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A good pair of running shoes can make the difference between breaking your personal best and breaking out in blisters.

So it was essential for all the members of Team Standard to have the correct footwear before embarking on our 12-week training plans in preparation for the British 10k London Run.

This year, the run welcomes New Balance as its Official Sporting Goods provider. The brand remains committed to manufacturing in Britain, making this event the perfect partner for them.

As part of their Runnovation campaign, they are really proud to be bringing their technical expertise and heritage in performance running to this iconic run.

This year, the run welcomes New Balance as its Official Sporting Goods provider. The brand remains committed to manufacturing in Britain, making this event the perfect partner for them.

"Anyone buying a new pair of shoes should get a gait analysis done," New Balance Technical Representative Bradley Howarth explained to us. "It really is the only way to ensure that you leave the shop with the correct footwear and avoid any unwanted injuries."

So Team Standard headed down to Sweatshop on Trump Street in the City to try on our new shoes and be filmed running on a treadmill before having our running styles deconstructed.

We were going to need shoes that we were happy to run in but also shoes that we would be comfortable wearing when taking part in 12 other exercises as New Balance introduce us to the concept of Runnovation in our training for the British 10k London Run.

This was the most exciting aspect of what the 10 of us were about to undertake. New Balance, under Howarth’s guidance, will be showing Team Standard how to get fit for a 10k by doing more than just running as we undertake a variety of different sessions.

After some trial and error, I opted for the neutral New Balance 1080 shoe and was immediately struck by how light it felt compared to the heavy duty brand I had been used to in the past.

Having suffered from runner’s knee for the past three years and undergone two bouts of surgery, finding the right pair of shoes for my comeback race was essential.

Robust, and yet lightweight, with an extremely soft arch, after two training runs I am feeling confident about finishing the 10k on London’s streets on July 13.