I’m still very excited about my latest sneaker acquisition, and ironically I don’t really have many people to share it with. For the past six years, I’ve been known as the Nike fanatic – the guy that only wears Nike sneakers. That is mostly true, although I do have a few other pairs of sneakers that I just don’t ever post on @nikestories.
For the most part, I haven’t had a desire to pick up any sneakers that weren’t Nike anyway…until last week. I was flipping through an old Eastbay catalog from 1996, and saw my old running sneakers from high school: the Saucony 3D G.R.I.D. Hurricane. I remember trying out for the cross country team one summer and those were the shoes I wore. They featured a visible 3D G.R.I.D. system that cushioned and absorbed shock while adding stability and motion control. This was my first serious running shoe, and it was the standard for all future running shoes I would own.
I ended up giving them to my uncle a few years later; we were the same size, and the pair he had on looked a little raggedy. My uncle passed away unexpectedly last year, and as I reflected on the memories I had of him, I remembered that moment we shared talking about those Saucony’s 20 years ago.
After I saw the 3D G.R.I.D. Hurricanes in the Eastbay last week, I did a quick google search to see what would pop up. There was the old print ad, which I had taped on my wall back in high school – “Never Stop Training!” it said. Incredibly, another link popped up for a brand new pair in my size on eBay.
I clicked on the link, looked at the photos, and researched the seller. Everything looked legit. I decided to message the seller to see if I could get anymore info on them, and he was happy to oblige. After a few days of contemplation and discussion with my wife, I decided to pull the trigger on them.
I can’t remember the last pair of non-Nike sneakers I’ve bought; it must be at least 7 years by now. When the box arrived at my doorstep on Saturday, “Reunited” by Peaches & Herb danced in my head. As I opened up the box, all I could do was smile and marvel at how great they looked. This pair had never even been laced up and still had the original tissue paper smushed inside the toeboxes. The insoles were still crispy white, and there was barely any yellowing whatsoever on the exterior of the shoe. The visible G.R.I.D. system looked just how I remembered it. And that smell – they still had that distinct new Saucony shoe smell 25 years later. Incredible.
I tried to be patient and just enjoy staring at them, but within a few hours I had the left shoe laced up and decided to try them on. With sneakers this old, you have to be very careful as they can crumble or begin to separate at any moment. These seem super solid, though, which has given me a new appreciation for the quality of Saucony sneakers. I’ve seen plenty of Nike sneakers that are over 20 years old that have all cracked by now. At least with these, the quality of the materials is top-notch.
At some point, I hope to actually wear these out in public just for fun. I don’t think anyone will realize how old they are, but the fun of wearing a sneaker that I wore as a kid is really what sneaker collecting is all about for me.
