Brooks Ghost 5 review

Rest day on the schedule today

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About a month ago, Brooks was kind enough to send me a pair of their Ghost 5 shoes for review.  Here's what they sent:

The Brooks Ghost 5

I chose the blue/white color mainly because I have a pair of bright yellow shoes so I thought I would go with a more traditional look.  It's nice to have a pair of shoes that are not crazy colors although I do like crazy colors for running shoes.  First impression right out of the box is that I like the look of these shoes.  They have a great style to them.  Of course, I did not pick them for style and, really, as long as I love them for comfort, I wouldn't care what they look like but its a bonus these look nice.

I've had an opportunity to run in these about 25 miles.  As with most of the shoes I've worn in the past, I can pretty much tell with the first run whether I'm going to like them or not.  To be honest, I've not had a huge amount of luck with Brooks running shoes in the past.  I've worn the old Brooks Ghost 2's and the Adrenline's as well and frankly was not that impressed with them.  Not that they were uncomfortable but I just did not see myself running many long runs in them and never really got that comfortable with them, however.......

The latest pair of Ghost 5's have restored my faith in the shoe company.  I know that many of you have loved your Brooks shoes for many years but I must have been on the outside of that opinion.  These shoes, however, are very comfortable and I'm happy to report that it's a shoe I would recommend.  There's basically a few things that I look for, for myself, when getting a new pair of shoes:

1. I like a shoe that wraps around my foot well
2. I like a shoe that keeps my heel in place
3. I like a wide toe box
4. I like cushioning

The Ghost shoe wraps well around my foot and keeps my foot in place.  There nothing worse than your foot moving around in a shoe and this one does a great job in keeping your foot in place.  While I like this, I didn't like the way the shoes are tied.  As with many shoes, there is a place for the lace to go through on the tongue of the shoe.  I understand the need for this so it keeps the tongue in place but on the Ghost 5, there are two of these.  I'm not sure I understand the need for two and it make it tougher to tie/untie the shoe.  Of course, the real key here is comfort and this has it!

Two loops for the tongue? Not for me.

One of the worst things for me in a running shoe is a heel that moves around.  The shoe is made well when it comes to this.  I feel like my foot is planted well in the shoe and it does not move around.  It helps make me forget I even have shoes on and makes for a very comfortable fit.  I also like that the heel is a bit higher(or at least it seems so to me) on my foot.  The old Ghost to me always felt like the shoes were low in the heel which made them feel like they were not on all the way.  These are completely different and my foot, especially my heel, feels great in these.

Heel feels comfortable

I also must have room in the toe box.  All the shoes I've run in from Brooks have always had a nice roomy toe box.  I want the feeling that my toes can move around in them and these have that even in this traditional 12mm drop shoe.

Nice roomy toe box

The cushioning on the Ghost 5 feels great.  It's not too pillowy but it also does not feel really hard on my feet either.  I tend to run 85% of my running on concrete and asphalt so the cushioning features are really important to me and my legs.  Ha!  I've not had any issues at all and the comfort continues to be there when running on these hard surfaces even for long runs.  I also feel the shoes worked equally well on the trails although I don't run on too many technical trails.  Most would probably be better suited for a trail shoes if you run the trails mostly.

Tread for hard and soft surfaces worked equally well

I'm happy to report that the brand is back on my list of recommended shoes and I'm excited to have another brand option as I look for new shoes to wear this coming season.  In fact, based on all I've heard from others, I'd be excited to even try their line of Pureproject shoes that they had out for the last couple years.  It seems they have been on the cutting edge of shoe technology and I'm happy to be part of their years of knowledge once again.

Interested in learning more?

Go to their website, HERE.

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Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!

* Note - I received a $100 brooks voucher for running shoes in exchange for this review.  All opinions on this blog post are my own and I was not paid or required to give a particular opinion on the product.