unironedman

Me? A shill for the corporate gods of marketing war and the big machine of global free-market capitalism? Never! Unless, of course, there’s a pandemic on, and all my runners are literally falling apart at the seams, and the shops are closed. In which case, yes; maybe…

And as someone adroitly pointed out, you can’t really avoid the big boys if you want a pair of runners. Sure, each player makes a virtue of some feature or another. The shoes that were delivered to me today contain 50% recycled material somewhere in their makeup. Primegreen, they call it. Well, I suppose it would have a name like that, as opposed to ‘recycled shit’ or some other equally unappetising moniker.

Anyway, I bought new shoes. Despite all my rantings about never shopping for new shoes again online. But lockdown is upon us again, and needs must. My other runners are coming apart by the day. One of my favourite runners in times past were the Adidas Energy Boost 2s, which had soles made of what looked like polystyrene. On the basis that they are still working fine, I guess they are made of sterner stuff.

In any case, after a detour to Saucony-land (I shall return; I like the cut of their jib), I wondered if Adidas were still making something like the Energy Boost, and indeed they are.

They are called Supernova and you can find out all about them here. Some sites label them Supernova Boost as a nod towards their lineage.

They don’t have quite the same feel as my old pair (which I still wear for short, fast runs like parkrun or triathlon). They are aimed at a mid-range market, which is to say, folks who like to run, but perhaps also like to go to the gym and perhaps look good doing it. That’s not to say they are a fashion shoe; they are squarely aimed at runners, but unlike some of the big hitters in the market, they don’t have the same kudos, nor carry the same price tag; these cost about 75 euro plus delivery (which was only about 7 euro from the UK, which was for a courier), so they were worth a punt.

They also came in 8.5 which I always try first if that’s available. The fit is narrow enough, but there’s room in the toe box, and the upper mesh (which is a little huggy) should mean a nice snug fit. I’ll give them a try-out tomorrow and report back at some stage, no doubt.

Worse-case scenario, I get a year out of them, and have a chance to save for something tasty from Saucony. Time will tell.