when i received a pair of the Skechers GOrun ride 3 from Skechers Performance Canada i was thankful even though it would not have been the style that i would have selected for myself. it looked bulkier than most of my other shoes (even my GOrun ultras!) and felt a little heavier than i would have liked ... so it initally kind of fell into a no-man's land for me in terms of perceived usability.
my first run in the GRR3 was a wednesday night progression run with the Barrie RoadRunners and they performed admirably well - decent cushion without being marshmallowy-soft, and light enough to let me drop down to a spry 4:03/km pace for the final two of 10 kms. i was sufficiently impressed - not to say that they weren't going to become a part of my shoe rotation anyway(!).
here's the lowdown:
- fit - the GRR3s immediately felt plush (especially at the heel collar and tongue) - almost too much so for my liking, as it gave me the impression of too much shoe. but the roomy forefoot (with supple mesh atop the toebox) scores big points in my books, and there were no pressure or friction points from the uppers.
- stack/drop - at a measured 17mm heel, 19mm midfoot and 13 mm forefoot this shoe is designated a 4mm drop shoe - decent as a transition to minimalist footwear option. they come with an insole for another 4mm (total 8mm) drop, but i opted to toss in some old insoles from a pair of saucony kinvaras that would provide a decent, non-sloppy fit without adding any drop. as for being able to get in a decent forefoot strike, the GRR3s perform no problem, and though they measure out to have a 'rockered' outsole profile it was not discernible even when standing still.
- weight - for what is to my eye a substantial looking shoe there's no question that these kicks are lightweights. the official stat is 8.4oz for a men's size 9, and my good ol' starfrit kitchen scale shows them in just hovering around 8oz.
- grip - i don't normally include this as a review criteria/feature, but one of the things that i've found with the GRR3 is that they are every bit as nimble on easy-to-moderately technical trails as they are on the asphalt. in fact i do like to have them when navigating through the local forest as the seemingly wider base provides me with ample stability while the outsole design offers sufficient traction even across damp sand/mud.
check out the video review on YouTube:
don't get me wrong - this is a very solid shoe. it just suffers from the odd-man-out syndrome in my shoe closet. still garners four out of five footprints from me.
*** disclaimer: i was provided with the GORun Ride 3 by Skechers Performance Division (Canada) but was not obligated to provide a positive review. all opinions - however poorly expressed - are my own.
