I am a huge fan of the New Balance line of sport/fitness shoes and have been wearing them exclusively for many years. I was never a hardcore runner, but I was a power walker and sometimes did jogging sprints during my walks to up the cardio and caloric burn. These days, I do more leisurely walking for the most part due to painful arthritis in my feet and knees.

For most of my years wearing New Balance shoes, I wore walking shoes. In recent years, with the increasing need for support and cushioning due to my foot pain, my local New Balance store recommended running shoes. I have been wearing the WR1012 most recently, though that style sadly has been discontinued. In the last few years, I have been wearing a 6 C/D. Since I am reviewing these shoes via the Amazon Vine program and only the B width was offered, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the B width shoe was more comfortable on me width-wise than most Bs. They are snug on me width-wise but doable, and I have room in the toe box.

This is, in my opinion, a sharp-looking shoe. The upper is a mix of mostly light gray suede-like leather with some dark gray accents and gray breathable fabric. The shoe is about the same weight as my WR1012 when I hold one in each hand, but this W990 feels MUCH less substantial on my foot than the WR1012.

I wear this shoe when I'm going to my volunteer jobs or going out to lunch and want to wear something a bit nicer looking than my older WR1012s but don't want to wear a dress shoe.

I do have pain if I wear this shoe, even just to go grocery shopping. I don't mean pain from the shoe rubbing, but arthritis pain. I can't ever imagine running in it or even power walking in it even if I was still doing those things. It just doesn't have the stability, cushioning and heft that I would need for that.

In summary, it's a good-looking shoe to wear around town because I wear sneakers almost all the time due to my arthritis but, even if I was still running, I would not think of running in these shoes.

3 1/2 stars