⚡ By the Numbers
- 🏃 12 years of running (since 2014)
- 📏 12,500+ miles logged
- 👟 63 shoes personally tested
- 🏅 36 races finished
- 🏆 3 marathons, 1 ultra 50K
- ⏱️ Half PR: 1:42:33
- ⏱️ Marathon PR: 3:38:14
- 📊 30-40 mpw currently
- 📍 Atlantic City, New Jersey
🤫 Weird runner confession: I smell every new shoe when I open the box. Every. Single. Time. The smell of fresh foam and rubber is intoxicating. I also take a photo of every new pair on the same stretch of boardwalk before the first run. I have an album of 63 shoe photos in the same spot.
Hey, I’m Ken 👋
I’m 36, I live in Atlantic City, and I’ve been running since 2014. Not “running” in the Instagram influencer sense — more like “guy who wakes up at 5:30 AM to shuffle down the boardwalk in the dark because it’s the only time the tourists aren’t blocking the path” kind of running.
My first pair of running shoes was a Nike Free Run 5.0. They were terrible — no support, no cushioning, and I had zero idea what pronation even meant. I got shin splints within six weeks. But something about those early morning boardwalk runs hooked me. The sound of waves crashing while the sun comes up over the Atlantic. The hollow thump-thump-thump of your feet on wooden planks. The seagulls screaming at you like you owe them money. I kept going back.
Twelve years later, I’ve logged over 12,500 miles across roads, boardwalks, beaches, and trails. I’ve tested 63 pairs of running shoes — not sponsored one-run demos, but real training miles until the outsoles wore through or I gave up on them. Some of those shoes changed how I run. Some of them gave me blisters in places I didn’t know could blister. I have honest opinions about all of them.
The Running Journey (Short Version)
2014-2015: The Beginner Years. Started as a way to clear my head. Ran my first 5K in 28:44 wearing shoes that had no business being on a race course. Got shin splints from increasing mileage too fast. Learned that the 10% rule exists for a reason. Switched from Nike Free Runs to Brooks Ghost 7s and everything changed.
2016-2017: Getting Serious. Started racing regularly. Joined a local running group in AC. Hit my first sub-25 5K and felt like I’d won the Olympics. Then my IT band decided to remind me that enthusiasm isn’t a substitute for strength training. Spent 8 weeks in physical therapy at AtlantiCare, doing clamshells and hip bridges while my ego deflated. That injury changed how I think about running — I haven’t skipped strength training since.
2018-2019: The PR Years. Everything clicked. Ran my 5K PR (22:18) at the Atlantic City April Fool’s 5K — 48°F, overcast, slight headwind on the boardwalk return. Set my marathon PR (3:38:14) at the Philadelphia Marathon — hit the wall at mile 22 on the Manayunk climb and genuinely considered sitting on the curb and crying. Finished anyway. Then plantar fasciitis showed up in late 2019 and sidelined me for four months. That was the hardest stretch of my running life.
2020-2021: The Reset. COVID killed my race calendar but gave me trails. Discovered the Pine Barrens, bought Altra Lone Peak 5s, and fell in love with running in the woods. Started rotating multiple shoes after reading about how different drop heights stress different muscles. Got runner’s knee in 2021 from overtraining for my comeback half marathon — another lesson in patience.
2022-2024: The Shoe Nerd Phase. Something shifted. I started testing shoes obsessively — not just wearing them, but tracking fit notes, recording first-run impressions, comparing ground feel across models. I set up a spreadsheet. Then another spreadsheet. Then a shoe database. My half marathon PR came in 2022: 1:42:33 at the Atlantic City Half, dead flat on the boardwalk and back streets, 55°F with clear skies. I also ran my first (and so far only) ultra 50K. Still not sure why I signed up for that one.
2025-2026: NextGait. All those spreadsheets and shoe notes became this website. I’d been the guy in every running group who people asked “what shoes should I get?” — figured I might as well write it down properly. Now I run 30-40 miles a week, test shoes, write about what I learn, and still drag myself to the boardwalk at 5:30 AM because that first mile in the salt air never gets old.
The Injuries That Taught Me Everything
I don’t hide the fact that I’ve been hurt. Every injury made me a better, smarter runner — and a better shoe reviewer, honestly.
| Injury | Year | What Happened | What I Learned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shin splints | 2015 | Went from 3 to 6 days/week too fast in Nike Free Runs on concrete | The 10% rule exists for a reason. Cushioning matters. |
| IT band syndrome | 2017 | 8 weeks of PT at AtlantiCare. All those hip bridges. | Strength training isn’t optional. My IT band hasn’t acted up since I started squats and clamshells twice a week. |
| Plantar fasciitis | 2019 | 4 months sidelined. Worst stretch of my running life. | Shoe support matters more than I thought. Arch drops and calf raises every morning. Night splints are miserable but they work. |
| Runner’s knee | 2021 | Overtraining for a comeback half marathon after COVID. | Patience. My body isn’t 25 anymore. Easy runs need to be actually easy. |
What I Run In (May 2026)
My current rotation after testing 63 shoes. These are the ones I keep reaching for.
| Category | Current Shoe | Miles on Them | One-Line Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🛣️ Daily Trainer | Brooks Ghost 18 | 280+ | The Honda Civic of running shoes. Boring. Reliable. I love it. |
| 🏔️ Trail | HOKA Speedgoat 7 | 180+ | Grippy enough for Pine Barrens roots. Drainage holes saved my socks in the rain. |
| ⚡ Speed Work | Saucony Endorphin Speed 5 | 120+ | The nylon plate gives you 80% of a carbon shoe at half the price. My tempo day shoe. |
| 🏁 Race Day | Nike Alphafly 3 | 65 | Only for races and time trials. Way too much shoe for Tuesday’s easy 6. |
| ☁️ Recovery / Long | HOKA Bondi 9 | 310+ | Like running on memory foam. My legs thank me on easy days. |
| 🧪 Current Test | ASICS Superblast 3 | 90+ | Bouncy, polarizing, and way too tall for my taste. But I keep running in them. |
| ⌚ GPS Watch | Garmin Forerunner 265 | — | Battery lasts a full week. The running dynamics are addictive. |
My Favorite Routes 📍
All within 30 minutes of my front door. Atlantic City isn’t a running mecca, but it’s my running mecca.
| Route | Distance | Surface | Why I Love It |
|---|---|---|---|
| AC Boardwalk Out-and-Back | 6.2 mi | Wooden planks | My bread and butter. Early morning before the tourists wake up — just seagulls, waves, and the smell of last night’s funnel cake. |
| Brigantine Beach Coastal Loop | 8.5 mi | Sand, packed paths | Long run day. The lighthouse at the end is my turnaround point. Headwind coming back is brutal. |
| Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge | 5.0 mi | Gravel, packed dirt | Flat, quiet, birds everywhere. My “I need to think about nothing” run. |
| Pine Barrens Trail (Wharton State Forest) | 10.0 mi | Soft trail, sand, roots | Where I fell in love with trail running in 2020. Wear the Speedgoats. |
| Ventnor/Margate Beachfront | 7.0 mi | Sidewalk, promenade | My Sunday long run when I want a change of scenery. Lucy the Elephant is the weirdest landmark you’ll ever run past. |
My Content Promise
🔬 Real Testing
Every shoe gets minimum 100 miles before I publish. Every guide is based on something I’ve actually done — not something I read on another blog.
📊 Data-Driven
I track wear patterns, log miles per shoe, photograph outsoles at retirement. When I say a shoe breaks down at 350 miles, I have the photos to prove it.
💬 Honest Opinions
I give shoes scores from 4 to 9. Not everything is amazing. If a $180 shoe rides like a $90 shoe, I’ll say so. No sponsor will change that.
“Most runners don’t need stability shoes. They need stronger hips.”
— my most controversial running opinion
Things I Believe About Running
- The 80/20 rule is real. 80% easy, 20% hard. I spent years running every run at medium effort and wondered why I wasn’t getting faster.
- Shoe rotation prevents injuries. Running in the same shoe every day is like wearing the same work boots to a wedding. Different shoes stress your body differently — that’s a feature, not a bug.
- Strength training is not optional. Two sessions a week minimum. Squats, lunges, clamshells, calf raises. My IT band and knee issues disappeared when I got serious about this.
- Carbon-plated shoes should be allowed in all races. It’s a shoe, not a motorcycle.
- Easy runs need to be actually easy. If you can’t hold a conversation, you’re going too fast. My easy pace is 9:00-9:30/mile and I’m not embarrassed about it.
- Never wear a race shirt from a race you haven’t run yet. That’s just bad luck.
Want to Get in Touch?
Got a shoe you want me to review? A question about training? Just want to argue about whether the Ghost or the Clifton is the better daily trainer? I’m always happy to hear from fellow runners.
Drop me a line at the contact page, or just leave a comment on any article. I read all of them.