I’ve been wearing the Sense Pro for rockier, technical sections on the AT and decided to give the Pro Max a try before my 50K a few weeks ago since they were on sale (nothing new before race day, pfffft).

The Sense Pro Max is longer than the Sense Pro, but it has a thinner tongue and doesn’t have the exact same glove like fit that the original Sense Pro had. The wider mesh seems to let more trail into the shoe as well. I thought they were firm and sort of heavy, but I generally prefer a firmer ride.

After Yeti, I decided that I wasn’t ready to put a ring on it.  I felt that the ride was ok, but they were still very stiff and heavy and while they are ok to run in, they were not my favorite when hiking. I wanted to give them a second shot because after 30+ miles, almost all shoes start to anger the foot gods. Annoyingly, it was the second run that did them in and I blew them out around the ankle.  I also couldn’t get the fit right with the quick laces. I like my fit looser in the forefoot (bunions) and tighter in the midfoot and ankle. The only way to lock down the midfoot, was to have them tight across the board. I settled with a medium fit and managed to collect ALL the debris in the ankle area. I had to dump my shoes 3 times in just 21 miles.

On top of that, I had a weird imprint of the inside of the shoe on my foot and had some foot numbness post run as well.

I admit that in 2 runs, I logged 53 miles, but these fell apart almost as quickly as a few pairs of Altras. Both runs were on either gravel (rails to trails) or asphalt and gravel and not on technical trail at all. I had a few brief stretches with rockier trail and felt that these were a bit unwieldy. Total bummer because I really wanted to love them, but the ride and response just weren’t there for me and even in longer treks, I didn’t find them more comfortable for a long haul then any of my other shoes.