Aside from sneakers, the most crucial piece of running gear is the sports bra, at least for us women. Flimsy straps or an unfortunate lack of support can leave you feeling really uncomfortable—and add minutes to your time. No, really. A survey in the British Medical Journal of nearly 1,400 women who ran the 2012 London Marathon found that uncontrolled breast movement resulted in a four-centimeter reduction in stride with every step. That’s equal to the loss of one full mile over the course of a marathon due to a shortened stride. We don’t know about you, but we don’t want to unknowingly run the equivalent of 27.2 miles while striving to beat our personal best.
Running sneaker and apparel brand Brooks took those concerns to the lab and developed a range of jog-friendly bras that would solve the problem of the missing extra mile. Over the course of more than eight years of research, the brand tested prototypes on more than a thousand female runners of various body shapes. Named the Dare Run Bras, the collection comprises six different sports bras that range in sizes from 30A/B (XS) to 40E (XXL), all of which are meant to diminish bounce and increase support to help decrease run times. From zip fronts, high necks and racer backs that offer lots of support for big busts, to cross back and strappy options for smaller busts, Brooks took plenty of body types into consideration for this line.
Naturally, we jumped at the chance to put them to the test on runners of all different skill levels, from casual joggers to two-time marathoners. Each reviewer was asked to wear the bra on their normal running schedule over the course of two weeks. Afterward, we had them rank their bra from one to five in terms of support, comfort, fit, bounce control, style and range of motion. And to be honest, the results were kind of surprising.