Would you spend a paycheck on a pair of running shoes?

An average pair of running shoes is $120, but what does that mean for runners in countries with lower incomes? I speak to Sajjad Hossain Snigdho of Bangladesh Runners to find out.

They say that running is the least expensive sport in the world. I’ll add: ‘unless you’re in Bangladesh.’

With the $16 minimum wage in California, you can buy a decent pair of running shoes with a day’s work. What about if it instead cost you $2,500 to buy a new pair of running shoes? Same job. Same salary.

Transport your mind, if you would, to a country where the average annual income is $3,000 - just less than 10% of that Californian minimum wage - and you might begin to realize what a luxury a brand new pair of running shoes could be. That’s exactly the case in Bangladesh. The shoes cost the same. The salary is not the same.

Nike can’t sell shoes in Bangladesh (international code: BD) at a price proportional to the salary in that country ($10??) or people in countries with higher salaries would simply buy their running shoes from there, and they’d cease to be a $30BN company. The result? People in countries like Bangladesh are stuck choosing between exorbitant prices and rock bottom o…