a girl who has sprained an ankle before. Read our guide on strengthening after a sprain.

Cross-Country and Track Shoes for Girls to Try

No shoe company pays for placement here. No brand sponsors this article. Every shoe here is our own pick, based on the features above and on what we see in the office.

We do run a separate website, footshop.cc. Patients kept asking where to find the products we talk about in the exam room. So we built a separate site that keeps the links in one place. It includes links to Amazon and other retailers. Every affiliate link over there is disclosed where it appears. If you buy through one of those links, we earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra. We run it as a convenience for our patients, not as a condition of care. You are free to buy any of these shoes anywhere you like, at whatever price you find, with or without our links. Our advice is the same either way.

Medical footwear is not part of that. Prescription shoes, inserts, boots and braces are never on our affiliate site. They are not a shopping link, and we will not treat them like one.

Trainers in Wide Widths

• New Balance Fresh Foam Arishi (big kids'): sold in medium, wide and extra-wide at Zappos.
• New Balance FuelCell Rebel (big kids'): sold in medium and wide at Zappos.
• Saucony Endorphin KDZ (kids'): sold in medium and wide on Saucony's site.

Trainers in One Width

• HOKA Clifton (youth): one width. HOKA describes its sockliner as molded and removable.
• ASICS GT-1000 (grade school): one standard width, on what ASICS calls a kid-specific last.
• Saucony Guide KDZ (kids'): one medium width, which Saucony describes as a broader last with a wider base.
• Nike Pegasus (big kids'): one width, with what Nike calls a wide toe box.

Spikes

• Saucony Kilkenny XC: one width, which Saucony describes as an accommodating fit on a wider base.
• Nike Zoom Rival (XC, Distance, Sprint and Multi): one width. Nike says they run small and suggests half a size up.
• New Balance XC Seven: one standard width.

For every shoe on this page, lift the insole in the store. If it comes out and the orthotic sits flat with her heel still inside the counter, you are in business. If it is glued, bring the shoe to our office, and we will design the orthotic around it.

What to Check Every Season

• Measure both feet standing, at the end of the day, in running socks. Fit the longer foot.
• Put her orthotic in the new trainer at the store, with the factory insole out. If her heel lifts, try another shoe.
• Keep track of how long she has run in each pair. A trainer that feels flat, or has a sole worn through to the foam, is done.
• Ask about pain on the top of the foot, in the shin or in the heel. Runners tend to push through all three.
• Ask how much she ran over the summer, whether she got hurt doing it, and whether her periods are regular.
• Keep spikes for races and a few hard sessions, not for training miles.

When to See a Podiatrist

Bring her in, and stop her running, for pain on the top of the foot or in the shin that gets worse during runs. A single spot that hurts to press is a warning sign too. Come in for heel pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks. A limp or night pain needs an examination too. Come in after a sprain that is still swollen after a week. Tell her doctor about missed periods or weight loss during the season. If she already wears orthotics and has grown a size, bring the orthotics and her trainers. Our pediatric foot care page explains how we see young athletes. Our custom orthotics page explains how we make devices.

More reading: when to replace worn-out shoes and foot care for runners and athletes.