New Balance 610 V2 Shoe Review

So these shoes are pretty good, but it depends where you are running. I like them, they are light, and very much minimalist style. The toe box is slightly smaller than the usual larger toe box, but still comfortable, and not narrow, more of a middle ground for the width.

I have run through several trails with these shoes, they are comfortable, and flexible, but it comes at a price. With the minimalist style, it does not leave much room for padding, something i need to get used to. i have mixed feeling on the styleI like that they weigh nothing, and that there isn't anything "slowing" you down, i feel fast in them, but i feel like my calfs get more easily sore, or maybe I need to stretch out my clafs better post run. I have run in them at blue hills, and fels reservation, both trails did fine. I do not know how well they would do for a longer  unless you are used to minimalist style and prefer that. I noticed good grip going down hill, confident steps, regardless of the speed.
      

I wore these at FIT challenge, and no issues with grip on walls or on the ropes ( I use the J hook technique)The drain ok, no fancy drainage system, but if you keep moving you will be fine (and if you are trying to save some money, these are a good alternative to the Reebok Thunder but they do not have the fancy drainage system)

I picked them these shoes up at the new balance factory outlet, I like shopping there the people are nice, and know more about shoes than I do (which is not all that hard btw) So these shoes are good solid shoes, and will do fine on the trails, but will probably hold onto the mud in an ocr, (or muddy trail) and I think I payed around $60 so these shoes are well worth the price, and will be tearing up blue hills and local parks through this year



Until next time
Keep training
Stephen

Update, after my last race (bouldr dash) these shoes did this 

New balance 411 all terrain product review

This year almost every single race i ran, i ran 2 laps at every ocr, (11 races, mostly spartans, mostly 5 mile max per lap) these shoes are awesome! They started at F.I.T. Challenge in april, all the way through panic in the dark in October. These shoes (with darn tough wool socks) have been incredibly comfortable all year! The grip on these are good, i had no issue with grip on any of the trails, rocks, ropes, walls or anything in between. You can also see that there is still plenty of tread on the bottom, the shoes are still in good order just dirty from racing. These shoes are great quality, no tearing or any issues, they are regular trail runners so drainage is not great, but the material is breathable so you can still run an ocr in the with no real worry. You can find them for around 50 bucks and they are great, they have enough cushioning in there that all the jumping around on the trails does not kill your feet, and trust me (the random guy you may have not met) i put some damage on these shoes, i can land hard off the top of a wall, or jumping rock to rock. And i did not track the mileage on these shoes but they lasted the 6 months and they were still in good shape at the end of the life span of the shoes. So if you are like me and do not have a huge shoe budget, and want a quality shoe these are a good choice! (I spend my money on the races i can not volunteer for) 

Bottom line if you want a good trail runner on a budget these shoes are a great choice