New Balance’s Gator Run sneaker is such a bizarre concoction of disparate shoe details that it’s difficult to describe. Is this an aggressive trail shoe? A throwback retro runner? Or maybe an indulgent animal-skin sneaker? Answer: Yes.

By smashing together various parts from various New Balance sneakers, the American sportswear giant has produced a final product not quite like any other New Balance shoe. This is the Gator Run.

First, there’s the material. The Gator Run gets its name in part from this glossy faux crocodile leather upper, offered in either deep burgundy or black, which can only be compared to possibly New Balance’s other weirdest sneaker, its 1906L croc sneaker-loafer. However, instead of a dress-shoe hybrid, the shiny imitation animal skin takes the form of a classic runner that recalls the New Balance 471’s upper in its simplicity.

Move down to the underfoot, and things only get stranger. These aggressive tooth-like lugs are apparently inspired by the brand’s grippiest trail shoe soles but wear an even sharper shape. The result is impressively cohesive despite these many aberrations, with the Gator Run looking like a real sign of the times: semi-flat, sorta weird, surprisingly wearable.

For New Balance, fashion’s pre-eminent maker of dad shoes, this is a considerable departure from its typical elderly lifestyle models. Dads in Ohio might love NB’s many tasteful grey suede sneakers, but what are they going to make of these croc-skinned, spiky-toothed beasts when they release on New Balance's website come January 21?

But then again, New Balance’s 2026 is shaping up to be a wild one. The brand entered the new year with a snakeskin remake of its long-established 1906 dad shoe and leaked images show it has a slithery snakeskin-patterned hybrid moccasin in the pipeline.

Just goes to show that the Gator Run isn't the only feral sneaker in New Balance's stable, though it may be the weirdest and maybe even best.

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