My first pair of running shoes was purchased in the summer of 1981. My Mother took me to a “running store”, the Athletic Attic in Natrona Heights, PA. Etonic Tran Ams.
It wasn’t until the fall of 1984, I put on a pair Etonic Quasars that my foot actually felt comfortable. Yes, the shoe was bulkier, and it had a second lace that wrapped around the heel, but damn, it just felt good. And…with the Dynamic Reaction Plate in the midsole, which was touted to disperse the shock, it was the first time that I actually ran in a pair of shoes that felt like they were made for my foot. I had three or four pairs during my sophomore year in college.
In the summer of 1985, Nike introduced the “V Series”. Three different shoes all starting with the letter V: the Vengeance, for the supinator, the Vortex, for the neutral runner, and the Vector, for the pronator. Well, I feel in love with the Vortex. It was light(er), fit my foot like a glove and had a full length air, shock absorbing midsole. Bonus, it was in my high school colors (blue and gold). During both my junior and senior years, I ran in Vortex, I believe about seven pairs. Once they no longer were available, I bought every pair that I could find. It didn’t hurt that during my summers in college, I worked at the Athlete’s Foot shoe store in the Monroeville Mall (our discount was cost plus 10% on all shoes and apparel, which was why most runners worked there).
My third shoe that I consider one of my favorites is the Hoka Vanquish 3. I was running one day with Malcolm East and asked him what in the hell were those things on his feet. He said they were Hokas. I told him the looked big and bulky. He said that the cushioning was amazing and that I needed to try a pair. After trying on a few different Hokas, I knew the minute I put the Vanquish 3 on my foot. This was early 2017. I ran in four pair before they discontinued the Vanquish. I have spent the last year combing the internet of a pair of size 9s (all I can find are used ones on ebay).
Please Leave a Reply (below) and tell me which ones or two or three were your favorite(s) over the years. I look forward to sharing the responses.
N of 1 Running 
I LOVE Hokas! Started wearing them about 4 or 5 years ago, and haven’t lost a toenail since! Although I was always “fitted” for the right shoes at run-specific shoe stores, I’d normally loose 1 or 2 toenails per year with my previous shoe purchases. I have several different Hokas now, depending on the surface I’m running on. The Torrent is my most recent purchase, in preparation for the Rachel Carson half in June. I’m hooked on Hokas!!!!
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I loved the vector and the vengeance in high school. I was on the newton kick for a while but now they feel like running on cardboard. I have learned the hard way to stay away from Zero drop shoes. My achilles refuse to become more flexible despite all my efforts. I too am a Hoka fan now too. I run in the Carbon X2s for fast days but the Rincon 2 is my favorite.
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