The Brooks Cascadia came as a highly recommended shoe among many of my adventure racing friends. I’d been eyeing them for a while and when it was time for a new pair of shoes, I decided to try a pair. To my surprise they were quite comfortable right out of the box. My first runs in them felt great and the Cascadias felt as comfortable as an old, worn-in pair of runners.  The traction in the dirt and mud is great on these shoes and I’ve not had any concerns with slipping on any type of surface so far. There’s plenty of room in the toebox for my wider feet and I don’t feel like I’m about to tear out the sides, like I do in many other pairs of shoes I try on. The true test will come next adventure racing season when I take them out into the bush, but so far they have been great on trails in all kinds of weather.

Another appealing feature of the Cascadia is its environmentally friendly BioMoGo midsole, the world’s first-ever biodegradable midsole for running shoes. Apparently it breaks down in 20 years versus the 100 years for regular running shoe midsoles. As both an environmentally conscious person and someone who goes through a lot of running shoes, this is certainly a welcome feature. Also, the laces made from 100% recycled materials too!

All in all this has been a great shoe so far and I’m looking forward to seeing if it stands the test of time and wear and tear off-trail.