I don’t like to take credit for a lot of things, but when I saw this article in today’s New York Times about the boom in neon running gear — particularly shoes — I couldn’t help but feel partially responsible.

The piece really pegs this as a trend that has exploded this year, and I’ll mostly agree with that.  But as a longtime proponent of rocking brightly colored running shoes, and more importantly, as a veteran of the running shoe industry, I can tell you this did not pop up overnight.

One of the central questions the story explores is, will it last?

“Most analysts do not track shoe sales by color, but it is clear that the shoe business is booming. NPD Group, a retail analyst firm, said sales of retail goods in the running category were up $39 million, or 12 percent, this year from 2012. Some attribute that, at least in part, to the new palette.”

I began selling shoes in 1999 as an after-school job and worked for that company until 2005.  During that entire era, running shoes came in a very narrow range of colors.  Companies did not branch out much at all.  For men, the shoes were typically white with navy blue, and an accent of either black or something in the gold/beige family.  In fact, “typically” isn’t even a fair word.  Your choice was which logo went on the side.

Women’s shoes were slightly more adventurous, but still consisted of either white or grey, with some sort of baby blue, purple or a rare appearance by pink.  All muted tones, too.

I moved to another company in 2006 and 2007, and that’s when this neon trend really got its start.  But it happened slowly.  Shoe companies are quick to jump on trends, but they tread carefully when it comes to establishing what those trends will be.  Remember when there were only two choices in the minimalist shoes that are everywhere today?  It took a few years for that to really become a thing.

The same was true with bright colors.  In 2006, I bought a pair of bright yellow New Balance running shoes:

Perhaps the finest news crew ever assembled

Before that purchase, I’m sure I didn’t sell one pair to a customer.  They were intrigued, would pick up the shoes and think maybe they would be fun, but ultimately get self-conscious and decide to play it safe and get what they saw everyone else wearing.

After I bought them and wore them around in the store, though, I sold tons.  People loved them, but most of all they loved seeing someone else wear them.  That’s what broke down that last little bit that kept them from embracing the fun that running should be.  I was never a pushy salesman on things like trying to get you to purchase a matching jacket, but I encouraged everyone I could to branch out and pick up the more colorful version of a shoe.  The same pattern of suddenly skyrocketing sales played out again when I bought a pair of bright orange shoes there, ones that I’m proud to say I wore setting my best time in every single race distance:

I can’t tell you the number of compliments I have received on my bright shoes over the years, whether it’s from someone standing next to me at a start line, or the Instagram picture I post of the latest pair I just bought.  What I can say is that nobody ever, ever, ever, ever, ever said one word about white shoes with navy blue accents.

As long as the manufacturers keep making them, I will always wear shoes like these:

My current lineup

And if you’re looking for an interesting section for my Wikipedia page, I’m proud to say I played a role in making other people feel cool about wearing them too.