Product Review: Newton Shoes - Motus Motion at Be Honest Run

The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP) held its second Fun Run dubbed as Be Honest Run at open grounds of SM Mall of Asia last March 17, 2012. This fun run is just among the various fitness events of BCBP where they advocate honest engagements in businesses and workplaces of their constituents. 

As for me, it will be my first time to run again with shoes on after running barefoot for almost a year now. It was my second time to run at this area which was also a good venue for me to field test the new pair of Newton Motus Motion running shoes I got from RUNNR. A week before the race, I managed to dry-run the shoes on a couple of 10ks just to break them in. 

The race course was a simple three loops around MOA covering a 15 kilometer distance. At the gun start, I managed to sprint for a few hundred meters which made the Newton shoes hugs the road effectively with its front traction pads. For a forefoot runner like me, the three indented traction on the forefoot area surely made a good performance. With a weight of seven ounces, these shoes really felt so light even with socks on. For people who are not used of having slugs on the forefoot area, balancing can be an issue at the beginning, but after a while, you’ll get the rhythm and get accustomed of their presence. 

The mesh construction on the toe box area is double-layered which is a superb way to keep the feet cooler as this prevents runners from having sweaty feet during a long-distance run. This enables the shoes to have a good drainage system also during rainy season. However, as a downside, it can also make dust and sand enter the mesh much easier, so it's advisable to wear socks.

In areas with loose pebbles around, the space in between the four slugs of the shoes can trap small stones that can cause discomfort as you'll have that uneven feeling and odd sounds when running on flat pavement. When this happens, one can just make a quick pit stop to remove the debris. 

At the last turn of the last loop, the normal fatigue I feel during runs came in but nothing that was oddly uncomfortable. So far, these shoes achieved the performance I expected them to do. My shoe size of 8.5 (US) is just right for me though in other brands it's size 8. The last stretch was a breeze and I finished with an official time of 1:22 for a 15k run.

Want to win a pair of Newton shoes worth around P7,000? Read my cover story article about the new breed of Philippine athletes who are wearing Newtons over at Orange Magazine TV and check out the mechanics there. Promo ends on April 15.