Resurrecting Ravenna: Bringing My Favorite Running Shoes Back To Life

I’ve done a lot of oddball things in the course of my running career, but this is hands-down the most quixotic. I attempted to go back in time. Just call me the Running Shoes Reanimator.

RUNNING SHOES LOVED AND LOST

Oh, we’ve all thought about it. Don’t tell me you’ve never found your perfect running shoe only to have the manufacturer mangle the works in the new release. They insist it’s an improvement but it’s not.

I have wept over the end of the Nike Pegasus 38. I have lamented the end of the Nike Vomero 10. But nothing has ever hurt me the way the Brooks Ravenna did.

I used the Ravenna for years. From Ravenna 5 through I think it was 9, everything was lovely. I have one support foot and one neutral foot, which can make finding the right shoe difficult. For the longest time, the Ravenna’s medial post gave me juuuuust enough correction to control the support foot, which out strongarming (strongfooting?) the neutral foot unnecessarily. Then Brooks switched to the “guard rails” system and the wheels came off. The Ravenna (or as it later became, the Launch GTS) was too supportive, if you can believe such a thing. Back to the shoe drawing board.

… OR COULD I BRING MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE RUNNING SHOES BACK TO LIFE?

Unfortunately, my sneaker search since then has been fraught with flashes in the pan. I’ll find a shoe I like and either discover many more miles in that something isn’t working for me long term, or I’ll like the old model but hate the newest iteration. (See Pegasus notation above.)

So I’ve been thinking a lot about my old Brooks Ravenna, and how they stood me in such good stead until they didn’t. And I’ve been thinking, too, about how people often buy caches of their old favorites off resale sites. I wondered if maybe, just maybe, a cadre of Ravennas was still out there, waiting for me.

Reader, there was NOT. It’s been too long. The Brooks Ravenna is dead. It cannot be had new in box for love nor money.

You can, however, get it used…

THAT’S RIGHT – I BOUGHT USED RUNNING SHOES

Look, I was smart about it. I pored over all the pictures, checking for the sort of flaws that could signal lengthy wear: rubs, tears, rips, etc. Specifically I gave great weight to the state of the soles. If the treads appeared as good as new, how many miles could really be on ’em, you know? You know? Right? You know?

Anyway, as experiments go, it was a cheap risk. I found a pair of Brooks Ravenna 7s – so still within the range of medial post goodness – that appeared to be in excellent shape, with minimal tread loss. I snagged ’em off ebay for around $30. They arrived looking just as the had in the photos, carefully packaged and ready to function as my running shoe time machine.

But it was not to be. Listen – I don’t know if it was really the shoes’ fault. I’m still having some knee issues, and the Ravennas have proven too hard to provide the necessary cushioning. I don’t think I can use them comfortably at present.

Now, is that a function of the used condition of the shoes, the inherent age of the shoes, or the design of the Ravenna itself? Brooks billed them as springy, not soft, and that was part of what I liked about the model. I’m not sure if they didn’t work their magic because the soles were secretly too worn down, because time has broken them down, or because my knee currently cries out for a different set of shoe priorities. Either way, I am forced to admit that the beautiful reunion I had fashioned in my fantasies was not to be. Alas and alack.

I’M STILL SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT RUNNING SHOE

And maybe I always will be. Right now I’m using the Brooks Hyperion Max; that thicccccc cushioning is somehow counterbalanced by a preternatural lightness. Can they save my knee in my upcoming Marine Corps Marathon bid? Good Lord, I sure hope so. But I don’t know so. Nor do I know that I’ll like the Hyperion Max 2 nearly as much.

Still, if there’s one thing everyone knows about a distance runner, it’s that they never give up. See, well, the entire ridiculous scenario above. Who would buy used running shoes of days past in an effort to fix the present? Obviously I would, as I am nothing if not divorced from reality, but would you?

… You know what, if you would, don’t let me dissuade you. I think there are some circumstances, if one were very lucky, where it could work. It’s certainly worth a shot. Used shoes are pretty cost-effective, after all.

Or Brooks could just start making the Ravenna the way I remember it again. You hear that, Brooks? I’m waiting! 😜

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