SKECHERS Go Bionic Trail Shoe Review

It was a brutally early morning this past summer, when the sun was just coming up, that I learned that Skechers had a trail running line. I was listening to my favourite podcast for running, Ultra Runner Podcast by Range of Motion on one of my Sunday morning long runs, when I heard about an ultra runner who ran exclusively in Skechers and mentioned they had a trail shoe line coming out. I was intrigued. Truthfully, my last experience with Skechers shoes was when I had a white pair of light-up shoes for grade school (which may be an awesome idea for a trail line, now that I think about  it.)

Not long afterwards, I received a pair of shoes from the trail line to give a try. I was in the midst of training for my road marathon, so they patiently waited in a box until I could give them a proper trial.

Turns out, that proper attention was the morning of my trail duathlon in Michigan. (Word to the wise: They say you shouldn’t wait to try shoes out the morning of a race – oops…)

Nevertheless, I laced up and went out for the race.

Before I go too far, a bit about the shoe – I tried out the Skechers Go Bionic shoe for women in pink and grey.

Let’s be superficial for a moment. The shoe is a good looking shoe. If I am going to be outside, scuffing through mud and clambering over rocks, I want a shoe that can take the beating and still look fabulous.

The sole is built to grip the ground with multi-directional traction and even with my nasty achilles injury, it was able to help climb up the steepest hills that the course could throw at me.

It was super light (4.5 ounces) and wicked away moisture well. A cool feature was that they designed the shoe that with the insert, there was a 4 mm heel drop, but it could be removed for a zero drop model. Basically magic. Another thing I loved was that it was engineered to promote a mid-foot strike.

So it looks nice, it is well engineered, but what about comfort? Well, I have quite narrow feet, but I LOVED the large toe box that the shoe has. I recently purchased the Skechers Go Walk to wear for post-race recovery and those of you who see me know that they are on my feet more than off, even at the office…with a dress. (What? I only buy shoes I can run in!) Well, if you have ever slipped one of those on, that is similar in comfort levels.

I will be honest with you – I was not fair to the shoe. I didn’t allow any time to wear them in, I put them on my feet at a sponsored race and expected them to perform for me. With an injury.

And I came in fifth overall and first female.

I think the truest testament to the shoe was after I had finished the 40 km race, accepted my award and changed clothes, someone asked me if I was going to put my recovery shoes on?

“Nope.” I said. “I think I will leave these on.”

I would highly recommend these shoes to any trail runner who is looking for a good looking shoe that exceeds performance and comfort expectations.

Thank you Skechers. You truly blew me away on this one.