I recently had the joy of purchasing the Brooks Cascadia 5 trail shoe. And by joy, I mean outta sight pleasure!
This shoe was in-part designed by ultra champ and all-around nice fella Scott Jurek, and he and the folks at Brooks did a bang-up job.
The Good: Where to start? The way this shoe naturally conformed to my foot made me feel as though I was running barefoot (a current trend in running that I have a multitude of opinions on - I won't get into it here), yet provided a ton of support. My pal Gary and I hit a rocky trail for a quick 15 on Monday for my first spin in them, and I was impressed: Excellent traction and none of the "constrained" feeling of wearing footwear. My foot moved freely and easily, and the couple of times I dinged my toe on a rock, I felt no pain...only shame.
The Bad: On the inside sole of the shoe, Brooks put the route for the Western States 100 miler. It only served to get me itching for my trip in June down to Auburn for the race (no, I'm not running it - more on that later). AND, they put Jurek's record-breaking time for the race (15 hours, 39 minutes) down there too. As Ann said, "It's to remind you that you'll never be as fast as him!"
I kid about the bad. I can't imagine a better shoe for me.
Save for one that can get me to break 16 hours in a 100.
