hey Cat it's your mits old man Ed Bud here a while back I did a video where I have my best race shoes for each common Race distance and the viewers have been on to me for ages to do a refresh of that one so of course I'm well up for that like a pig in the phone we're going to go through 5K 10K the half marathon and the full Marathon distance loads to get through it's a really big script this one so let's get to [Music] it thanks for joining me on the channel everybody
it's really appreciated do hit that subscribe button and give this video a thumbs up like too it really helps us out as well if you drop us a comment as well with your race Sho selections down below hits up with a super thanks as well become a member if you want to support the channel on a MOA frequent basis D so we're going to kick off with the classic 5K all out hold on for dear life kind of thing for 5K I think I want something that's a little bit more minimal in terms of cushion
it's got to be on the lighter side of the scales so for me I instantly dismiss some of those sort of bigger more foamy shoes things like the alpha fly 3 and stuff I did test that recently on a part run which was a course with loads of turns actually some quite sharp Corners which cost me a few seconds but I wasn't far off 20 minutes and I was well happy with that so maybe that is a good shoe for me for 5K I'm still not convinced about that first shoe that comes to mind has
got to be the Tumi sen from Adidas I've tra spr out loads of these right back to the six I think and we're on the 10 I believe it's super light it's super Nimble I think if you were Jim Carry then you'd say it fits like a glove outsole as well with the Continental stuff here is superbly grippy the other thing I love about the Tumi sen model from adid Das is that you can use it on the track as well it just feels like it's at home there you have got this massive stack of
foam feels nice and responsive and as Super Shoes go I think a lot of lighter sort of more Nimble Runners perhaps could get a lot out of this one right up to the Half Marathon distance perhaps I think it's Ace especially for when you're doing reps or intervals in training and on the Hills as well the lightness of this shoe definitely makes it one for my top three 5K shoes and the great thing about it is you can pick up loads of pairs of this or the eight or nine for quite a cheap price as
well really good prices around about £100 I think that's great value for this what we got next for that 5K distance I think the metas speed Edge Paris from as6 has got to be included again I found the low weight of this one really outstanding kind of astonishing really how they've managed to get this much cushion but with such a low weight there's great grip here from this sort of stretch design that they've got on the out soole and the Bounce from the midsole is just unbelievable really I find it really engaging at 5K pace
for me that's around about 6 minutes 30 per mile I did find the meta speed and Edge Paris a little bit better and faster in terms of turnover which 5K for me it means I've got to increase the Cadence a little bit I've got quite a long stride so I find myself running in a slightly different way perhaps at 5K or 10K Pace just found this one was better for me at 5K speed Over The Meta speed Sky Paris I think it's down to the plate position this one's a little bit more I say this
tongue and cheek but traditional in terms of the plate placement with the plate coming down a little bit closer to the out soole in the 4T area just seems to fit better into my 5K operation think Cadence rather than airtime so that would be my second choice for the 5K now call me crazy but the likeness and the curvature of the forefoot of the shoe in the Endorphin Elite from sakon makes it another great option for me for 5K now yes I know it's a mammoth shoe the midso stack is humongous on this one but
it is crazy light and I find the power run HG foam in this shoe a lot more responsive than power run PB there isn't quite the squash here it's kind of a faster sort of return and I think that benefits me when I'm getting more steps in the harder I hit down on that 4ot area the more it seems to sort of spring me forward you might say I'm crazy you might say that I've lost it but I know this one's geared up for the marathon but for me it works better on 5K I mean
it's a very expensive 5K shoe yes but hey you know I tell it like it is I find it 5K Pace I want less squash I want less compression and that just seems to Jet it and that just seems to propel me forward a little bit better the uppers completely Bonkers on this shoe I like how they've removed loads of elements if you're into programming and stuff there's certainly some decomposition going on here they've got rid of stuff that just doesn't really function or do anything and left only the good stuff in so that's my
third and final shoe on my 5K selection onto 10K now and I've got it include the metas speed Sky Paris I have my best 10K times in this shoe in 2024 PB earlier in April 2024 at the Easter Bunny event in yelton and then an almost identical time over the 10K at the marok event in June it's bouncy yet it's engaging and allows me just to increase that stride length a little bit more which I start to do on 10K through to sort of marathon pace it's another plated shoe that I found to be very
exciting and sort of fun to run in it's sort of wildly light as well I don't know how as6 do it the only way perhaps it could be improved is by having a slightly less generous toe box here as it ended up being a little bit baggy as I start to tighten up the laces cinch them in and the other drawback I suppose is the durability the Midol foam does take a bit of a pounding as does some of the paint which is peeling away here I'd love to get an allh version of these with
no paint on the midsole just the pure foam and nothing else else but it's certainly been one of my favorite shoes to utilize over 2024 especially at that 10K distance those PB speak volumes don't they I think I've got to include the zoomfly 6 here I think this is a banger of a shoe I know it's a little bit more weighty than some of the Super Shoes out there but this has got a hell of a lot under the hood I found it great running at various different Paces in this shoe it's a real range
master I think if you're going to be doing a 10K perhaps over the winter months as well I think the zoomfly 6 could work out very well for you the grips fantastic here and that plate really does give you a nice engaging ride it's not like super squashy or anything just a nice controlled consistent sort of feel and it does really feel like a race shoe again that you can utilize rather than the zoomfly models always feeling like sort of poor relations to Nike's top tier trainers I think at the price these come in at
as well you just cannot lose seriously considering picking up another pair maybe the kip chogo ones there's a load of banging colorways out there for the zoomfly 6 that's in there for my 10K selection and another one here that's a little bit more responsive it does have some nice squash to it but the macx 2 it's really blown me away this year in 2024 one of my favorite shoes it's super smooth in terms of operation it goes through the gears really nicely as well where you want something that's stable without that allout squash but it's
still feels nice and Nimble and engaging to running the upper is poetry in motion it's just so good in terms of the amount of room that you've got through the toe box here the laces are banging they're just right they never come undone easy to get a good lock down in this one and of course you got a fair old W of foam back in the heel if you're somebody who's Landing sort of mid to 4T that you really going to benefit from this shoe it's just such a Smooth Operator so not the lightest again
but what of the more responsive shoes out there I think it has to be in my 10K recommendations for the half marathon I've got to include the metas speed Sky Paris again a shoe that has a perfect blend of responsiveness and bounce and you got to be very controlled over the Half Marathon distance as well you don't want to be going out too fast maintaining that perfect Pace strategy is the key really to getting a PB the upper perhaps at the Half Marathon distance a little bit more forgiving there's a little bit more room the
grip great for modad and pavement racing and if you're running an event with some more elevation too I found this one fantastic due to that flatter plate almost feels like you're flying up the hills it compresses down a little bit and then sort of powers you forward it's almost like you can power walk up hills in this shoe this is the shoe for my current PB at 1 hour 31 for the half marathon so I'm getting closer to 90 I'm almost there again the only downside here is the durability of the phone it does not
like moist conditions I found that was very detrimental to its condition so for the half marathon metas speed Sky Paris got to be in there I would be inclined to include the DV8 Nitro Elite 3 here from pummer as well performed really well for me at a recent event down in Bournemouth again it's on the lines of the same way as the A6 models I've included in today's video but with a slightly more traditional plate placement the Puma though has super soft compressive foam with this Nitro Elite material it's a new formula which they' also
included in one of the other top tier race shoes as well and I find that these softer Foams seem to do better for me as the race distance increases it wouldn't be my choice for like a 5k I just feel it's just too soft and squashy for that I think it's more advantageous to a lighter Runner like me as the distance increases I think the only drawback on this one really is availability right now people keep asking me where are they but can't see to find any pairs myself the durability on pe ma is always
fantastic I also found that in the farar Nitro Elite 2 at 100 Mil actually look Barely Used I think the stock laces aren't great either these are a pair for my liberate Nitros the stock ones are just a little bit too flexible and I found these gave me a much better lock down over the top of the foot so yeah very few of these knocking around I think the price is great perhaps that's why whenever they appear people are buying them up straight away to get a super shoe of this quality under 200 quid I
think is a bit of a rarity these days well they are quite rare so that's my second shoe for the Half Marathon distance half marathon wise I think the sakon and Dophin Pro 4 has got to be in the running for me I think sakon have adjusted this sh very subtly by adding in a layer of the power run HG foam directly under your foot on top of the main Base midl phone of power run PB so you've got a nice balance there of sort of more firm and responsive stuff on top of the very
sort of cushion squashy power MPV I think maybe some people found the stability of the Endorphin Pro 3 just a little bit too soft I think they got it just right here in the Endorphin Pro 4 for the Half Marathon distance at least it's proved to be very durable this type of phone where you've got this pallet based approach just seems to last the test of time a little bit better you could say it's perhaps a slightly more conservative approach but it does seem to work it's still very light and in the ball Park in
terms of the weight with all the other Super Shoes at least when you look at the approach it's actually not all that dissimilar to what Adidas were doing with Boost material which let's face it from a value for money perspective is going to mean that you've got a shoe that does the business for more miles and perhaps some of the competitors I love the design of this one as well it's an absolute winner again I've put in some different laces here just with a little bit less Flex everybody includes these really stretchy laces on some
of their raoes aside from the alphafly I've just prefer these that haven't got quite the same amount of flex so that's my third and final half marathon shoe heading into the marathon now one of the big surprise shoes of the year has been the cloud boom strike from on this is Mega soft it's bouncy it's fun and super light as well as a marathon option it's definitely got to be considered the lacing again I have switched the laces out these are a set from an old pair of alpha flies the upper perhaps they have tar
loose for me in the toebox but that midsole insert is absolutely fantastic it's so fun and it's stable to boot as well I found this shoe to be very durable as well no issues in terms of the outsole rubber so far the upper material reminds me of the vaporfly next perent the original version and everything here has just been well crafted easily the best on shoe that I've tried out so far so like this thing did pick this one up with my own cash 260 quid which is a money but I feel that for the
marathon distance that on have really hit the spot with this one it feels just as good or maybe even better than some of the competitors at marathon pace for me and I love the lower drop which just seems to get more midsole underneath my foot so that's the first of my Marathon selections when I compiled this list I thought if I was going to run a marathon right now what would I use and the fast R Nitro Elite 2 will be in there this shoe has something that the others do not not and that is
not just increased width here in the 4ot but also increased length as well that means I feel it's going to be a little bit more forgiving for runners when the form starts to dip later in the marathon Race the foam here is super squashy and compressive there's nothing quite like this Nitro Elite stuff from this year just rolls you forward onto that very wide 4T area the upper again is glove like it's almost like a football boot actually I love it it's really easy to get a good lock down with the stock laces as well
here in the fastar Nitro Elite 2 a little bit more available this one you can find these actually on discount sometimes I think there was a really good one in my recent running shoe Bargains video for November but for the marathon it would certainly be one I would consider at this present time we got one more for you last shoe in the list is the alphafly 3 from Nike this will absolutely be in contention for the Manchester marathon in April 2025 really can't wait for that event actually been wanting to get back to that Marathon
distance for some time and it will be great to be running it with my good buddy Rob gundry this is a shoe I needed some time to come to terms with to understand and to get the best out of it really but on longer runs and even shorter recoveries it's just so good in terms of how forgiving the midsole is it's kind of addictive to use yes I know it's a very expensive shoe but I feel if you do give it a bit of TLC then you'll get loads and loads of miles out of this
as proved with my prototype pair that's still going strong I think the long-term durability of those airpods is much improved now you've got a little bit more protection there it just makes it a shoe all of its own and nothing else is quite like it for me glad that I've got a couple of pairs of these knocking around for training and for racing next year too I'm a lucky guy I've also found out that it works so well for me in fact it seems to handle various Paces really well too and that wasn't something that
I could say about the previous versions of the alphafly not a shoe where you have to lock into a certain effort level to make it work and of course the heart rate lowering properties of this model have already been well documented so that's my third and final Marathon shoe for you the shoes all over the floor now I'm going to have to tidy up in here it's a right mess okay that's my full list for all the common race distances in no particular order in most cases what would you change what are your selections let
us know down in the comments a very quick musical interlude for you I discovered that there's a live link Ray album that was released in August of this year I think it's from 1978 live at the Rock plast my word go and listen to mystery train from this one it's the most brutal delivery of the track that I've ever heard link Ray's SG sounding absolutely magnificent and there's a couple of bits of video out on YouTube as well where he looks absolutely wonderful he's got the leather jacket the big Shades and really giving it some
Robert Gordon and Link Ray live at the Rock plast 1978 go and check it out hope you enjoyed today's video people hit that subscribe button and give this video a thumbs up like too drop us a comment as well to help with the YouTube algorithm my name's Ed bird and I'll be seeing you [Music]
