Hokas - Pocus

 

For my recent birthday, my sister, Nancy, gave me a gift card for the express purpose of buying a pair of Hoka shoes.  Being a renown track coach at the college level, she was an aficionado of the famed brand that began in France.  She believed that their Gaviota model was perfect for me to help alleviate the pain from my arthritic knees, improve my gait, and help with my overpronation (inward roll).  Per the Hoka website, “The Gaviota 4 contains our J-Frame(TM) technology designed to prevent excessive inward roll, or overpronation, without overcorrecting your gait.”

People that wear Hokas really love them.  They really love them.  They will tell you so with minimal to no prompting.  They say they are the most comfortable shoes they have ever worn and may even say it over and over again using different superlative adjectives and imagery.  A significant number brag that they have more than one pair.  They wear them for running, walking, recovery (from running), and casually.  It is almost as if their lives revolve around their Hokas.  I am certain when I post this, there will certainly have people raving about their Hokas in the comments.

I mostly see people wearing them casually.  They are very easy to notice.  The have very thick, spongy, soles in all white or white and pastels.  Like Nike before it, the distinctive Hoka logo is very visible and immediately recognizable.  The shoes come in a variety of colors trendy and cool colors. 

Other shoe companies now offer models that are Hoka like.  I have seen Nikes, Addidas, New Balance, Merrill, and others.  I even bought a pair of Merrells because they were on sale and had a Hoka like look about them.  They were good shoes nothing like the Hoka testimonials I had been hearing about. 

I went to the Deerfield location of Fleet Feet to get fitted and purchase my Hoka Gaviotas.  The store, as evident by their name, caters to serious runners.  Everyone that works there looks as if they may have run a marathon in the past few weeks or about to run one in the next month.  They were with wearing Hokas or the Nike equivalents.  The young sales associates working there for the summer are all college students who are on the track or cross-country teams.  My guy was one of the summer workers. We related more that he was a business major and that I was a professor of business more.

As it turns out, they did not have any Gaviotas in my large shoe size.  Like many chain stores today, we were able to place and order online and have them mailed to my house.  I was not at all daring in the color scheme and went with the simple black and white which were exactly the same colors of the aforementioned Merrells.

A few days later the shoes arrived.  I open the shipping carton and then the shoe box.  I held my new Hokas.  I might have even raised them to the sky like Mufasa raised the newborn Simba to the sky in the Lion King.  I then, finally, tried them on.  I tied the laces and took my first Hoka steps.  Frankly, I was a little let down.  They were certainly cushy and comfortable.  But based on all the hype and hyperbole of all the Hoka fans who have raved of their life changing transformative Hoka experiences, I expected something… well… more than I experienced.  I thought I might hear a fanfare of angelic trumpets as I took my first step.  I thought I might be overcome with a surge of enlightenment and insight into the mysteries of life.

Oh well.  I was still happy to have them.

After wearing them for a few weeks, I have noticed a difference.  There has been a modest improvement in both gait and ease of walking.  I like my Hokas.  I will wear them often and give a positive review if asked about them.  Rest assured though that I will not promise they are anything more than a good, comfortable, well cushioned, and supportive lightweight pair of shoes.