On the first run of four miles they seemed awesome. They are indeed crazy light and cushy, and definitely encourage a mid/forefoot strike. Man, they're light!
Unfortunately, tacking on just one more mile on the next run was all it took to make me realize....Yow, that arch is really high! That fifth mile was pretty uncomfortable, and my feet were sore through the next day. I don't know what it is about a high arch that really stresses out feet that are *not* high-arched, but man! I was hoping to use these for up to 10 miles at least. :( So, with a heavy sigh, I had to return them.
I also agree with those who noted how narrow these are. I'm a woman but had to get the men's Connects in order to avoid pinching my forefoot. That surprised me; I figured Brooks' sizing was consistent across all their models. Silly me!
Having said all this: I believe these are truly AWESOME shoes for folks with high arches and somewhat narrow feet. I wanted so much for them to work, darn it, 'cause they felt great just trying them on and walking around, and were fine for a very short run. I would just caution anyone with lower arches to be wary. I also found that I could somewhat feel the cool/funky cutouts in the sole on the ball of the foot. I only did the two runs in them, but I was getting a little of that sort of nerve tingle in my toes that indicates weird pressure points underfoot. It's entirely possible that, at 6' tall and 160 lbs, I'm really just too heavy a runner for these shoes. Damn!
So: If you're a not-too-heavy runner with relatively narrow feet and relatively high arches, I think you will LOVE these!
If you're relatively heavy with average width feet and not-very-high arches, you may want to scope out another option.
Happy Running!
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My husband is a committed long-distance runner so we've gone through tons of shoes over the years. One of his favorite minimalist shoes for both training and racing (marathons and half-marathons) was the Brooks Green Silence. With news of the discontinuation of the Green Silence, we'd bought up a number of pairs but have unfortunately run through our stock and no more can be found in his size.He decided to try these PureConnect shoes as a replacement. Like the Green Silence, this shoe is extremely lightweight but with more support and durability than a racing flat.
This isn't the shoe to choose as a walking shoe. It's designed for running with a lower heel level that encourages a somewhat cushioned forefoot landing. Overall, the shoe appears to be well-constructed as well as being lightweight and flexible. While my husband liked the PureConnect shoes "okay," he wasn't impressed with them enough to buy a second pair.
My husband usually hopes to get 300-400 miles from each pair of training shoes but these shoes didn't last as long as most of his others. The Brooks website indicates that you can expect them to last 250-300 miles. I don't believe he got quite 250 out of them.
They do run a bit small so you may want to order a half-size to a full-size up.
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