Above Average Jogger

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I’ve been through a lot of pairs. Here’s why I keep coming back.

Before the Boston series, I was just buying whatever running shoe was on sale. Nothing intentional, nothing particularly thought through. I tried Nike for a while. It never clicked. Then a salesperson pointed me toward the Adidas Boston line and something genuinely changed, not just in the shoe but in how I thought about running footwear altogether.

That was seven years ago. I’m now on the Boston 12, with the 13 waiting in the wings for when Toronto stops threatening snow. That’s not brand loyalty for the sake of it. That’s a shoe that keeps earning it.

The Boston sits in an interesting spot. It’s not a racing flat, not a pure daily trainer, not a max-cushion recovery shoe. It’s a mid-to-high performance shoe that can handle real mileage without punishing you for it. For someone running on Toronto roads and the Lakeshore, that balance matters. The pavement here isn’t forgiving, and you want something responsive without feeling every crack in the sidewalk.

Price-wise, you’re looking at around $170 to $190 Canadian. Not cheap, but not unreasonable for what you get. I’ve picked them up on sale a few times, which makes the value case even easier. And they hold up well past that 400 to 600 kilometer mark that most shoe brands use as a guideline. In my experience, they have legs well beyond that.

The one adjustment worth mentioning is the LightStrike midsole, which Adidas updated a few versions back. Coming from previous iterations of the Boston, the change in foam feel was noticeable at first. Took a few runs to get used to the slightly different response underfoot. But it didn’t take long, and looking back it was clearly an improvement. The line has changed in small ways over the years, and honestly every change has been for the better.

Real gripes? Not many. This isn’t a shoe with obvious weaknesses, which is part of why I’ve stayed with it. If you’re someone who needs a lot of cushioning for long slow runs, or you want a dedicated race day shoe, you might look elsewhere. But for everyday training at a solid pace, especially if you’re getting back into running after some time off, these are hard to beat.

I’ll be moving to the Boston 13 soon. When I do, I’ll write up how it compares. But if you’re looking at the 12 right now and wondering if it’s worth it, the short answer is yes, especially if you can catch them on sale.

— AJ