I hate to post this so early considering it is only August and there is so much (hopefully) nice weather left in the year, but I wanted to get some opinions on running specific snowshoes if anyone has tried them. Are there certain brands that are better than others and any in particular that people would recommend.
Sorry for getting all old man winter on you in the middle of august but I am planning ahead 
Nate
Dion snowshoes
Made in the USA in Vermont, by Bob Dion, who is a mainstay in snowshoe racing in the northeast. He stands behind his product 100%. I have a pair and they are very nice shoes.
I have Red Feather racing but with my travels way up north in NY, DION’s should be considered, I think you can build your own
.
I’ve used a pair of Atlas run snowshoes for the past nine winters (running on them two to three times a week from December to March). They’ve worked well for me and have been durable. Great snowshoes for packed trails and in up to 3 inches of powder - work gets exponentially harder in snow depth beyond that, but any run-specific snowshoe is going to have a hard time in deeper powder.
Here’s a link to the Atlas run shoes. http://atlassnowshoe.com/product/run. You can also get the lighter, more expensive “Race” model if you’re concerned about weight and have more money to spend.
x2 on the Atlas Run/Race Series.
I actually won the Canadian Snowshoes Racing Series in Ontario last winter on a set of the Race model. As mentionned above, they are pretty much useless in deep powder. But if you want to go light and fast on hardpack surfaces - they are the bee’s knee. Again, a racing inspired model - not to be used to touring/hiking/mountaineering.
A few fellow racers had problems with harness on the Race model. They essentially blew up after a few KMs of racing. I have not had this issue arise - and I am a big guy weighing in at 180 lbs stark naked. Others raced on the Run and swore by - claiming the harness is more durable. Atlas quickly replaced the defective harness but it is a bummer to have one blow out on you in a race.
Also worth a look is the Dion (no relation to Celine) model. They are modular which meens you can choose a frame/harness/crampon length (short or long depending on snow conditions) to suit your needs. They price similar to the Atlas Run/Race serie. They are extremely hard to find in stores (in Ontario anyways) but are available online. One racer I competed against swore by them - but I smoked him during the race so take that for what it’s worth.
Hope this helps.