Brooks - Ghost 17

I respect the hot take but I also love my Brooks Ghost 17s. As a heavier runner (200 lbs), I can put about 500 miles on those and they don’t break the bank. I agree they get oversold but I love mine. 

Brooks still has the regular Ghost, I tried the Ghost Max but prefer the original.

I had ghosts (not max) as my road shoes for a year or so. Recently switched to the glycerines and I'm loving them so far! Currently training for a marathon and they're going to be my marathon shoe. I rotate with my trail shoes, which are Hoka challengers. It seems to me like having two different shoes in rotation, especially with different drops, has helped me avoid putting too much pressure on my shins or my calfs. I think both pairs of Brooks that I've had have been 10mm and my Hokas are 5mm.

I recently got a pair of the Brooks Glycerin 22 and really love them. I tend to have heal pain and these shoes have helped that so much! I used to always wear the Brooks Ghost & Ghost Max but these are way more comfy and they really hold up during my long runs.

Go with Brooks, ghost 16-17, or glycerin. They are build like tanks. If you want a sneaker, then new balance 530 are durable af. Saucony ride 18 will also last a long time.

Brooks Divide would be great.  Non technical means different things to different people. To me, I would use road shoes on a non technical trail. I ran Javelina 100k in Brooks Ghosts 

As a longtime Ghost fan, I concur.

If you’re just starting out and mostly running for fun I would recommend something like a brooks glycerin, ghost, or adrenaline. They’re similar to each other but one is neutral, the others supportive. You can confirm which is which online. But either of those should feel like a great upgrade from what you’re currently using and should be a great all around running shoe to get started with, especially if you’re not able to get to a store like fit2run or fleet feet to do a analysis for you. They’re pretty great middle ground shoes in terms of tech bc they have a good amount of cushion, they’re not too stiff, not super heavy, no plate, etc. I’d try something like that or similar until you have been running for a bit longer so you can figure out what you prefer and then upgrade accordingly later on.

My goto is Brooks, specifically their Ghost line. I’ve been wearing Brook Ghost exclusively since 2019 I’m waiting on my new pair currently. I’m 36F also and buy a size 9.5 4E in men’s sizing. You have 90 days to try out any shoes from Brooks and can return them for a 100% money back as soon as the shipping number updates. They’re awesome. They even have a preowned section I just learned about! Sadly they didn’t have what I needed so I haven’t tried that yet.

For a beginner, even balanced trainers like Cumulus, Brooks Ghost can do it all. If you take your weight into consideration and wanting more comfort and cushion, you could get Nimbus (easy for heel striking). They are clunky, but comfy. They will be fine until you want to get below 8:00/mi. Then you can add tempo shoes to the rotation or get Superblast as a do it all.