Van Alsenoy, Ken K.van der Linden, MariettaSantos, DerekGirard, Olivier2025-02-032025-02-032025-02-01Alsenoy, K.V., Van Der Linden, M.L., Girard, O., Ryu, J.H., Raisi, L.A. and Santos, D. (2025) ‘Effects of hybrid custom foot orthoses on running economy, running mechanics and comfort: A double-blinded randomized crossover study’, Gait & Posture, 118, pp. 45–50. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2025.01.030.https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/14124https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2025.01.030Ken van Alsenoy - ORCID: 0000-0002-0430-965X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0430-965XMarietta van der Linden - ORCID: 0000-0003-2256-6673 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2256-6673Derek Santos - ORCID: 0000-0001-9936-715X https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9936-715XItem is restricted in this repository.Objective: This study examined the effects of orthotic materials on running economy, running mechanics, and footwear comfort. Design: A double-blinded randomized crossover study design was used. Method: Eighteen athletes ran on an instrumented treadmill for six minutes at speeds corresponding to 10% below their first ventilatory threshold (average: 9.9 ± 1.3 km/h) in four footwear conditions [control (CON), Ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA), Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), and a combination of EVA and TPU (HYB)]. Results: No differences were found in running economy between conditions (p=0.099). All custom foot orthoses materials reduced peak heel impact force vs CON (p<0.001). TPU reduced hysteresis at heel impact vs CON (-47.8%, p=0.016). Shorter flight time (-3.8%, p=0.016; -3.1%, p=0.021) and lower mean vertical loading rate (-4.0%, p=0.003; -7.1%, p<0.001) occurred for HYB vs TPU and CON, respectively. Higher peak vertical loading rates (+7.4%, p=0.002) and earlier impact peaks (-5.7%, p<0.001) were found for HYB vs TPU. HYB exhibited longer propulsive phase duration (+2.0%, p=0.003) but lower peak propulsive force (-3.3%, p=0.009) vs CON. Reduced ‘overall comfort’ (-26.4%, p=0.004), ‘comfort of heel cushioning’ (-43.3%, p<0.001), and ‘comfort of forefoot cushioning’ (-18.3%, p=0.048) was found for HYB vs TPU, but ‘comfort of forefoot cushioning’ (+48.0%, p=0.032) showed an increase vs EVA. Conclusions: Combining materials could enhance comfort during running causing subtle changes in running mechanics. Overall, neither EVA, TPU nor their combination significantly improved running economy compared to CON.45-50enArticle