I’ve been running for over 25 years. As a result I own far too many pairs of running shoes. I have a pair of spikes for cross country, a pair for middle distance track running and a pair for the long jump. I doubt that I’ll ever get to wear these running spikes again but I’m reluctant to part with them. I also have several pairs of trail shoes, some fell shoes and a couple of pairs of racing flats. I’ve worn several different styles and brands of what I call everyday trainers during my running career. Some have suited my rather strange running gait, others haven’t and have left me unable to run.

So where’s all of this leading? At the start of the year Brooks very kindly sent me a pair of the latest Adrenaline GTS 16 trainers. I’ve worn the Adrenalines for more than 200 miles, so feel that I’m in a good position to share some of my thoughts.

I first wore the Adrenalines at Walsall Arboretum parkrun. I took the Adrenalines out of their box, replaced the insoles with my customised insoles, and ran my fastest 5 km in years.

I think it’s always a pretty good sign when you don’t notice your trainers when you are running. We were off to a very positive start.

As a result of the parkrun success, I wore the Adrenalines on most of my longer London Marathon training runs. When I packed my bags for the marathon weekend, the Adrenalines and my running number were the first items I packed.  I figured that I could easily replace everything else.

The marathon itself was relatively uneventful. Although I ended the day with a couple of blisters – perhaps not surprising with my lack of training – I was able to walk around London the next day. The Adrenalines had clearly looked after my feet.

Following the London Marathon my focus turned to my autumn target event – the Great Birmingham Run half marathon. I started training for the half marathon at the end of June and am about to reach the halfway point of my training. I’ve worn the Adrenalines on every training run and can honestly say that my feet have never felt in better condition.

There have been cold and wet training runs – the Adrenalines aren’t so great on wet surfaces, hot training runs, scenic training runs and challenging training runs. When I returned home from a recent early morning training run I discovered that I’d run just over 200 miles in my Adrenalines.

That’s 200 miles of virtually pain free running. The Adrenalines have enabled this injury-prone runner to train consistently for the first time in what feels like years. Thanks Brooks! The realisation that I would probably need to replace the Adrenalines at some point before the Great Birmingham Run in October suddenly hit me. Although the Adrenalines look fine I wanted to know when they would need replacing.

Unfortunately, as the Adrenalines are quite expensive, I hoped that they would see me through most of the rest of my half marathon training. I found the following answer to my question:

“A standard performance running shoe, such as the Trance or Adrenaline GTS, will typically last for between 300-500 miles…”

Great news!

So thank you again Brooks for sending me a pair of the latest Adrenaline GTS 16. After 25 years of running I think that I’ve finally found my very own go-to shoe.

**Full disclosure: I was sent the Adrenaline GTS 16 trainers by Brooks.  As always all opinions and dodgy photographs are my own**