If I had to provide you with a lists of shoes that really grind my gears, just below top placed crocs you would find flip-flops. As someone with self-diagnosed misophonia, the signature sound of the flipping and the flopping, like a slab of meat being slammed against a cold tiled bathroom floor then slowly being peeled off, goes right through me and makes my blood tepid. Given this, you can imagine my scepticism when I was gifted a pair of Oofos.
These, however, absolutely blew my mind as I tried them on. It was as if someone had taken every negative thought I’d had about this type of footwear, stuck it in a blender, then thrown it straight out of a window into the path of a marching band riding on the back of the worlds largest elephants. My world had changed. The sheer comfort of these is hard to comprehend, having only got a C in GCSE English I don’t think I have the arsenal of superlatives to communicate just how I felt as I slipped my feet into them.
The pair of Oofos I have are the Men’s (probably gender neutral) Ooriginal Sport Limited Edition London 2018s. These are easily identifiable because like the ASICS Gel Nimbus’s I reviewed, they have the word London emblazzened on them closely followed by the number 2018, this is could quite possibly be a year or perhaps a time, I’m thinking it’s probably year because the ‘London Nearly 20 Past 8 Editions’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it. The cushion like soles are a lovely black and the bit that makes sure the stay attached to your foot is very inoffensive blue hue. Connecting these two coloured pieces of material is that signature flip flop toe divider. To some this is the stuff of nightmares, I fully understand that, there is no other shoe that feels it necessary to unnaturally wedge objects inbetween your toes. If you’re one of these people Oofos do have a range of sliders which would probably better suit your tastes.
After wearing the Oofos round my flat for a while, a process which made me fall a little bit in love with their comfort, I decided to take them for a spin down Waitrose where people looked down on me like I’d emptied their trolleys and jumped on their shopping. I wasn’t deterred though and this test run confirmed that these were going straight in my London Marathon kit bag!
Post marathon my feet were pretty weary after trudging round the capital of our country for 3.45 hours so when I got my kit bag back from the collection point I could not wait to take my shoes off. My mild plantar fasciitis was a little tender so slipping these on felt like a dream as my aching arches were cradled by them. The cooling breeze swhirled around my toes, a moment of pure post marathon ecstasy. I kept them on for the full duration of my journey as I slowly waddled home.
In the short period I’ve spend with these shoes I feel like our reltionshop is really starting to blossom. My compilation of footwear has really welcomed them with open arms. The continued love and support they provide is really helping my feet to stay less mad with me post runs, so much so I’ve almost forgiven them for being flip flops.
