On a quick trip to San Diego over the holidays, my friends couldn’t stop asking about the shoes I had worn on the plane and around town.
“Those are cute, who makes them?”
“Ooh, what are those?”
“You don’t run in those, though, do you?”
The answers to these questions were Tracksmith, my sneakiest, most versatile shoes, and yes, I do run in them quite nicely, thank you.
I was wearing the impressively good-looking Tracksmith Eliot Runners, which we’ve awarded “Most Stylish+High Performance” the past two years in a row in our comprehensive Outside road running shoe guide. It’s a category we made up for the Eliot Runners, but one that applies to some of my most valued running gear. Due to their lack of branding—no giant, obnoxious logo, letter, or, worse, full word, anywhere on the shoe—and their semi-preppy, East Coast styling, the Eliot Runners could be worn by someone way cooler than me (and often are). But they’re mine, and I love them for their ability to pass for urban wear as well as tear up the road or track.
I wear them on airplanes. I wear them to restaurants. And I run…
