The New Balance MT101, which is my hands down, GO TO trail running shoe of ANY distance, still holds the number two spot on my favorite running shoes of all time. (Second to the Newton Gravity)
Now, Brooks is introducing a more minimal "Pure Running" inspired shoe line called the Pure Project. I'm super excited about this for multiple reasons. It's always great to have plenty of options, and New Balance has pretty much been my only option for the past few years when it comes to minimal distance trail running. If I had one complaint about the MT101 it would be that it has pretty much ZERO cushion. While I'm not concerned about cushion (obviously running 100 miles in them) I don't mind having something a bit softer to land on every once in awhile!
That's where the Brooks Pure Grit comes into the picture! Everything I've heard about this shoe sounds too good to be true so far. What excites me the most about this shoe is that it has an advertised drop of 4mm (15mm-11mm), but still has PLENTY of cushioning. Looking at the pictures, it looks more like the Hoka "Joka" One, than it does the MT101.
I'm thinking this will be a terrific shoe for courses like Rocky Raccoon, or the Arkansas Traveller where there's minimal elevation gain for the most part and you're on lots of jeep roads/four wheeler track. (Arkansas having A LOT more jeep roads (and elevation gain) than RR)
The outsole looks similiar to what I've seen with I-nov8 shoes, which I've read can wear pretty quickly. Once I get a chance to run in a pair of these I'll report back with my findings.
The Pure Grit weighs in at 8.9oz. This would be my heaviest shoe by a few ounces, but I think I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of weight for some more cushion. I'm excited to get my hands on a pair of these and I'm hoping to within the next few weeks. As always, I'm a bit behind the curve, but regardless, I give an unbiased review and will always tell it how it is!
If you've gotten your feet in a pair of these let me know what you think! How did they size? How is the outsole holding up?
Alright, I've gotta get out of here. Wanted to let everyone know that the 100 miler recovery is going well. I did my first run last Thursday (just a few miles), then started back full time this Monday. Looks like I'll only be logging around 30-40 miles, but it feels good to be moving again. There's only so many bags of potato chips and cookies I can eat :)
I leave you with a killer 80's dance mix. I can't help but jam to this bad boy on a regular basis.
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