This blog is being born of a bundle of feelings and interests I’ve had since the moment I decided to start taking running seriously — primarily around representation of bigger runners. I am going to outline those thoughts below, which will hopefully give you a feeling for the kind of posts you can I expect to see in the future.

A Lack of Representation

For better or worse, I am the type of person that dives into my hobbies fully. Find me all the YouTube channels, blogs, influencers, reviews of gear, and books available — I will consume all the content. Running was no exception. There are some excellent running reviews and influencers out there — some of my favorites include Believe in the Run and herm.runs. What I have not yet found, however, are consistent reviews of running gear, including apparel, that include the take of runners of… Less standard sizes. Believe in the Run sometimes has Chad in for shoe reviews, but I’m not sure I’ve seen him author any apparel or gear reviews. Herm is an awesome inspiration, but his focus is on spreading the running love, less so reviewing products.

I would love to see myself in more of the running reviews out there, but the reality is that most running reviewers seem to represent the “typical” runner physique. Typical in quotes because of course every body is different and there are, I am convinced, a ton of runners out there with body shapes like mine — we just aren’t as represented in the running social media or media ecosystem.

The frustration then, for a non-stereotypical runner like me (wide feet, heavy weight, giant head), is that I’m buying everything pretty much blind. Which leads me to my next point…

Running Brand Sizing

Running apparel and shoe sizing is all over the place. I suspect that all runners (or anyone buying clothing) experience this phenomenon, but I think it’s exaggerated at the upper end of sizing in athletic apparel. Not naming names (yet), but I can go to one brand and have an XXL be a great athletic fit, then head to another brand and I could probably barely fit my neck into the chest portion of the same size. Even worse, I can get an XXL of one style of shirt from a given brand, then order a different style of shirt and it feels two sizes smaller. Why is this necessary? Who does it help?

The same pain points apply to shoes. Given every quality of review out there seems to include a “true to size” criteria, we know that length of lasts differs both within and across brands. The benefit with length, though, is that unless you’re at the upper end of sizing, you can just size up or down as appropriate. It stinks to have to make the exchanges, but you’ll end up with a shoe that fits. This is rarely the case for width. A 2E width shoe is not always even that wide, especially in brands that just seem to add extra upper material for “wide” shoes. And that’s when you’re lucky they even made a 2E…

Bigger Sizes Are Rare

I carry a lot of weight in my belly and chest, so my problem is the upper half (I assume folks that carry weight on their lower half have a similar problem). Finding a shirt that fits, especially from “boutique” running brands, is an uphill battle. In casual shirts, I’m usually an XXL; in running shirts, I am usually nothing — as in, many brands don’t even approach the size I would need. A lot of smaller running brands, who have the interesting designs and fabrics, seem to top out at XL and, in my opinion, not a real XL much of the time (as in, a size or two below a casual XL). Even in larger sports brands, a “true” XXL is rare.

The same thing holds true for wide sized shoes, something all those wide footed runners already know all too well. While it is getting better, a lot of the really popular styles are not represented in wide (2E, 4E) sizes. Almost worse, as if teasing us, sometimes they release those desirable styles in 2E… Black. No exciting color-ways, just black… Or gray… Or navy. I guess I’ll take it over no 2E at all, but did the marketing department just decide black was the most pleasing color? Give me some neons, some pastels, some pink!

I understand that these are businesses and expanded sizes surely carry a cost. They have likely done the analysis and deemed the market of larger, runners of less common shapes is not big enough to justify those costs. But it sure would be great if those brands understood that we are out there and we can’t wait to spend our money on their products… Once they fit.

I Love Gear

A lot of runners may read this and think “surely there’s enough out there — find a brand, find a size, find a shoe and you’re set!” That is probably true, I could get by — I have enough apparel and shoes in my wardrobe right now to keep me running. But… I like gear. It’s fun to try new things. It’s exciting to feel the new foam. I feel good about myself in my stylish new kit. That’s why all these new boutique running brands exist — there’s a market for new styles, new fabrics, new foams, new everything. Maybe that doesn’t make me the most responsible consumer, but it helps keep me excited about running, which I think is important.

The Reason for This Blog

I am lucky that I do well enough I can afford to experiment with gear that may or may not fit; products that may or may not work. Not every runner out there will be so lucky, but may still be interested in new gear. For those runners that want someone else to experiment for them, and are also of a bigger size or an “odd” shape that isn’t represented in many reviews, I want to be that person with advice. I want to help find the gear that does fit, the brands that do cater to our sizes, the products that work for me in all my big, wide glory — and that I hope will work for others in a similar predicament.

There may also be another, less direct objective… Maybe some running brands will see my struggles, know my sorrows, appreciate my audience and think: “Hey! Let’s start making sizes for these runners!”

One can hope…

How This Blog Will Be Different

So given the above objective, how will I try and accomplish my goals? Well, to start with, I myself am a bigger, “oddly” shaped runner. I am a male, 37 years old, > 250 pounds, 5’10”, 2E feet, and a 24.5” circumference head (all as of time of writing this post). Given those specs, I feel like I’m a good candidate for representing this category of sizes.

Additionally, I have unique things planned. I will regularly be taking and uploading body measurements. These measurements will be available on my author profile and, more importantly, each blog post will automatically include the measurements taken closest to the time the blog was posted. Hopefully this will give people a frame of reference for my size relative to their size, and relative to the product sizing, so they can get an idea of how things may fit them. This will be there on day one.

Later on, I have some further ideas I want to incorporate. I want to create a tool to track the runs I use different gear on. This would enable me to tie that gear to Strava runs, so I can tie everything together including measurements, paces, and weather when the gear was used. This would ideally give a comprehensive picture of the gear, the user, and the runs.

Finally, if I get enough interest and can find willing parties, I would love to incorporate additional reviewers that represent different body shapes and sizes. Also, I only have the male perspective and sizing seems even less kind for women, so I would love to incorporate a female viewpoint somehow.

Stick with me through this journey and hopefully we can build a comprehensive review environment for all runners.

Follow Along

If you find the prospect of the journey outlined above interesting, check back often for new reviews and stories. Or, if you want updates to come to you, connect with the Bluesky or RSS links at the bottom right (in the footer) of each page.