I've been wearing New Balance MR-1061 shoes for almost the entire year so far. This shoe comes in silver and orange. When I was looking to get my 3rd pair, I was trying to find an orange version, but it was proving a bit difficult. On my way back from a New Balance store, I thought to myself that maybe I can dye my shoe the color I wanted.

My first attempt was done using a red Sharpie marker. I tried this on a pair of shoes that I already had 500 miles on and that I only use as an emergency pair of shoes. This didn't work out too well. Even though the marker is permanent, I found that it tended to rub off on the inside of my shoe and on to my socks. (I think the color is now set. I've been using these shoes every now and again and I haven't noticed the color running anymore)

My next attempt was with a dye marker. I found a FabricMate dye marker in green at a Michael's craft store. I then carefully colored in the mesh parts of the shoe. Being a marker, it was very simple. I bought 6 markers as I didn't know how much I would need, but I ended up using just 2, one for each shoe. I think I could have probably used just one as the first one hadn't actually run out, but when I went to do the second shoe, I decided to start with a fresh marker.

So far, the shoe has held up very well. The color hasn't run or washed off despite the shoe getting wet. These were the same shoes I wore for my first marathon.

For comparison, here is what the original shoe looks like:

I have come to like my green shoes which are very unique. I now plan to color every pair of shoes I get a different color. I did manage to eventually find the orange version of my New balance shoes so I now have red, green, and orange pairs of shoes. I think the next one will be a bright blue.