When I first started getting more serious about running and I went to a running store to buy shoes, I remember that the ASICS brand seemed to be what many of my new marathon-crazy friends wore. But when I went through the fit process, a pair of ASICS weren’t even brought out as an option, I tried shoes on,  I left with a different shoe, and I’ve never actually worn ASICS.

Until now… [Disclaimer: I was sent shoes in exchange for my honest review on the site.]

I was given the opportunity to try a new shoe, the Gel Pursue from ASICS, and I decided to give it a go. They didn’t fit the mold of the zero-drop shoes I’ve been running in of late, but they did receive the “Best Debut” honor from Runner’s World magazine in the September 2014 issue and I’m always open to experiment (for you, the sake of my readers!) with running products.

They’re attractive shoes, my 2-year-old was very impressed with the “purple running shoes” that arrived.

In fact, she insisted that we wear our “match shoes” out on a walk together.

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That kid is so damn clever and cute.

Putting the ASICS Gel-Pursue on, I felt taller in them, as if I was wearing heels. That’s probably due to the roughly 9mm heel-to-toe drop. But they also have a nice amount of cushioning to them and they’re SUPER comfortable. I haven’t gotten a lot of running miles in them due to a weird pain in my hip (I’m unwilling to say it’s due to product experimentation, just a circumstance of life.) but I’ve worn these shoes for a lot of walks too and they felt great for that.

Some details:

• They’re pretty lightweight, 8.7 oz for the women’s shoe, 10.6 oz for the men’s version
• Support level good for a wide-range of runners (from a more neutral foot to a mild-moderate pronator)
• They look nice without being overly flashy. My husband HATES all the bright colors all over shoes these days, these would be a good option for someone like that.
• Standard price point for quality running shoes: $110

They’re comfy and well-made running shoes. They may not become my go-to, all-the-time running shoes, it still feels strange to me to have a heel/toe offset after 3ish years in pretty minimal shoes… but I’m also willing to rotate them in to my training cycle and give them a solid try. Or maybe if I ramp up for marathon training, I’ll want to revert back… I’ve never done a marathon in zero-drop! The cushioning definitely felt nice without feeling like a clown shoe and overall I liked these shoes quite a bit.

And remember, if you are running the 2014 NYC Marathon, visit ASICS Mini Marathoner site and get a statue version of yourself running!

One more… Check out the My ASICS website where you can build a training plan for any race distance. It’s kind of cool that you can set a date for a race way in the future and it will help you with a free plan. I think it’s kind of fun to play with, even if I would end up tweaking the schedule anyway. It’s just great to get new ideas.