By Kieran Alger
If there’s one piece of kit in your running set up that you really need to get right, it’s your running shoes. Finding the right footwear can transform your daily miles. Not to mention help you ace those goals on race days. Heck, for many of us, knowing we’ve got comfy shoes to take care of business can be the difference between getting out of the front door or not. However, with so many brands, so many styles and more tech jargon than an AI conference, it can be hard to spot what’s best for you.
Luckily I’ve logged hundreds of test miles in many of the latest shoes and I’m here to help you whittle down the winners from the also-rans. To make things easier, I’ve lined them up in categories, based on what you might use them for. I then picked my top shoe in each category, along with a few other excellent picks in the same ballpark.
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We’ll be updating this regularly if and when better shoes land. But for now, from cushioned easy-run shoes, to all-out carbon racers and do-it-all daily trainers, here’s my tried and tested pick of the best running shoes you can lace up right now.
Best Easy Run Shoes
In this category we’re looking for ultimate comfort for your slow-run and recovery days. That tends to mean the big stack, big cushion, comfort shoes built to deliver dependable plush rides for the easiest miles.
1. Brooks Glycerin Max - Best Easy Run Shoe
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; Brooks
It’s taken Brooks longer than most brands to embrace the mega-midsole, max-stack trend. But now that they have, they’ve gone all in. The Glycerin Max packs a truly giant, rockered stack of new DNA Tuned nitrogen-infused foam, harnessing a technology that lets Brooks tune the softness, and the springiness, in different areas of the shoe. Larger cells at the heel cater for softer, more cushioned landings, while smaller cells at the forefoot return quicker to improve energy return and create snappier toes off. It works too.
The Glycerin Max offers lots of road-impact reducing softness and oodles of protection, without feeling too soggy, too mushy, or too laboured. There’s a smooth clip-along ride and some good forefoot responsiveness. There’s a bit of energy to the new DNA Tuned foam, a resilience and a bit of spring, Everything most runners need in an easy day shoe to make the easy miles feel a touch easier.
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2. New Balance 1080v14
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; New Balance
Another shoe that delivers bucketloads of comfort for easy to mid-pace daily miles. The 1080v14 has comfortable mesh uppers, generously-padded tongues and heel collars and a rockered midsole that offers some extra snappiness, smooth transitions and a more immediate ride. Good easy comfort, with a touch of extra versatility.
3. ASICS Gel Nimbus 27
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; ASICS
This big-stack dependable cushioned daily trainer eats road impact for fun thanks to a wide, stable, reliable platform, comfy uppers and cosy padded heel collars. It’s a combination that delivers plenty of protection and plushness in a heavier shoe that’s good for slower miles (not so good for fast) and would definitely suit heavier runners.
4. On Cloudmonster Hyper
Also Available at
On Running
The Cloudmonster Hyper aimed to hype up On’s regular Cloudmonster daily trainer up to super trainer status for faster miles. However, where it really excels is providing incredible lightweight cushioning that’s great for low and slow miles. It packs a big wedge of high-energy PEBA in an EVA Helion CloudTec foam cradle and a nylon-blend Speedboard plate in the middle, to provide greater efficiency from touchdown to toe off. The result is a good easy miler with serious long-haul potential.
Best Do-it-All Daily Trainers
The best daily trainers have the versatility to cover almost all of your training runs from the easy daily miles to those faster speed sessions. If you could only buy one shoe, these would be great.
1. ASICS Superblast 2 - Best Do-it-All Daily Trainers
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; ASICS
The ASICS Superblast 2 is among the most versatile, capable all-rounders you can buy right now. It’s livelier than the ASICS Novablast 5 and right up there with the Saucony Endorphin Speed 4 as a brilliant option for covering almost any run.
The ASICS Superblast 2 packs a massive stacked, wide dual foam midsole with a mix of Flytefoam Blast+ Eco and Flytefoam Turbo+. But it’s surprisingly light for a whopping great shoe. It offers big, cushioned comfort that’s soft and bouncy and not too soggy. Plus there’s good leg-sparing energy from the energetic but controlled midsole.
It’s the kind of shoe that feeds back the energy you put in but also looks after you if you’re intensity dips. You could buy this to cover an entire training and racing block for a marathon. It’s about as close as you’ll get to having one go-to shoe that can almost replace your whole rotation.
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2. Saucony Endorphin Speed 4
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; Saucony
Another genuine all-rounder, the Speed 4 offers a lively cushioned ride that feels light and full of energy without any harshness or fussy business. It’s a more streamlined and agile shoe that feels immediately natural on the foot. It pairs the easy comfort of a daily trainer with a propulsive ride that’s more like a carbon racer. It might be too aggressive for some runners for longer distances but if you’re a fan of a direct ride, you’ll love it. If I was only allowed to buy one shoe, to do all of my training and racing for a marathon, this would be high on the shortlist.
3. Adidas Boston 12
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; Adidas
This high-performing speedy trainer bridges the gap between everyday mileage and race-day intensity. It combines responsive cushioning with a streamlined feel. You’ve got a dual-foam Lightstrike Pro and Lightstrike 2.0 midsole that delivers a snappy, energetic ride, with Adidas’s Enegy Rods for extra propulsion without feeling overly rigid. It’s light enough to fly through intervals but cushioned enough for tempo runs and long miles. The Boston is a really good multitasker.
4. HOKA Mach X2
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports
The HOKA Mach X2 is a speedy daily trainer that delivers a poppy, energetic ride thanks to a combination of a high stack of and carbon plate. It’s not the most forgiving shoe when you’re moving at your slowest or heaviest, but there’s just about enough protection to cover all but the plodding miles. It’s a strong pick for everything else up to faster training efforts and races up to a half marathon. A brilliant update from HOKA and one of the year’s standout shoes.
Best All-Out Marathon Carbon Race Shoes
These are the shoes you turn to when you’ve done the hard yards and you’re ready to put it all on the line for that marathon PR. Stripped back, carbon plate race shoes that keep things light and minimal. But sometimes sacrificing comfort for speed.
1. ASICS Metaspeed Sky Paris - Best Marathon Race Shoe
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; ASICS
The ASICS Metaspeed Sky Paris is a top-tier carbon race shoe built for speed over distances from 5km to the marathon. In 2024, I set personal bests in the marathon and the 5km in this shoe. It delivers an energetic, snappy ride that expertly balances cushioning, stiffness, and spring.
The ride is protective enough for marathon efforts without compromising ground feel, and it’s light and agile enough for shorter races, too. A narrower midsole design enhances precision and agility, compared to wider carbon shoes like the Nike Alphafly 3. The stiffness and spring is a little reminiscent of the excellent Nike Vaporfly 2.
Stripped back for pure performance, the Metaspeed Sky Paris shines when your form is dialed in, though some might find the narrow platform less stable. Despite this, it’s hard to rival the performance of this shoe. If you’re chasing PRs and want a race-day weapon, the ASICS Metaspeed Sky Paris is an outstanding choice.
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2. Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 PB
If the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 lacked a competitive carbon shoe punch, the Elite 4 PB – a sort of unscheduled stop off en route to the Hyperion Elite 5 – now delivers the energetic ride we’ve all craved.
It puts Brooks right in the front pack with the best carbon races. The uppers remain unchanged but the midsole has swapped in a new 100% PEBA DNA Gold foam that works with the carbon plate and lightweight uppers to create a ride that offers good spring and bounce but does it with good consistency. If you’re after controlled energy, the Brooks Hyperion ELite 4 PB is your shoe.
3. Saucony Endorphin Elite 2
Also Available at
Saucony
The Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 is hands down the softest, squishiest carbon race shoe I’ve ever laced up. The new IncrediRUN midsole compresses further than any other foam and then springs back to create a unique, fun, lively and somewhat wild ride.
It’s wild underfoot with little stability and definitely at its best racing long straight urban city marathon with even ground underfoot. In those conditions, when you’re in top form and focusing carefully on your footstrike, this is a fast shoe with PR potential. If you’re looking for protection should things go ragged in the latter stages of race, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
4. Adidas Adios Pro 4
Also Available at
Adidas
The Adidas Adios Pro 4 builds on the strengths of its predecessors with a refined design that maximizes energy return and efficiency. And crucially fixes some of the upper fussiness that hampered the comfort of the Adios Pro 3.
The dual-layer Lightstrike Pro midsole, combined with EnergyRods 2.0, delivers a smooth, propulsive ride that feels fast yet well-cushioned. This makes it a strong contender for marathon efforts, with enough protection to keep your legs fresh over long distances. The only warning: in my marathon test, the narrow, short toe box battered my toe nails badly. So pay attention to sizing.
5. Nike Alphafly 3
Nike’s record-breaking race shoe is still a top-tier choice for chasing fast times over the 26.2. It boasts a dual-layer ZoomX midsole paired with two visible Zoom Air pods in the forefoot, offering excellent energy return and bounce. The updated full-length carbon plate boosts the responsive ride and the slightly broader platform adds a touch more stability without sacrificing speed. Still one of the best marathon shoes going.
Best Comfort Marathon Running Shoes
For those who want to get round the marathon (or half) in reliable comfort with a little help.
1. ASICS Novablast 5 - Best Comfort Marathon Shoe
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; ASICS
The ASICS Novablast 5 is not the fastest shoe, it’s not the softest. It sits somewhere in between. That makes it a good option for long haul comfort over the marathon distance where you want to tread the fine line of comfort but speed.
It’s the only ASICS shoe with a big stack of FF Blast Max across the entire midsole. That makes for a nice smooth ride that responds well on toe-off and feels springy but controlled. When you’re feeling good, running with good form and pushing the pace, the Novablast 5 feels energetic.
But it’s also cushioned enough to accommodate slower paces. So if you’re looking for a shoe that’s got your back whatever the marathon miles throw at you, this is a good option. Easy, controlled comfort and consistency in a package that’s not too heavy.
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2. New Balance SC Trainer V3
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; New Balance
This very accomplished daily trainer packs a decent level of cushioning that’s highly protective but not too soft or soggy. It takes the edge of the road impact nicely while also serving up controlled energy for eating up miles on longer runs. The big stack of 20% Peba blended foam works with a carbon plate to provide a smooth, energetic ease that’s good whether you’re holding on for dear life beyond mile 20 or pushing a slightly faster marathon pace to the finish line. There’s lots of versatility here and it’d be a good weapon in anyone’s marathon training line-up, right through to race day.
3. ASICS Superblast 2
Also Available at
Zappos ; Holabird Sports ; ASICS
I’ve extolled the all-round virtues of this shoe above and that extends to running a marathon in comfort. The combination of the big stack, wide platform, roomy uppers, balanced padding in the heel collars all add up to a happy, comfy marathon shoe. A sort-of turbo Novablast 5, the Superblast 2 offers a similarly consistent performance. I’ve run a 4-hour marathon in this shoe and the standout takeaway from that test was that you know what you’re getting from mile one to mile 26.
4. Nike Pegasus 41
Caveat first: some runners might find the lower profile of the Nike Pegasus 41 a bit under-cushioned for four or five hours on feet. However, if you want an alternative to big stack, bulkier shoes, that still delivers good cushioning and reliable, stable, more traditional comfort, the Pegasus 41 is it. I ran a 4-hour marathon in this shoe and there’s a real ease, with a roomy flexible fit that’s great for longer time on feet. A good choice for a first time marathoner who wants to keep things simple.
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