I think the issue is that as a sport, what running is has never been that clearly defined.
Even if we don’t go to the length of running without shoes, enforcing a single shoe model, with something as close as possible to bare 5 finger socks could have been a choice made a long time ago. But it didn’t happen, so why would we be now crying over shoes that do a little too much ?
Because it does a little too much perhaps? Or not specifically that, but that these shoes have highlighted that the gear provides a distinct advantage (much as those advanced swimsuits did a few years ago). Most sports are well past the point of pure athleticism anyway, they're all somewhere on the scale of corporate entertainment now, as highted by the higher comment asking what would happen without sponsorship, as though just wanting to run for its competitive enjoyment is unviable...
Even if we don’t go to the length of running without shoes, enforcing a single shoe model, with something as close as possible to bare 5 finger socks could have been a choice made a long time ago. But it didn’t happen, so why would we be now crying over shoes that do a little too much ?