New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay

Name: New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay
Brand: New Balance
Rating: 4.3 (10 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 9 oz · 4mm drop · 22/18mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay 3 replaced it

How it ranks

The New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay sits about average for daily trainers in our data. Comfort and durability are its strongest sub-ratings. Cushioning scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 10 runner reviews and 2 other rated shoes in the Fresh Foam Boracay product line. Another 2 reviews would set the confidence on this shoe's own reviews.

Decent

78/100

Overall

Decent 78

Comfort

Decent 80

Durability

Decent 73

Value

Decent 71

Appearance

Decent 71

Cushioning

Below average 68

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

80/100

Moderate 80

What runners say

“Enough cushioning for 17–18 mi long runs, light and responsive for 6 min/mi progression runs”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8

“Comfortable, soft ride but not too heavy or cushy”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw 556 miles in this shoe came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Relatively light; keeps turnover quick with stable, solid footstrike”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8

“Cushioned enough for 13 mi runs yet light enough for fast running”

4/5 Full review 45 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Very cushioned and grippy; still grips well when worn down”

4/5 Full review 35 mpw training for middle distance came from the New Balance 1080 v4

“Low drop with a flat chunk of foam on the bottom”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8

“2 mi in, bottoms of feet hurt and burn”

3/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Inspire 11

“Upper tears at the seam between upper and midsole around the ball of the big toe”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw 556 miles in this shoe came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Does not wrap foot; leaves gaps under the arch”

3/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Inspire 11

“Doesn't maintain comfort after about an hour at a time”

4/5 Full review 32 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

Prefer this shoe over another

50% 6/12

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers find it light enough for fast runs and cushioned enough for long ones.
Comfort draws consistent praise from reviewers logging base training miles.

Cons

Several reviewers say the cushioning flattens somewhere between 250 and 450 miles.
Reviewers report the foam feeling hard in cold weather.
Value draws the lowest ratings of any dimension, at 3.9 out of 5.

Fresh Foam Boracay rates 78. This shoe has moderate certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay

Each dot is one version of the Fresh Foam Boracay, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

78 2015 89 2017 79 2017

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Fresh Foam Boracay v3

2017 · 5 reviews

79 Decent

62 Confidence
Fresh Foam Boracay 3

2017 · 1 review

89 Good

52 Confidence
Fresh Foam Boracay This shoe

2015 · 10 reviews

78 Decent

80 Confidence

Reader Ratings

10 ratings

5/5 4

4/5 5

3/5 1

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 9 oz
Release: 2015
MSRP: $120
Stack Height: 22mm heel - 18mm toe
Drop Height: 4mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Went well. Very cushioned and grippy despite how the sole looks; still grips well when worn down. Not very durable, however. I feel it dying after ~250 miles.

Anonymous runner · Feb 29, 2016

35 mpw training for middle distance came from the New Balance 1080 v4

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 3/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 3/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Comfortable but wears quickly

Anonymous runner · Feb 21, 2016

15 mpw came from the Saucony Ride 6

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 3/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Excellent for any type of base training miles. Only downers are that the fresh foam is kind of hard when cold and the shoes doesn't maintain comfort after about an hour at a time. I've got about 400 miles on them.

Anonymous runner · Feb 4, 2016

32 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

This is my second pair of Boracays, I got around 450 in my first pair before the cushioning became too worn out (my form is lopsided so one pair was significantly more damaged than the other), but this is the normal distance I would expect from any pair of running shoes. 100 miles in this pair and they are great. Cushioned enough for 13 mile runs but surprisingly light enough for whenever I forget my workout shoes to still do some fast running.

Anonymous runner · Dec 9, 2015

45 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Great trainer. I love the low drop, and how it has a flat chunk of foam on the bottom. No BS acceleration boost gel crap that messes with your mechanics. It's also relatively light. Keeps my turnover quick, and footstrike is always stable and solid. I remember it taking a day or two to get used to the feel, but it's now become my main trainer. Has enough cushioning for long runs (17-18mi), but is light and responsive enough for progression runs where you might drop down to around 6min/mi. Would highly recommend.

Anonymous runner · Dec 9, 2015

80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8