The North Face: Arnuva 50 Boa Running Shoe

Dean Karnazes used this to ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days last year using this shoes. After which He continued his journey from east Coast New York back home in West Coast San Francisco but he stopped after hundreds of miles. And now, the shoes: Arnuva 50 BOA is here right in Singapore's Running labs/Outdoor life at Novena Velocity. Here is the video intro by altrec: This is an interesting running shoes. Making use of BOA technology, no shoes laces required and adjustment is done on the fly. This shoes is made to be used not only in the trail but also on roads for ultramarathon distances. I am quite free after lunch today so i took this chance to went down and take a look at it...below is my SR: I was very excited abt this shoes when i first heard about it last yr before Dean Karnazes's endurance 50 attempt....i thought hey, maybe an all rounded shoes is here on earth finally...unfortunately, The North Face is not available in singapore... few months later, i came to hear about RL going to bring in The North Face products including this shoes in March...so i waited and finally it came. I dropped by RL at Novena Velocity just to take a peep at it.....honestly, all these while, something abt this shoes have been bothering me: The Weight!! Although pple keep saying that "A picture tells a thousand words" but THE WEIGHT cannot be tell in the picture! i picked the shoes up from the rack...SURPRISED!! it was so LIGHT for a trail to be shoes....there are 2 column of North Face trail running shoes and Arunva 50 BOA has one of the heaviest look....in fact the lightest look is Arunva 50 (without BOA)....still cann believe, i started to pick up other NF shoes...none is lighter than this....then i tried the New balance trails nearby, still this is the LIGHTEST!!! A gentleman came over and started to tell me about this shoes...damn, say no use....i asked him to bring me a pair of US12....he agreed and went to get a pair...came and told me this is the largest size they have. I put on the shoes easily and quick due to the effective BOA system which was using surgical steel wire..(btw timberland shoes also have BOA but not for running)...i turn and turn until cannot turn...i stood up and walk..wow...it was so light and the cushioning is good...not too cushy and not too hard.... The gentleman led me to the treadmill and i started to jog on it....the feeling is...EMPTY in the air, the forefoot cushioning is superb(btw, i dun land on heel).but i tried the heel cushioning and it was good as well(maybe a heel striker can try and feedback)..and it felt like there was no shoes when my feet is in the air and only felt it when my feet landed and the landing is very comfy and stable....at first, i thought the shoes is too loose but is not...it is the material and the make that made i feelingless!! i felt like running on the threadmill for another shiok 10 more minutes, but so paisey with the gentleman standing beside me waiting for me, i stopped the machine after about 2-3min... i relundantly took off the shoes and walked out of the shop and think about this shoes till i was writing this.... Finally, a shoes suitable for both road and trail running as Dean Karnazes has proven in this 50 marathons in 50 days on both road and trail marathons.... The breathability and drainage is very suitable for local trails like MR....... Another point to note is the width, the shoes is actually wide enough for asian feet...my feet is quite big and wide and i dun feel squeezed in this shoes....unlike when i first tried my salomon XA pro 3D, it was actually quite narrow, i need some runs to loosen the fit.......honestly, this is the first shoes that fit nicely when i first tried on without complaint. for those who pronates, i think it is not a problem, although this look like a cushioned shoes but it is meant for trail running.....one important aspect of a trail running shoes is to provide support and control pronation and supination on uneven trail surface, anway, have you heard of a motion control trail runners? no right? so i believe this shoes definitely built for that.... With the price of $249, i thought this is a good buy....becos this is equal to a trail + road shoes...example, if u buy a kayano + eagle trail is about > 160% of the price of arnuva 50 BOA and one thing i can assure is the weight of this shoes is definitely much light than eagle trail and slightly lighter than kayano... If my Salomon XA Pro 3D breaks down at the end of this year, this is probably the shoes i will be getting...for now, i probably go down RL run more often to admire it first. OK, enough of long story and i know i wrote a lot, probably my longest posting in this forum for the past 22months even since i joined this forum... i dun sell shoes and North face din paid me to say so many good words but i do wish they paid me for this...heeeee but my take for this is HIGHLY RECOMMENDATED I checkout some US online sites, wow! is about 20-25% cheaper if i get it in the states: Zappos.com, amazon.com. I think including frieght, the total cost is still cheaper than buying locally....hmmmmmmmm

Warning: Buying a running shoes is very subjective, the above is my personal opinions and does not represent any shoes, company or sgrunners...the best way to see whether this suit you is to go down personally and try it on with your own feet!