Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Yes, I bought the Merrell Trail Glove as my first pair of running shoes earlier this year. So much for the sandal man image. 🙂 There were a few reasons why I wanted to try these. Faster descents, keeping my feet warm in the colder months and really, just faster runs. After a series of sandal malfunctions (at Fort Ord 50K and Way Too Cool 50K), there had to be a set of footwear where I could run 31+ miles without worrying about blisters. I went in with tremendous apprehension and kept looking quite a bit for something super minimalist and the Merrell Trail Glove 2 seemed to fit the bill.

Merrell Trail Glove 2

I broke them in with a 15 miler that included asphalt & trails and just felt at home. I felt a small amount of chaffing around my left pinky, but nothing a trimmed toenail din’t fix. The only other time I had an issue with the Merrell Trail Glove was on one of my 20 mile commute runs. I felt a pinch on the top of left foot and I was a little worried that it might be a stress fracture of sorts. But this was a one time incident and never happened again.

After running barefoot and in sandals for 2+ years, my toes splay out quite a bit. The Merrell Trail Glove has a fairly wide toe box and I didn’t feel the toes getting scrunched up. With 6.3 ounces per shoe, these shoes are super light. The stack height of 12mm means great ground feel, even though it has a 1mm rock plate. I tend to wear the laces pretty loose and the 8.5 US size fit my feet snugly. I ran the Night Sweats Trail Marathon (at night, duh!) and was very pleasantly surprised by the traction. More recently, I ran the Woodside Ramble 50K with muddy portions and the Merrell Trail Glove held up fabulously. After 400 miles, there aren’t many signs of wear. Just some muddy stains.

I liked these shoes so much, I did the obvious. I bought another pair while supplies last. Amazon had the Merrell Trail Glove 2 on sale for $60.99 which, you must admit, is a reasonable price for a great pair of shoes.

Have you tried the Merrell Trail Glove 2? What are your impressions?