Women’s kicks have come a long way in recent years, with bold hues winning out over pastel shades. But will the trend in gender neutral fashion soon make its way into the running world?
By: Karen Kwan
Will the Adidas Adizero Boston Boost 5 help a runner hoping to qualify for Boston (me! How ’bout you?) qualify? Rather than a promise of a BQ, its name comes from the fact that a portion of each pair sold goes to the Boston Runs as One fund. I’ve only run twice in them but thus far they are comfortable for me (a bit of background: I overpronate slightly and they’ve felt good with and without socks, no blisters or pain). Plus they feel extra lightweight on (they weigh 190 g for a UK size 5.5) so you feel like you can really fly in them.
They’re slightly less cushiony than I usually prefer but that makes sense given they’re designed for racing and fast training. Plus, they feature Coolever mesh upper and lining, which is designed to manage heat and enhance performance, which will be helpful now that the warm temps have arrived.
And the red (it veers close to a deep fuchsia in tone) with the white and black colourway is great. Fun and cheerful without being overly girly. But the men’s colourway in grey and orange is a cool combo, too. Often men win out with the better colourways, wouldn’t you agree? Women’s runners have come a long way from when there were only the choices of white, baby pink and lavender…but I know when it comes to my personal taste, I often favour the bright, bolder look used for the men’s style of the same shoe. Gender neutral styling seems to have yet affected the running shoe market. It’ll be interesting to see if it does in the next couple of years.
Find Karen Kwan’s weekly running fashion posts every Friday on Instagram. Karen contributes to a number of publications and you can also follow her travel and running adventures at Health & Swellness.
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Title reflects only the last paragraph; the rest of the article looks like it’s trying to be a shoe review.
“Less cushiony” ? Are you transitioning to a more minimalist shoe? That’s very good, but do it in a controlled, gradual way so that your body can adapt.
Who told you that you over-pronate? How much is the “right amount”?
And what is a “colourway”? Sounds like fashion jargon. Or some path the colour drools down when it rains, perhaps.
Last sentence would, I think, better reflect what you are trying to say if it were reworded: “It seems that gender-neutral styling has yet to affect the running shoe market.”
Where is your editor??
I agree with that premise, and also wish that women could have less gendered colours. Would have liked a better article about it.