With elite level athletes participating more frequently in their chosen sports, they are at an ever-increasing risk of injury. The long-term risk is the likely development of Osteoarthritis (OA). Joint loading frequency and magnitude, as well as build up of inflammatory cytokines, are both contributing factors to this condition. With many different training shoes on the market and differing running styles favored it is of benefit to investigate the affects of foot strike patterns and footwear on joint force magnitude and inflammation. 14 healthy male subjects aged 20-39 underwent anthropometric tests and were subsequently analysed for force magnitude and gait whilst running at 11 kmh-1 using a force mat, both barefooted and wearing documented footwear. Venous blood samples were taken at 0h, 2h and 4h post 30min treadmill run at 60% VO2max. A control sample pre-exercise was also taken and inflammatory cytokine concentration determined by ELISA. Results showed that whilst there was no correlation between knee force magnitude when barefoot and when in shoes (Pearson Coefficient = -0.41, p>0.05), there was a non-significant correlation between sole depth and maximal knee force (Pearson Coefficient = -0.56, p>0.05), suggesting other parameters of the footwear have an effect on force. Similarly no significant correlation was seen between dominant and non-dominant maximal knee force (Pearson Coefficient = 0.73, p>0.05), foot length and maximal knee force (Pearson Coefficient = 0.60, p>0.05), and percentage body fat and maximal knee force (Pearson Coefficient = 0.66, p>0.05). Conversely a significant correlation was displayed between maximal dominant barefoot knee force and relative maximal inflammation post exercise (IL-1β: Pearson Coefficient = 0.99, p<0.005, IL-10: Pearson Coefficient = 0.91, p<0.05, MCP-1: Pearson Coefficient = 0.89, p<0.05), suggesting increased joint forces result in elevations in pro-inflammatory cytokines. Additionally a high correlation was exhibited between both heel:ball (H:B) ratio and pronate:supernate (P:S) ratio with maximal dominant barefoot knee force (H:B; Pearson Coefficient = -0.89, p<0.01, P:S; Pearson Coefficient = -0.83, p<0.05) and with relative maximal inflammation post exercise (IL-1β: Pearson Coefficient = 0.96, p<0.001, IL-10: Pearson Coefficient = 0.90, p<0.005, MCP-1: Pearson Coefficient = 0.86, p<0.05), suggesting a increased heel strike gait, and increased pronation, both result in an increased joint force, and increased inflammation. These data suggests that whilst it is clear footwear has an effect on joint forces, further investigation is needed into footwear. Additionally, it was concluded that a heel-strike, pronated gait is optimal for maximal joint force output, however it also increases the risk of OA development by increasing inflammation.