After a lot of thought I have decided to move some of best of my old posts from Aging Runnah and A Runnah’s Story blogs, primarily the old reviews, maybe a few of the better posts and race reports that I have written over the years. I have a feeling that at some point, my WordPress.com blogs are simply going to go away and I want to still be able to go back and read some of the stuff I wrote.

If you are reading this blog post, that is why it is has been re-posted here.

Originally posted on: May 6, 2014

Update: There have been a bunch of blog posts around the net from runners who have been selected as Hoka OneOne Blog Ambassadors – no I am not one and I have no relationship with Hoka, other than I like the Clifton’s. I just wanted make sure that was up front and made very clear to everyone. These were a personal purchase.

Hoka One One Cliftons

This is the second pair of Hoka OneOne Clifton’s that I have done a 50 mile review on in the last month and you can read about why here – I Put My Money Where My Mouth Was.

I bought a lime colored pair of Clifton’s and started running in them on April 24th. I wanted to see if new Clifton’s were any different from the old blue ones that I got in a trade with another runner with about 125 miles already on them.

Also there is a lot of noise out there with wildly divergent opinions about the Hoka’s, just to satisfy my curiosity, I had to find out if my experience in the blue Clifton’s was an anomaly or not.

How have they worked out for me?

Yeah you hear so much about how many people don’t like them and all the other negative crap and comments about “how can you run in Hokas?”

Well I have an answer that is very simple and to the point.

They work for me.

I had this big long diatribe about how if you don’t like a shoe…then after I thought about it, I figured that it would do about as much good as pissing up rope, and deleted rant.

The bottom-line is if a pair of running shoes didn’t work for you, it does not mean that they will not be a great shoe for me and leave it at that.

Getting back to my question in this section is that MY Hoka OneOne Clifton’s are doing everything I want from my running shoes.

Hoka OneOne Clifton’s

You can read my 50 mile review of my first pair of Hoka Clifton’s (the blue one’s) here. I am not going to repeat all the great stuff that I wrote about the Clifton’s last time a lot of it pertains to my current Clifton’s – Lime colored, so if you want all the background and why I liked the first pair so much please go there and read all the gory details.

Fit

Next time I get a pair of Clifton’s (yes, I am pretty damn sure there will be a next time), I will try on a pair of size 8.0’s just see how they fit, because the 8.5’s feel just a tad long, but are working great. So if I look at it from a different perspective do not screw with what is working and just keep using the 8.5’s.

Sole

This was the area that concerned me the most – how the outsole/midsole would wear for me – I typically get 200-300 miles on pair of running shoes before my right knee tells me they are done. My first pair of Clifton’s already had 125 miles on them, so they had a different wear pattern than what I usually have initially, so one of the reasons I bought another pair was to find out the difference in wear between the two shoes.

Below is a photo of both pair of Clifton’s, which shows a little wear on my new one, but nothing unusual and the old blue (green/white sole) Clifton’s still have plenty of sole left on them even after 250 miles.

I have a feeling that my old blue (green/while sole) Clifton’s have a LOT more wear left on them and wouldn’t be surprised if they become my first pair of 500 mile shoes in many, many years. So I can expect about the same or better from the new Lime pair (black/white sole).

Much better durability than I thought the Hoka’s would have when I started running in them.

Upper

The Clifton’s upper does not bother my Tailor’s Bunionette, there are not a bunch of sewn-on overlays to aggravate my foot, the fabric doesn’t bunch up on top of the toes when flexing and the toe box is wide enough to be comfortable/not sloppy. The heel cup is a little looser than I like, but has not been a problem while running.

What I Don’t Like

One thing I have noticed is that I almost have the top lace holes almost touching to cinch up the shoe enough, when using the stock insole. I have had to experiment with other insoles, to see if I could raise my foot just a bit, without it pressing the upper against my right foot’s Tailor’s Bunionette, to allow me to tighten the upper properly and not have any lose feeling in the heel.

Also another thing about the sock insert, it has a couple of crinkles in the heel cup in the old blue pair and on the new lime ones. So to me, this is an issue with the stock Hoka Clifton insert and while it has not caused any problems, I don’t like crinkles inside of my shoes, you never know when those could become a problem.

Hoka Clifton crinkle in the insole

I have experimented with other insoles and finally think that I have figured out which combination works best for me now and fixes both of these things (well enough for me). I am finding that the Skecher’s insert works great, doesn’t krinkle and so far hasn’t been uncomfortable when running longer runs – unlike some of the other combinations I tried.

Hoka OneOne Clifton’s

However, the biggest thing about the Clifton’s – I really don’t like the non-padded tongue. According to rumors online, they have supposedly fixed this issue in version 2, so we will see what improvements they are doing to “MY” running shoes. Hopefully, they will pad the tongue a little, put in a better insert and then leave the shoes alone. Although if they widened the toe box just a skooch, I wouldn’t complain.

Hoka OneOne Clifton’s

Modifications

Other than the insoles, I have not even thought about changing anything, which is very unusual for me.

If Bennie Chewed Up These Shoes Today, What Would I Do?

I would go buy another pair. Not a bit of doubt about it.

Unfortunately, $130.00 for running shoes too often gets the wife’s attention pretty quickly, so if Bennie chewed them up, he would definitely be in the dog house – with both of us.

The Reality is that

After more than 50 miles in my second pair of Clifton’s, I am still very impressed. Enough so that I have now have a 2 running shoe rotation:

• Hoka Clifton – Blue
• Hoka Clifton – Lime

If I run a muddy/technical trail, I will probably wear my Cascadia 8’s.

Otherwise I choose one of my two pair of Clifton’s for the rest of my running: speedwork, tempo, recovery, long runs or anything else I can come up with for a run. So far, I haven’t had any problems with my feet or legs that I can attribute to the Hoka’s, if anything they seem to be letting me run better than I have in a long time.

I think that I have finally learned that I have gotta go with what works for me and not pay attention to the noise about what all the cool people are wearing or what they think I should be wearing.

I think that is something we all need to focus more on, versus getting on each other’s asses because I/you/we/they are not wearing X shoe, because it is the newest and greatest shoe out there or does not go along with the “ism” in vogue, at least for the moment. Who really gives a rat’s ass about maximal, minimal, drop, ramp angle or anything else, when all it comes down to is for runners to find the shoes that work best for your personal style of running.

I know that the Hoka OneOne Clifton’s are working well for the way that I run now, which is all I want, especially with all the miles and abuse my almost 58-year-old legs have on them.

I will keep on smiling and running in my Hoka’s and it will be interesting to see what I will be running in a year from now. Based on my past experiences, it will probably be something other than Hoka, but you know something, maybe my brand hopping days are over and I have found a brand that actually works well for me.

Time will tell.

Here are links to other reviews of the Clifton’s, just for some different perspectives than mine:

Comparison Review: Hoka One One Clifton and Huaka – Sam Winebaum — Sam’s Running, People, Places, and Things

Hoka Clifton Running Shoe Review – Peter Larson

Hoka One One Clifton Review – Running Shoe Guru

Disclosure of Material Connection: I purchased this pair of Hoka OneOne Clifton’s from Runner’s Warehouse. The opinions I have expressed are my own and your experiences with this product might be different from mine. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”