Dr. Mark Mendeszoon, D.P.M., podiatrist and orthopod, and the owner of the Achilles Running Shop stores in northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern N.Y., spoke to the Running Revolution women Thursday evening about the importance of wearing the right shoes for walking and running.

He said his life is about running, as he ran in college, quit, and then returned to the sport.

Mendeszoon said he has a dual citizenship with the U.S. and the Netherlands, and he represented Holland in the Olympics.

“I ran against Edwin Moses. Actually, I ran far behind him,” he said. This year, he is working on getting credentials as a doctor for the Rio Olympics.

His focus for the evening was on the history and structure of running shoes.

He said the ancient Greeks ran barefoot and naked, the Romans wore sandals with a leather sole, then in the 20th Century, everyone wore canvas and rubber Converse all-purpose sneakers.

In 1925, he said, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler founded Adidas, and convinced Jesse Owens to wear the shoes as he ran in the Olympics, and winning four gold medals propelled the company into fame.

Following a family feud in the 1940s Rudolf Dassler split away and formed Puma.

Things started to change with Nike forming in 1972, he said. Coach Bill Bowerman used a waffle iron to melt a pattern into the soles of running shoes. “Before that, soles were all flat.”

“The majority of western civilization were the wrong shoes,” he said, referring to high heels. “They make me a happy surgeon.”

Returning to walking, hiking and running shoes, he said, “Every time you take a step, you put four times your body weight on your feet. In a day, you could be putting several million pounds of weight on your feet.”

He said buying shoes from a big box store may cost less, but buying from a store with employees trained in finding the right shoe for you feet can lessen or prevent problems. He asks customers to bring in old shoes, so they can look for wear patterns.

Mendeszoon also recommends buying several pairs of shoes if you find a pair you really like, as shoe companies make small changes every year.

Thick heels also force “heel strike,” where the heel strikes the ground first. He said runners from Africa that grew up running in bare feet have fewer foot and ankle problems, and they are fast. But changing from thick heels to bare feet causes tendons, bones and muscles to respond in a way that can be harmful.

“The majority of runners are in the wrong shoes,” he said. As a retail shoe store owner and a doctor, he said, “You can see me now, or see me later.”

“Earth shoes, from the 1970s were genius but ugly,” he said.

He had advice for everyone about taking care of shoes. “Powder once a week, and spray with Lysol to kill viruses and bacteria. Rotate your shoes, and don’t share them with someone else. Don’t go barefoot in locker rooms.”