Farewell and adieu to my fair Brooks Ravennas
Farewell and adieu to my Ravenna 5s
For the 6 has replaced you and they’re purging your inventory
And never n’more shall we see you again
</end weird Jaws reference that doesn’t even rhyme>
I have been hit by another runner rite of passage: my preferred sneaker is being phased out.
I’ve been using Brooks Ravennas since October of 2013, and five pairs later they’re still my go-to shoe. Since I started using them the instances of knee pain I’ve suffered have reduced to a minimum frequency. Correlation, causation, blah blah blah – it remains that my Ravenna 5s have carried me through my first marathon, the Dopey Challenge, and all the training involved therein.
And then Brooks announced the Ravenna 6 – and then the inevitable follow-up email came: Ravenna 5s are going away! Buy them at a discount now and then NEVER AGAIN.
So I did. I wound up getting a color different from what I thought I ordered, but whatever; it’s not worth getting worked up about and I can’t get mad at a nice minty green. The point is this: perhaps if I scrounge around I’ll be able to continue purchasing the 5 for awhile yet, but the fact of the matter is that they are going away and I must face a future without them.
That future will look like this: I will run with my last pair of Ravenna 5s. I will conquer the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler with them. And then, early this summer, I will go to the running store and ask to try some Ravenna 6s along with an assortment of other shoes because why not. Who knows – maybe I’ll begin a brand new love affair!
Have you ever lost your favorite shoe to redesigns? How did you recover?
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