This is my 2nd pair of Merrell Barefoot running shoes. The others I have are "Trailgloves", the only difference being the canvas material on these is mesh on them. Okay. These are great bare foot running shoes. They will definitely stand the test of time & miles. I ran a half-marathon October 2011 in these. It was a Personal Best for me, 1 hr 44 min. However, I had a painful knot in my right inner shin for sometime afterward. It was directly related to running in these. Even though I trained for 3 months or so in these. It just goes to show that barefoot running requires alot of patience & persistence. I suggest a good compression sock to go with these (if you want to cover alot of mileage in them, like a marathon, or a half even).