I will just start with the disclaimer that this entire post is my venting (re: BITCHING) about the fact that there is a particular type of shoe that I like to wear and I can’t get it anymore and the world is ending and everything sucks. So if you are the type of runner or hiker or family member or friend (I doubt anyone else is here reading) who dislikes people who complain about banal shit, stop reading now!
And yes, I know how hypocritical that is, because if I were reading my own post I would probably stop reading.
If it’s not broke, don’t fix it
I am a woman of routine. I have been running in minimal shoes since my sophomore year of college, which is also when I started running casually. I remember the first pair I bought, custom-made Nike frees that I designed out of boredom while at my office job one day. They were hunter green with hot pink lining, navy laces (yeah, ew), and my name vertically written— “TERESA” across my Achilles spine. They were fresh to death and I originally bought them so I could look cool while coaching soccer but then I started really running and trained for half marathons and marathons in them. My next few pairs of road shoes were Nike frees also, because they were cheap, accessible, and I once received a pair as a gift from an ex’s mom!
My first trail shoes were a large jump in the minimal shoe scene—New Balance WT00s (go Big.. er.. Small or go home, right?) I bought them in 2012, and I immediately felt legit. This is right when I started running trails a lot, partially because trail running is better than roads but partially because I like wearing fly kicks. From then on, it was nothing but New Balance, for both road and trail. I flirted with a few different road pairs, but settled on a huge love for the WR10 and WR00—a couple of the most minimal shoes on the market. I ran my first marathon in the old WR00s and my second marathon in WR10s. No, I don’t have foot and knee pain. I made a full transition to minimal shoes and my calves are made of goddamn iron.
On the trail scene, I picked up a pair of WT110s that looked like this:
I don’t know if I can fully express how much I love this shoe in a paragraph, so instead, I will express it in a poem.
These pink and yellow shoes are sweet,
I like to wear them on my feet,
I feel the ground with every step,
Training in these is good race prep,
Sure the midsole wasn’t ace,
And sometimes I fall flat on my face,
But the foot and toe feel is fantastic,
So overall I’m enthusiastic!
Okay, enough of that. Let me just sum up what has worked for me for the past few years by their NB given names and my own homemade monikers:
- WR10 (Gurus)
- WR00 (Roadies)– not clever I know
- WT10 (Cannons)
- WT110 (Traildozers)
New Balance: A dream killer
Let’s start with the WR10 shall we? This bad boy right here:
Do you know where you can buy it now? eBay. That’s about it. Unless your feet are dwarf or giant sized, don’t expect all the usual NB sources to carry this. You wanna know why? New Balance discontinued it. Buncha jerks!
Alright, there was still that other road pair I loved, right?
My plan so far has been to wear the WR00s for everything and don’t get me wrong. I love those shoes a lot. I must have around 500 miles on those shoes and should consider replacing them. My problem is that, they are not really ideal for long road runs. I can crank for 10-13 miles in them before the minimal design and impact on the ground gets annoying. I don’t run a ton on the roads at the moment so it’s not a pressing issue, but if I do want to run another road marathon, it would be nice to know I have my preferred shoe available (WR10) which I don’t!
WT(f)110: what is this JAWN?
Let’s talk trails.
I loved the WT110 so much that when I heard they were being discontinued, I did what everyone would’ve done and bought the last 5 pairs in my size from Joe’s New Balance Outlet online. I felt secure in this purchase, knowing that I was set for a while. Well, like all good things, my time has run out. I am down to my last pair.
When I assessed this final pair this morning before going out on trails, I saw that they were frozen solid and peeling away from the sole. I’m not at all bashing NB quality, I beat those shoes up! They have lasted me for 2 full ultras and 30 miles out of a 50 mile race. They have put in the time and are ready for a long retirement. But New Balance has since killed my dreams at owning this shoe again. They have apparently revamped a version of the 110s that is NOT the version I want. I bought them on a whim (and at a discount) anyway to give them a try. This is what came in the mail:
On first try on I thought they were snug. That is apparently the fit they are going for. I took them on a 10 mile run with 4 climbs (~3000ft elevation change), and was outright angry. The narrow toebox was like a knife on my feet for every descent. I stopped and untied them and tried that. I even took them off for a bit just for some relief. It was unbearable! The new WT110 is just not the same and not for me. So what is the solution?
TOPO Athletic: A charming white knight… with weak ankles.
I have been transitioning to a new shoe for longer road runs and now for trails and have found a (temporary?) solution.
Topo Athletic, with a corporate location ~2 miles from my house in Newton, MA, is a new player to the running/trail shoe game. The CEO Tony Post (To-Po, get it?) was the big man at Vibram for 11 years before deciding to work on perfecting the running shoe, by putting those strong soles onto a shoe with a wide toebox. Voila! Topo shoes present just that model. It’s simple, it’s minimal, and it’s effective.
My first Topo shoes were the Runventure trail shoes, courtesy of Ryan. I’ve talked about them before so I won’t go back into it, but I’ve also enjoyed running in the MT2 trail shoes and the Tribute road shoes. I have a few concerns but they are mostly user error as far as I can tell.
I love the Runventures, but goddamn if playing competitive soccer for so many years has left my ankles without much left in them. Even though the Runventure stack is low/medium, compared to my glorious favorite 110s it feels high, so high and I keep turning my ankles even more! It’s a small price overall, because the wide toebox is clutch and for longer races when my feet swell it provides room to accommodate that. Furthermore, there is a bit more padding than in the 110s and the stack is higher mostly because of the rock plate. I love the shoes, I just need more practice in then and maybe to keep my eyes glued to the ground for rocks more.
So now what?
I don’t know really, but I’m not the world’s richest mediocre ultra-runner so I can’t just go buy shoes and try everything on all the time. I’m pretty disappointed with the new 110s and that now I just have this muddy pair of 110s lying around in my shoe pile.
I’m open to suggestions and have been curious about Altra, since I know they have a similar feel and form to Topo. I also might invest in the new WT10s but they were recently revamped as well and I will be damned if I pay over $80 for a new shoe that I don’t have a full 100% confidence in. Oh well, I don’t really have a strong conclusion to this post so I think I will just end with a photo of Jeremy and I after a run and this poem about shoes:
There once was a runner named Tess,
Whose love for some shoes she’ll profess,
But when her 110’s were a no-go,
She opted for Topo,
And now her ankles convalesce.
Like a trail running Cinderella, I await the glass slipper.
48 peaks 