Newsletter - #08
Figure 1. Orange Peel the Elephant
The Elephant in my Cage
For those that didn’t have an older sister who made them watch My Little Pony or Strawberry Shortcake or the Care Bear movies, the elephant might be confusing. We’ll be starting with the important serious stuff this go around though. Hopefully, everyone saw our social media post a few weeks ago. If not, well, you won’t find it on Ian’s Facebook, but to sum it up:
Who? Mr Ian Rufus Golden (I forgot his middle name, but it starts with an R I think). What? New run store. Where? At 720 Van Rensselaer St in the Inner Harbor. Why? To send Josh to a nice farm upstate. When? Ian wanted me to hold fast to the September timeline for all the media stuff, but I just can’t lie to my adoring fans, and it’s looking more like I’m going to know two weeks before it happens.
Ian will still own and sign the checks as always, and yours truly will be living and managing the new store with a brand new group of underprivileged shoe salespeople just looking for their big break to make it on Broadway in our rendition of Rent or Hamilton or something. That’s the extent of my musical buzzword lexicon.
It is quite a big turnaround from washing dishes three years ago, and having some people recommend that Ian fire me. I like to think some of Ian’s luck has rubbed off on me. “The Golden Touch” perhaps is what I’ll use as a trademark. Kinda like a Tickle-Me-Elmo, but instead of it being a doll version of Ian that sings and dances, it just tells me what shoe I should bring out for customers. A friend likes to refer to my humor as muppet-esque, but I don’t see it and would definitely never joke about a muppet.
For legal reasons, I was definitely all done moving on July 26th, and I did not leave any extra stuff at the old apartment to be picked up later in the week. Ian also gave me the long-awaited paid time off week of vacation, which I used to fully unpack everything in three days, explore some routes for three days, and lie in my big leather recliner in some Normatec boots on the seventh day. Just as God intended. I don’t actually own any Normatec boots, but I like to think a beer and mac and cheese have just as much impact on recovery.
So far, the Creekwalk path is less than a quarter mile from my apartment, so that’s been the most straightforward route. I also enjoyed the Mountain Goat course my first morning in Syracuse, and heading west on Grand Ave looping back along Bellevue Golf Course, and seeing The Goat once again at Onondaga Park. I have run at Green Lakes once, but I’ve been trying to avoid driving to run locations initially so I can learn nearby streets first. Maybe I’ll post all the Syracuse pics I’ve taken on my runs somewhere, but they’ll probably just end up in my monthly Instagram photo dump.
You can follow my Strava here if you’re so inclined too. I’ve been thinking about making some kind of FLRC Strava Club for funsies, but not sure what practical use it would have just yet.
Hoka Hijacks my Himilaya Hostel Hottub with Hotdog-water
In a move that comes as no surprise, Hoka has increased prices in response to tariffs. Ordinarily, I would apologize for not alerting all 27 of you who read the newsletter, but I was also left out of the loop. Mr. Common Sense says: Aw, what an honest mistake not to include us in the email heads-up. I bet they feel bad about it, and I won’t think about it anymore. However. Mrs. Tinfoil Hat says: Come see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed! Similar to the unfunny Gen-X comedians, I’m being cancelled for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Definitely not any rants I post on Twitter with class and race undertones, or participating in a little peaceful march on that one day in January.
I do think it was a mistake, but I still haven’t had any follow-up emails in response to me asking for clarification and a pricing policy going forward. Hence, I’ve taken the high road and instead will talk about it in a public blog with no way for criticism to reach my ever-so-frangible ears. Seriously, I’d cry if someone said they don’t like me. An even higher road I’ve chosen to take is plugging our Shopify store, which absolutely has accurate pricing and no mistakes whatsoever. A positive of having a very unsuccessful online store is that nobody knows we have one.
While I do like that we haven’t seen a price increase across the board for Hoka at the moment, the lack of heads-up or communication is pretty unacceptable. Borderline Brooks Quote unacceptable. I’m actually going to refer to it as Grocery Gate from now on. See episode 107 (this newsletter) for the quote! A few of our reps have asked us during the Spring 2026 sell-in line showings a few months ago what we’ve been seeing for tariff changes and what would be helpful to us. Ian and I both agreed it’s really just about constant communication and being able to give us a solid heads up more than a week or two in advance so we can plan accordingly. The Bare Minimum essentially.
Anyways, in short, I wish they took me out to dinner first.
I was about to add price changes first, and I just noticed a new loyalty points program on their website. You can read the policy here, but it looks like a straightforward dollars-to-tiers thing for buying from them with the standard 10% off an initial order for signing up. Price changes are as follows: Clifton 10 goes up to $155 from $150 and Bondi 9 goes up to $175 from $170. I’m not entirely sure if anything else has changed (and don’t want to give it the time of day honestly), but those are the two most significant for Hoka. If the new/recent 20% Vietnam tariffs do happen, I’d hope this was the preparation for the original 46% tariff rate, and we won’t see too many more changes. But hey, if there is, I’m sure I’ll be the last to know.
On another tariff note from our New Balance rep, we also just had a heads-up on September price increases for a few items. If I’m seeing the whole spreadsheet, it looks like only our cross-country spikes increase from $70 to $75. Not huge, but maybe a good time for some of you to pick them up in the next two weeks.
“There’s no crying in Ultra Running, but I’ll cry if I spill my granola.”
Insider Trading on Hot Items
Avelo Running - To follow up on the Avelo hit piece from last newsletter, they got to $182,000 of a $20,000 goal. All thanks to me talking about them. I’ll graciously accept my 20% stake in the company and/or a free pair of shoes to talk about. My guys will talk to their guys and work out the details. I’d like everyone to picture “my guys” as a chimpanzee at a typewriter, a goldfish on a keyboard, and my sleep paralysis demon puffing on a cigar in a safety blanket because the chimp disagrees with the goldfish’s tax returns.
Salomon Aero Blaze - A shoe nobody asked for is here and selling crazy fast. In a rare inventory swap with Salomon, we have a new model from them and it’s been received really well in the few instances I’ve brought it out for people to try on. It’s really similar in feel to the Brooks Hyperion line, but I think the foam has a bit more rocker to it and possibly more bounce as well. The Hoka Mach but not the narrowest thing I’ve ever worn, so a better Hoka Mach if you will.
Topo Vista - Finally arrives after the promised June release date. That’s all. I haven’t ran in it or gotten myself a pair yet just for mostly being in Syracuse now, but eventually I’ll make my way over to it.
Asics Metaspeed Edge/Sky Tokyo + Metaspeed Ray - The classic duo adds a new sibling with the Metaspeed Ray. A shoe I won’t ever run in. A shoe most of us won’t ever run in. But it looks pretty cute. It’s super interesting to see these almost concept prototype shoes release now after Adidas dropped a $500 bomb on the Super Foam Wars with the Adios Pro Evo 1. A F-bomb is what I dropped when I saw people actually bought the thing. On that front, a $300 price tag is more reasonable, but boy, maybe I’m not in the business to be paying full price for these shoes.
Brooks Cascadia 19 - Something that looks like and felt like a good update when I saw it earlier this year in a sample size. Unfortunate timing that the trail season is slowing down, which is a big reason I haven’t booked any in the store. An August/September release is really tough on us with how small we are, but I’m super hopeful Ian and I will like this iteration and finally stock a Brooks trail shoe in the store again.
Tracksmith Overland Collection - This will be a continued theme we’ll see into Spring ‘26; brands making a foray into the world of lite-trails, aka Gravel Gear. We haven’t even seen them release yet, and I’m already getting a bit fed up with it. The zip vest here is a piece I’ve seen early samples of from other vest companies too, but I feel like it’s a weird hill to die on? I like Tracksmith marketing it as an apparel item to get some people to shell out for it by insinuating it’s just another jacket or shirt, but I am concerned these zip vests are going to feel like a less-breathable sports bra with less adjustability. Now, I think what specifically classifies a vest as a gravel vest versus a trail vest is the rear capacity. Most of the ones I’ve seen are 1L to 3L, and this Tracksmith one is pretty much just a rear zip pocket. I’m sure they’ll stick around for a few years, even if they don’t sell all that well, but it really strikes me as a run influencer item you’d see on an Instagram reels feed. On a style note, the Overland Windbreaker genuinely looks like they copied and pasted a Sporthill jacket design. Not to dump on Sporthill, but they’ve maintained a certain early 2000s vibe with their designs, and the Tracksmith Windbreaker fits right in. For what looks like an almost softshell material and underarm merino wool panels, I’d rather buy a $60 merino long sleeve, $120 wind breaker that’s more breathable, and spend the remaining $35 on legwarmers.
The Horizon - September Releases
Fig 2. Sonicblast
The biggest and most exciting update in September is a new model from Asics called the Sonicblast. Launching 9/1, it will fill a much-needed position in Asics’ lineup between the Novablast and Superblast that the Glideride Max just hasn’t done. The Glideride Max, to me, is a model that has some pep but leans much heavier towards a trainer than a workout uptempo shoe. The Novablast is a rare exception to do it all in a lightweight package, but it still only contributes rigidity to the shoe with the foam. Once it’s flexed and worn down, that’s all you get for the snappy toe off. I do still really enjoy my Novablasts, but I wouldn’t mistake them for a snappy fast shoe. Hence, the Sonicblast is a plated version of the Novablast with the same FFBlast Max in the bottom of the midsole, and the top layer introduces the new FFTurbo^2 foam. 46mm/38mm of stack height and 9.0oz in the men’s sample 9 (women’s: 45mm/37mm and 7.8oz). The S4+ Yogiri was also released towards the end of July in the US market, to pretty much zero marketing put into it. My guess here is that the $180 Sonicblast is going to demolish the $200 S4+ in sales. $20 cheaper, 6mm/4mm more stack height, and only 0.7oz heavier. Maybe some specific people are buying the S4+ as a less aggressive racing model, but I’d save the money and get the Sonicblast as a more comfortable shoe and more training uses/durability over the S4+.
Mango 3. Megablast
Adding to the 9/1 Asics releases, the Megablast is a new model to bridge the gap between the Superblast and Metaspeed lineup. They’ll include full-length FFTurbo^2 foam throughout, and 45mm/37mm of stack height and 8.1oz in the unisex 9 (no women’s sizing). It’s worth mentioning that both the Megablast and Sonicblast are pretty much the same stack height as the current Superblast 2, but still feel noticeably different underfoot. Out of the two, I’m more interested in the Sonicblast as the Megablast seems like a token “here’s our $225 super trainer” and is unplated. From what I remember trying on the Megablast, it loses more structure with the softer/bouncier foam underfoot that has the Superblast 2 just feeling more structured at the end of the day. I’d be curious to see if there’s extra foot fatigue, or if I get the Mizuno Neo Zen/New Balance Rebel effect, where the softness gives it a lot more groundfeel than anticipated.
Pear 4. Pulsar
The Salomon Pulsar is a new redesign of a shoe they’ve probably done and renamed about 50 times. Each time being sort of a different use case, in addition to them axing the Ultra Glide and Sense Ride lines as well. Much confusion going on at Salomon Headquarters probably. Or should I say the lifestyle fast-fashion machine that is Amer Sports. If you want a good rabbithole to go in that’ll give you the same mid-20s white male punch-a-hole-in-drywall rage I suppress every day, look up Amer Sports’ acquisition of Arc’teryx and the metro-ification of a brand meant for the wilderness. That’s a rant for another time.
When this model was shown to me originally, all of the samples had the wrong cushion height, so I only got to feel the actual correct sample a few months ago, and I like it much more than the older Sense Ride series. Still a good groundfeel, and the new exciting foam is toned down enough to handle technical things from my guess. This is another one (like the Cascadia above) that I wish had been released 6 months ago, but such is life. $140 price tag, 6mm drop, 4mm lugs, 281g in a M9 (9.91oz / relatively light for a trail model but not an ultralight racing flat).
Full Nelson - Full Review
New Balance Rebel v5 - Lightweight daily trainer gets a refined fit and somehow more cushion is better?
Fig 5. Rebel v5
We were all recently gifted the New Balance Rebel v5 in the shop from our rep. It’s a rare occasion I’m mentioning it and doing a full review before a teaser, but if Ian has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t make an omelet without spilling a few boxes of granola. My college coach, on the other hand, said to never underestimate the value of winning. I’ve also never won a race, but I will win the metaphorical race to post the first-ever Finger Lakes Running Company Ian Golden Memorial Kick for a Cure Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run New Balance Rebel v5 Review. Alas, that’s what I would’ve said if Ronke (coworker, dog owner, and recently engaged) had not wanted to offer her expertise and beat me to the review. Her review is, “It’s lit. They are so great.” Maybe I’ll have better luck next year.
Outsole: No slippage in the rain, which is all you can ask for. Sometimes with any soft exposed foam, you’d get residual slipping when wet, but I haven’t noticed anything. Hard to say on durability too without a ton of miles on them, but I’d be more worried about the midsole foam bottoming out/compressing down first before the outsole wearing down.
Midsole: The star of the shoe here. Plenty soft and not the safest-feeling going around corners honestly. Like I said above, it has a decent amount of groundfeel due to the softness of the cushion which was a nice surprise. One thing I haven’t loved is the marketing here. It is a super lightweight training shoe for the amount of cushion you get, but it’s been shown as a do-it-all shoe and I wouldn’t really categorize it as such. It’s really too soft to do longer workouts in, I imagine it would feel even more out of place on a track and getting into faster reps too.
Upper: An improvement on the last two versions I tried on. I specifically remember going back and forth with a 9.5 and 10 in version 4 and I honestly couldn’t decide, so I never ran in them. One fit the arch great, but too short up front, and the other didn’t ever feel like the right fit, but had enough space at the toes. My usual size 10 in version 5 fits great, and I haven’t had any lockdown issues, however, I would encourage people to try them on first since I do think some people might need to size up. It’s shoes like this that show me New Balance is capable of a light upper, and I’d really like to see them do it on a firmer/more stable shoe at some point. It’s hard to tell if it’s actually that breathable with the humidity recently, but my blisters aren’t any more upset this week than last after a few hours in them.
Conclusion Cauliflower: An improvement is what I’d call it on the whole. It’s certainly not my favorite for my own personal preferences, but if I was going to pack one shoe on vacation to get easy miles in and save some weight at the luggage check-in, the Rebels are a great lightweight option. You actually might be hard-pressed to find a shoe with as much cushion for the weight.
Half Nelson - Reviews, but I don’t want to source pictures because it’s 3am on a Saturday
I’m really just here to follow up on the Cumulus from the last newsletter. The upper does run hot, and I do like the midsole, but I wish the upper were nicer overall. Altra Experience Flow 2 is super nice too, but my shins/calves/achilles don’t love running in them consistently. A 'me’ problem, definitely, but like a 100% cocoa chocolate bar, I keep going back for more even though I know it’s bad. The achilles issues have gotten worse in the last few days so we’ll see what that limits my running to the next month or so. It’s already on an upswing, I think, so hopefully not much impact in terms of reviews.
That’s all now get outta here
Josh Nogaret - August, 2025
