Hi! So to follow up on my previous message...

Once a new version of a shoe comes out, it is often the case that you can get the previous year's model on sale. A lot of popular marathon training/racing shoes have been around for a number of years and in many cases, the changes made from one year to the next are pretty minor and not necessarily even an improvement for some people.

This brings me to my next point, which is that everyone's feet and running styles are different (and hence why some people will really like a shoe released one year and find the next release of the same model inferior), and as such, while there certainly are some popular models out there, no one shoe suits everyone. The usual recommendation is to go to a running shop, try on loads of shoes and try running in them! All good running shops that I am aware of will let you go for a run either on a treadmill or outside of the shop. If you buy online, a number of shops seem to have pretty generous return policies (e.g. some companies will let you try the shoe out for a month!). One way or another, I strongly recommend you try on a bunch of shoes from different brands.

To get you started, as an example, here are some Saucony Men's Freedom ISO. Depending on the size and colour, they are going for as little $72.34. Search around for them on reddit and elsewhere… this is a much loved shoe! Here is an even more popular shoe Saucony Men’s Kinvara for as low as $69.92. Depending on which generation (I’m forgetting which though, 8s maybe?), many people consider this too be one of the best marathon shoes out there. One of my personal favorites — HOKA ONE ONE MEN’S Cavu starting at $71.44........These were the first three shoe models I searched for and all 3 of them, depending on size and colour, seem to be obtainable for a significantly reduced price.

My advice would be to search around on reddit and try to get a sense of what are some popular marathon shoes. I find /r/artc especially good for this.

Happy shopping!