Run-Down Forums

[Micah Ward]

I bought a pair of Asics Nimbus yesterday and ran 3 miles this morning. Very, very nice. These are the first Asics I have tried and I am impressed with them.

The reason I bring this up is that I was looking around at my last race and noticed the majority of runners were in New Balance or Asics with a small scattering of Saucony and Nike. I do believe that Nike sells the most running shoes of all the manufacturers but they were very under represented at that race. Isolated incident? Or is Nike not as popular with the serious runners?

I ran in Nikes for years but this is the first time I noticed there abscence at a race like that. Any thoughts or info I don't know?

[Dan]

I would have to say isolated incident, unless there's some rapid trend sweeping the running crowd that I'm not privy to... I've seen very vew guys run in Asics, but they're very popular with women. I tried a pair once and thought they were fairly comfortable, but they were completely shot after only 100 miles (common complaint). I hope you have better luck...

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

One thing that I've noticed is that a lot of runners wear other brands of shoes just not to wear Nikes. I'd have to say this is probably more prevailent in the serious road racer community (sort of like the ultra computer geeks that refuse to use Microsoft software) although I can't say that I've ever been at a race where Nikes were in the minority. On a side note, I've been running in a pair of Asics 1060's, they've probably got 300-400 miles on them by now and have held up fine. The shoes that I've had die on me inside of 150 miles have been mainly Adidas.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Hammer]

I've been running for the last 3 weeks in the 1070s (ASICS). Very comfortable and very supportive. I have had bad ASICS but I didn't pay much for them.

I agree with DG. Adidas have beeen the worst running shoes I have owned.

[Paul]

I have 2 pr of Brooks NXT Trance that I use for work. Fairly lightweight for a supportive shoe. I am partial to New Balance because they come in widths. I wear the 827's and 829's. The 829's are soft and tend to wear faster. They are both lightweight cushioned trainers. They 827's are one of the best shoes I have ever worn. They are just stable enough, also, to run well groomed trails (is that an oxymoron ).
I wait until the new season breaks, and then I stock up on last years stuff at up to 50% off. Same with running gear. I have 6 unopened pairs of shoes in my closet.

"Imelda" Paul

[Distance_Guru]

I wish I had that kind of self control. From the time I buy a pair of running shoes to the time they get dirty is less than 3 hours. Of coarse I would also need a raise in my meager coaching stipened before I could afford to buy more than one pair of running shoes at a time.
_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

The Asics I wore were the 123's, which were among their cheaper models. I believe the more expensive ones last longer (and didn't come close to fitting me), but that's still inexcusable in my eyes.

I've always preferred rotating shoes. I figure I'll end up buying just as many over time, so why not have a dry and evenly worn pair or two at all times?

Like Paul, I stocked up toward the end of my college days, amassing a stack of about 6-10 shoe boxes. I then proceeded to get injured and hardly ran over the next couple of years, after which I've been running in free shoes most of the time since... I'll eventually wear out those shoes in my closet, but it may take another 15 years at this rate...

Dan

[graeme]

I've had several pairs of Asics shoes and I found that they would only wear out quickly if I used them for other things (especially basketball). I'm about to replace a pair of Adidas Supernovas because my feet grew out of them before they wore out. And that's after about 9 months of use.

I see a lot of people wearing Nike cross trainers and track spikes, but I think Nike's presence is a little less obvious in running shoes.

[Paul]

Micah, what kind of shoes did you race in?? Dan, DG and Hammer: are you still using ASICS?? Conway, what kind of shoes do you prefer?

Paul

[Dan]

I only wore one pair of Asics and was luke warm on them. Others I've tried (running shoes only):

Reebok (freebies; I think I got took) - awful

Brooks - 3 pairs - the first some clearance model that was 10x worse than the Reeboks above (destroyed my arch and actually shrunk so much after drying from a mud run that I couldn't put them on after only a couple of uses); 2nd pair was the original Radius which was one of my favorite shoes ever (subsequent models pretty much suck), and 3rd was another freebie (Tsunami) that is decent, but wore out surprisingly fast. Overall, pretty good.

Saucony Grid A4+ or something like that. Felt good at first, but gave me quite a few lasting problems. Saucony's concept of traction is nothing short of treacherous.

adidas - one pair, can't remember the model; pretty good, but nothing stood out about them.

Nike - dozens and dozens of different models, the worst of which typically has been better for me than the best from any other brand. I've tried other stuff, but I always come back to the Greek goddess.

Dan

[Conway]

I prefer Adidas ... But then I have never logged a lot of mileage outside of one year of cross country ... Other than that it is more recreational running as opposed to training ... When I train I train on the track and I prefer Adidas there too ... I've al;so tried Mizuno and they aren't bad either ...

[Distance_Guru]

My Asics 1060 have died, but I got about 500 miles out of them. I figure if you get 500 or so out of a pair of shoes you can't complain. Right now I'm running in an old pair of Nike International Triax. I bought them about a year ago but twisted my knee, and had to take 6 weeks off, before I had put more than about 150 miles on them. Since then they've been hiding in the back of my closet. I like them alright. They've got a polyurethaine (sp) midsole that makes them very durable, I generally like that in a shoe when I'm logging big mileage. Right now I'm just finishing them off so I can restock my running shoe supply without the guilt of having a perfectly good pair sitting in storage.
_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

[Micah Ward]

I looked around at the shoes again this week at the race. Nikes were not very well represented again but that may not mean anything this time because the crowd was pretty much the same as the one in the last race. I'm going to keep a watch on shoe brands at the next race and see if this is a trend or an isolated occorance.

[Paul]

Micah, did you use your new pair of Nimbus in the race Saturday?? DG, I've always heard Nikes were on the narrow side. I was taking a hard look at the Triax line but haven't tried any on. Also, how heavy are they??

Paul

[Micah Ward]

Yes I did run is the Nimbus yesterday and they felt great. I like them alot and I don't think durability will be too much of a problem because I change every 300 miles any way.

I had a pair of Tigers (the forerunner of Asics) back in 1979 and liked them too so I will probably stick with this brand for a while.

I have used the Air Max Triax and the Internationalist Triax and liked them too but I switched from the Nikes after having so many injuries and after having some philosophical doubts about the company. The shoes may not have been that much of a factor in the injuries but I made the switch any way.