Many treadmills will work fine if you just need to run. Price increases with stability and features which make the run more quite (of course it will still be louder than an elliptical) so you have to consider what you really want in a treadmill. A decent treadmill should last quite a while, especially if you find someone qualified to service it. The problem with my Pacemaster is that it still works, so I can't justify getting an even higher end model.