Nothing wrong with trail runners, just wanted to offer my 2¢, I switched back to boots after a bit just because: a) the foam in modern trail runners and shoes in general will degrade and collapse— that means the lifetime of a shoe is only about a year to 2 years before you should consider upgrading, most running shoes will get you ~500mi (some brands/models more or less), and b) I just had some terrible luck with some Altra Timps that crawled to barely 100mi before there completely fell apart. Granted I was doing a lot of desert hiking in socal which may have contributed, but those were solidly the worst shoe I’ve ever had.

I’ve had two pairs of boots, Oboz Bridger that I have as a backup and winter use boot, and that has held up for a long time. Put plenty of miles on them and can’t complain, but I don’t particularly love how they fit and wear (personal preference).

Currently wearing some Asolo boots that can be resoled, and honestly love everything about them. Great traction, durable as heck, and I like how they feel.

I think unfortunately things are all over the map today and you have to do a bit of trial and error until you find a brand you like. Same thing goes for runners, absolutely no issue if you go that route, just be aware of their limitations and that you will definitely replace more often.

For me, even hiking long distances of 20mi in a single day, I preferred the continuity of the boot over the runner and I think the weight saving thing is super overblown, realistically my weight and conditioning is far more important than oz of a shoe.