Brooks Cascadia (Men’s) – for the Saucony girl in you

Ever since I started running a few years ago, I have been a Saucony girl. For my fairly large flat wide feet, Saucony Guides gave me the perfect balance of comfort, support and stability to carry me through any distance I was ready to tackle. When I decided to venture into trail running for the first time earlier this year, naturally I figured I’d end up in Saucony again, so you can imagine my surprise when I didn’t. After a lot of online research, a lot of trying on shoes, and a lot of talking to the pros at Running Free, I ultimately ended up in a pair of men’s Brooks Cascadia 10 trail runners – and I LOVE them.

I ended up in Cascadias because they had a comparable weight, heel-toe drop and support level to the Guides my feet were used to (see below). I ended up in men’s Cascadias because they gave me the extra width in the toe box that I just couldn’t seem to find in any other shoe.

My first run in these new shoes was 10km. I was a little worried about not easing into them, but there was no need to worry – my feet were instantly comfortable and stayed comfortable I think partly because the heel-toe difference and weight difference were minimal compared to what my feet were used to.

They provided great support and stability over uneven terrain thanks to the 4 point pivot system, and the “ballistic rock shield” provided fantastic protection against all those sharp things that poke out from the ground on trails (which I had been really feeling in my first few trail runs wearing my road-running Guides!). And I really appreciated the extra space in the toe box when I was pounding down hills, which I was able to do with great confidence thanks to the wicked treads on the bottom of these shoes.

As a new trail runner I can’t say how Brooks Cascadias compare to other trail running shoes, but as someone with feet that I find hard to find the perfect shoe for, I can tell you these trail runners made me feel like bad-ass Cinderella. I’ll be venturing over to the men’s wall far more often from now on!