No, most running shoes are perfectly fine for walking.

I bought a pair of Brooks PureConnect 2 today while on sale. Just to find out from this review now that this shoe seems to be good for running. I am not an athletic person and I mean to use it as an ordinary pair of walking shoes. Do you think it will do any harm to my feet as it is not designed for that purpose ?

I like the Cadence 2 quite a bit, maybe more than the Flow.

Hey Ryan! I’m not sure I’d call my opinion of the PureDrift negative, but they definitely would not be my recommendation for speed work and tempo runs. A little sloppy at speed, and don’t have the snap you’d get from a flat or a spike. If you’re talking about track racing, I’d go with a spike, no doubt about it. For the 400m, you want a sprint spike, because it’ll be more aggressive than a distance spike. For XC, you want an XC spike, which will be a bit less aggressive and a bit more cushioned and more flexible than a track spike (sprint or distance spike), and have a rubber outsole rather than just plastic on the bottom. For training…probably need more details besides a minimalist shoe for speedwork. What do you wear now and what do you like and not like about it?

I’m not all that familiar with the Gel-Lyte, but I was under the impression that was a fairly flexible performance trainer. I guess I’m not sure what you mean by not suiting the “way you train.” Are you looking for something with a little more “pop” to it? If that’s the case, something with a touch more stiffness in the forefoot might do the trick. If you like ASICS, the Hyperspeed might do the trick…should have a little more pop the Gel-Lyte, and is a marathon flat, so it’s on the minimal side as far as cushioning/stability and its 6mm drop. It’s being replaced by the NoosaFast, so you may be able to find it cheap. Of course, you’d be best suited to try a bunch of stuff on and see what fits. I still think you’d be happiest racing in a spike though.

Also; looking for a minimalist shoe, And I will be running anywhere from 400 meters-6 miles.

Nice review and congrats on winning a pair!!

Currently I’m wearing the Asics Gel-Lyte 33. It’s nice (6mm drop, fairly light) but it doesn’t suit the “way” I train. It’s similar to the Puredrift; good for long, easy runs. I’m looking for a “fast” shoe; I’m trying to break the 19 minute mark in my next 5k!

Thanks Tom! I’ve actually been working on a review (for my own blog) of the PureCadence 2, and Pete posted a review of them a while ago ( https://runblogger.com/2012… ). Very different shoe than the PureConnect for sure. I was pleasantly surprised by the responsiveness though…part of me was afraid it was going to be like the PureFlow, which I didn’t think was all that responsive.

Perhaps Pete has more suggestions? He’s worn way more shoes than I have…