Skip to main content

Fresh Foam 980 Review (and Event at New Balance Chicago)

Head's up: there's an event at New Balance Chicago Lincoln Park on Saturday morning featuring a showcase of the new New Balance Fresh Foam 980s and it sounds pretty sweet (especially because of the free food and chance to win free shoes). I've been testing these shoes out since Friday (all inside, like the treadmill runner that this winter has made me become) and I have to say that I'm pretty into them.

There's all kinds of scientific stuff that the folks at New Balance can tell you about this shoe (with plenty of marketing language mixed in as well, obviously) and you can learn even more by trying them out for yourself after a quick run Saturday morning during New Balance Chicago's event (they're also offering 15% off on these during the event). If you're interested in getting more info on these shoes you should definitely look into both of those things, but I'm still going to give you my opinion (based on no scientific inquiry at all) and you can take it for what it's worth.

The first thing to note about these shoes is how bright they are - at least the pair I have (pictured above, along with my super-white ankles). They're bright blue with neon orange and yellow trim. I'm not typically a huge fan of bright shoes like this but the color scheme here works well and is bright and noticeable without feeling garish. I think it's the dark blue that manages to rein in the neon colors. Whatever it is, I like it, even though I'm typically more of a plain-color running shoe person.

The second thing is how comfortable they are. I know that's the main selling point here (they're called Fresh FOAM obviously) but it's still pretty noticeable. Maybe it's because I've been running in fairly minimalist shoes lately (the Nike Free 3.0 - I know I'm behind the times with the Frees) but the cushion here feels great without feeling like it's changing my gait at all. Additionally, unless you choose to tie these all the way up (which you certainly could, for more ankle support) there's plenty of freedom around the ankles, which I also like. These slip on and mold around my feet without feeling confined (I also like to be able to slip shoes on and off easily, so being able to tie these up without hitting those last two higher shoelace holes is a plus for me).

The only question I have is regarding the tread on the bottom of the shoe - it's a cool-looking pattern but doesn't seem like it would provide much traction on an even remotely slippery surface - I guess we'll find this out once runners hit the Lakefront Trail in them.

So far the farthest I've run in these is a 10K (all inside, as I said) but they feel great and look great so I'm looking forward to getting some more runs in on these (especially once I hear more about what snowy/icy running is like in them).
Labels:

Comments

  1. Lincoln ParkFebruary 11, 2014 at 5:56 PM

    The tracking on the bottom of the shoe is amazing and grips very well. I have done over 50 miles in this shoe all outside. I have had no problem running and gripping the ground on the streets and the lake shore path.

    Bryan from the LP store

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The JudgeFebruary 11, 2014 at 6:52 PM

      Nice - thanks for the info. Looking forward to trying them outside myself!

      Delete
  2. Maggie WFebruary 13, 2014 at 9:01 AM

    I'm diggin these shoes so far. Even outdoors! :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 7 Chicago Race Shirts (and a Hat) of 2012

Remember when race shirts were pretty much guaranteed to be over-sized white cotton, seemingly designed so that you could wear them once (if you really wanted to show that you ran the race) and then probably never again? One side had the race logo and the other had about 20 sponsors. And the long-sleeve ones had little cuffs at the wrists to make sure you got that nice puffed sleeve look that no one has ever asked for. These days it seems like almost every race is giving out running shirts rather than old-school cotton, and mostly I'm thankful for this change because it seems like they spend more time picking an appropriate color and working on a legitimate design rather than just slapping their logo onto some cotton for you (although I did get a few race shirts this year that went with that style... surprisingly enough, those shirts aren't in my closet anymore). Anyway, pretty much every race includes a shirt. Some are awesome, some are terrible and some are just... shirt...
12 comments
Read more

Winning a 5K and Being "That Guy" - P.A.A.W.R. to Empower 5K in pictures

Some organizations are not quite ready to organize 5Ks. And Pan-African Association (a group that provides "services and programs that benefit refugee and immigrant individuals and families") is one of those organizations. They have a great group of volunteers, an ideal location for a race and plenty of other well-organized family activities around the race (including dance lessons, kid's races, etc.). And though this was the second annual P.A.A.W.R. to Empower 5K (Pan-African Association Walk & Run to Empower Refugees and Immigrants), there was very little in the sense of "organization" around the 5K, which was scheduled to start at 10:30 (see schedule below) but didn't get going until 11:10. (seriously? 40 minute delay? yes, seriously). The "official" race schedule But before I start describing the bad parts of this event and sound like the Type-A runner that I am, I'd like to talk about all the good stuff. And there's plenty...
7 comments
Read more

Warrior Dash or It's Not Always About Speed

My parents were in town this weekend from Texas. We rented an I-GO (actually, even better than that, I won the WEGO 10 monthly competition for 10 free hours with an I-GO, which was very sweet) and drove out to Channahon, Illinois for the Warrior Dash . This was my first "mud run" and I was pretty excited about it, because I've been creating an image of the mud run in my mind as a pseudo-hardcore fun run. I would say that I still feel that after running it, but I think now I see it as intentionally not hardcore. They're asking people to have fun, not to kill themselves. My full review is up at Newcity - I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected, but most of that was just based on seeing it in a different way. This isn't really a run for runners. It's a run that tricks non-runners into thinking running is fun. More on that later (like several weeks from now later, not like later in this blog post). Anyway, I ran with Brynn, and we made sur...
6 comments
Read more