First of hopefully many gear reviews! I
paid for these shoes with my own hard earned money and am in no way
affiliated with the Asics shoe company. The review is my personal
opinion and if you buy a pair of these shoes, this review may or may
not be consistent with your own experience.
Back into the world of running I go.
So, I needed a pair of shoes. Now there's a huge outlay of cash no
matter what you do. Even with all the info from Born To Run
about how cheap shoes are actually better than the mega high dollar,
pronation control, cyber chip implanted, spring loaded wunderkin
shoes so readily available today I still went online shoe shopping
for a “real” pair of trail shoes. Old habits die hard!
My usual online
favorite for running shoes is Runners Warehouse. They have a large
selection, tend to have good prices, and ship overnight. That last
part is just the little kid in me wanting it NOW! I just plain think
it's cool that I can order from California and get it delivered to me
on the dirt road I live on in West Virginia the next day.
When I
last ran I was generally a fan of Asics so I was psyched when I read
in Runner's World Trail magazine
that Asics had a new light, low drop trail shoe that was highly
reviewed. Being a big boy, most of the time anyway, I know that good
reviews from willowy, lightweight, high level runners don't always
translate to real world Clydesdales like me. I decided to give a pair
of Fuji Gel Racers a go anyway, plus they came in purple which, as we
all know, is the color of royalty. When the royal running shoes came
I anxiously pulled them from the box and had a holy shit kind of
moment. I wear a size 13 or 14 shoe and I gotta say, a size 14 in
purple makes a statement!
Gel Fuji Upper
If you've ever worn a pair of Asics these shoes will feel like old
friends. It has perfectly snug fit in the heel and is fairly roomy in
the toe box. The material is very breathable and drains well in wet
conditions. I sweat a lot and my feet tend to stay moist from sweat
draining down my legs and my feet doing their own impression of a
trickle sprinkler system. The front and sides of the toe box are
coated with a thin layer of plastic to protect the shoe and provide a
slight amount of protection from kicking random rocks along the way.
They also have a cool little pouch at the top of the tongue to hold
your laces after you get them tied up which is a great feature for
the more technical trails so the laces don't catch on sticks and
brush as I run by.
Gel Fuji Midsole
The
Gel Fuji has very minimal cushioning with a forefoot rock plate but
the amount of cushioning seem minimal on moderately rocky trails.
They don't provide a tremendous amount of stabilization and can feel
a little loose when it comes to technical trails.
Gel Fuji Sole
The
lugs on the sole do a great job of gripping the trail and the shoe
rides very well in all conditions. The purple insets in the sole help
to drain, aerate, and dry the shoe. A great feature given my swamp
foot condition. On the flip side in very wet conditions or standing
water they can also let water in. The heel to toe drop is 6mm giving
the shoe a fairly flat feel.
Nitty Gritty
Even
though the sole can feel a little thin on rocky trails I really like
this shoe as I always have with the Asics line. They are extremely
comfortable in all the conditions I wore them in are and are very
durable. They don't have any apparent wear and other than being a
little dirty. The sole looks like new even after 100 miles.
I
don't run any significant distance at this point so I can't truly
report on the Gel Fujis ability to endure epic distances. The longest
run I've done it these is 10 miles so take that into account if
you're considering a pair of Gel Fujis, but that aside I would
definitely buy another pair of these for shorter training runs. I
mean, when you find a comfortable, durable pair of shoes that come in
purple you just gotta jump on it, right?
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