Nu shooz: Brooks Ghost 3

The soles of my second pair of Defyance 2’s have been ground down to almost nothing by East IC’s rough concrete sidewalks, so it was time to bid them (my favorite thus far) adieu and splurge on some nu shooz, my first since returning to Iowa.

A Snail’s Pace had me covered during my time in SoCal, and I appreciate all the help they gave me. However, missing them will be tough with the excellent service I received yesterday at Running Wild.

If you need running shoes in the IC/Coralville/North Liberty area, go to Running Wild. I bought shorts there during my last winter vacation (to run inside the UI Rec Building, that is), but the experience was nothing like buying my new pair of Brooks Ghost 3’s.

The service was great, but the knowledge of the staff was what impressed me most. The guy who helped me asked if I had ever been fitted at a running specific store and what shoes I was running in. I gave him a very short version of my Defyance 2 love story and problems with the Defyance 3. He immediately empathized, offering technical details about the Defyance 3 that probably attributed to my bad experience; he said Running Wild was “moving away” from the Defyance 3 for those reasons and recommending the Ghost 3.

He brought a pair of Ghost 3’s from the back and I jogged up and down the little sidewalk in front of the building. (Unlike the staff at A Snail’s Pace, he did not put the shoes on my feet and tie them for me.) They felt great, but I wanted to see what else he recommended. Back inside the store, my helper had a pair of Adidas waiting for me. The Adidas were somewhat similar, he said, and asked me to do a side-by-side comparison with the Brooks on one foot and the Adidas on the other. The Brooks were far superior. Since my first pair of Defyance 2’s, I have become a Brooks snob. Their shoes are not any more expensive than the competition, but they are much lighter. By comparison, the Adidas shoe was like a clog. Plus, I could feel a slight rise at the heel. Not cool. I must have very low arches, which is likely another reason why Brooks shoes agree with me. I also tried a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider’s, but immediately decided against them after feeling a raised arch.

Last night was my first “run with the Ghost,” which is very fitting for October. (The Brooks website says, “The new Ghost 3 is a thriller — day or night.”) So far so good. Frankly, given my bad experience with the Defyance 3, I was a little leery of buying a different pair. However, my Ghost 3’s will hopefully, and ironically, put my fears to rest.