I stopped by the Brooks area and saw a pair of the coolest gloves I have ever seen. After a few minutes of waffling over them, I decided I had to have them. They were too awesome.
They are the Brooks "Adapt" Gloves, geared toward colder weather running with a bunch of cool features. They retail for $30 and as a warning, they do run a little small - I bought men's larges and while I have large hands, they actually fit just right.
They're built for cold, but not too cold weather (Brooks puts their recommended range at 40-65 degrees). They're not terribly thick, but have a decent fleece lining that kept my fingers toasty while I waited an hour for my corral to actually start the Hot Chocolate 5K, not to mention while I was running the race itself.
As a bonus, they also feature a stowable windshield (yes, STOWABLE - there is a pocket on the back of the glove to put the windshield when not in use) that you can pull over the fingers to make a mitten that protects against the cold wind sneaking through crannies in the gloves. I purchased the black/yellow color option, and the neon yellow windshield is great for increased visibility during night running. But if you don't opt for the yellow, the all the color options do have some reflective text for a little visibility.
The thumbs have an "MP3-compatible thumb pad" which I quite honestly can't figure out. It's not like normal "Smartphone" gloves where you can still operate your iPhone with your gloves on, because I tried to use my phone with my thumbs while wearing the gloves and it just didn't work. It looks snazzy because the thumb pad actually looks like an iPod click wheel, but I can't operate my phone with the gloves on, which is a bummer.
However, the part that slightly redeems the inoperable MP3 thumb pad is the foldback thumb, so even if the thumb pad doesn't let you operate your Smartphone with the glove on, you can fold back the thumb part of the glove and free your thumb for all your RunKeeper needs.
Keep the pair together with the (slightly weak but they do the trick) magnets on each glove, and you're at least a little less likely to lose one.
Overall, I give the gloves a 4 of out 5. I would like them better if the thumb pad actually let me browse my iPhone while wearing them, but they're still a set of pretty sweet gloves. I'll definitely continue to wear them for cooler-weather races and when just out for a run.
