Substituting a treadmill workout for outdoor running may seem monotonous—if not torturous—for runners who crave the feeling of feet hitting pavement and the challenges of reaching a target pace across unpredictable terrain.The 2024 launch of the Wahoo Kickr Run, with its Run Free mode meant to replicate outdoor running, created new levels of hype around treadmills. I saw hundreds of spectators gather around demos of the machine at trade shows like The Running Event, held in Austin, Texas, last November. They ogled at the Kickr Run’s capability to change inclines and speeds hands-free, using novel time-of-flight sensors to gauge a runner’s positioning.Could the Kickr Run kick to the curb age-old stigmas surrounding treadmills among serious runners?Shortly after the treadmill’s release, Wahoo lent us a Kickr Run for testing at Wirecutter’s Long Island City, New York, office. I and 10 other runners have put some 150 miles on it in the time since. Because we happened to be testing a couple other machines in the office at the time for an update to our treadmills guide, we were also able to directly compare the experience of running on the Kickr Run with that of running on our more-traditional picks.