I really liked the Merrill hikers I started buying about 10 years ago. I wore out about 4 pair over the course of about 6 years. Then they quit making them and the next time I tried to buy a pair of Merrill's none of them were near as good. There were a lot of discussions on a backpacking forum I belong to about this and the universal consensus came to be that Merrill was no longer a shoe we could recommend. As they…
Have you found the "new" Merrill?
Keen has been my go to for hiking and labor footwear. The quality reminds me of the Merrill gear I'd get in the early aughts. I'm not a runner though, so I can't speak to that aspect, but in the mountains and on the flats (and in snow and ice) they've been great to me.