I'm a casual runner who maybe runs 15-20 miles per week, and I've always suffered from knee pain when running. I bought a good pair of shoes (Asics Gel Nimbus), and still had the bum knees. If I ran on hard pavement for 3+ miles, I would start to feel the pain. I bought two neoprene knee braces to ease the pain, but it was just a band-aid over the problem. Again, by mile 4 or 5 on pavement, I would start to get sharp pains in my knees. So guys at work started talking about how comfortable these shoes were, and I did a little research. On the Amazon reviews, there was surprisingly little to go on in regards to how these shoes perform for runners. Nonetheless, I read some other reviews that said there were super 'cushiony' and were great at absorbing impact. I bought the off color (red/grey) because they were $45 (half the price of the other colors!). The shipping was minimal (~$5), and they arrived fairly quickly.
I put them on, and was a little unimpressed with how 'cushiony' they felt. But I set up for my first run in them, put the leash on my dog, and took off. It was amazing. I had no knee braces, and we just ran. Having never ran more than 7 miles in my life, I felt like I could run forever. I ended up doing 10 miles at a solid pace for me, and was super impressed. Better yet, the knee pain was non-existent. Instead, I had the dull pain in the quads and hamstrings that a runner should expect to get after running over long distances, as opposed to the sharp pain in the knee. In short, these shoes are the real deal for me. Now, I never have gotten properly fitted for a good running shoe - so I can't say if that was the problem with my Asics. However I slapped these shoes on, and it all went away. Now I actually enjoy running, and enjoy not having the sharp pains that usually went along with my longer distance runs. Better yet, they were super affordable, and they are very lightweight. So don't expect to be 'walking on springs' like the ads say, but do expect these shoes to absorb the impact to allow you to run longer, faster and more comfortably.
