The not-too-distant past saw a clear delineation between race and training run shoes. Race shoes were little more than a stretch of fabric; off-season shoes were heavy.
Advancements have seen race shoes retain their lithe construction but with less sacrifice to comfort, while off-season shoes have retained cushioning, lost mass and improved flexibility. You only have to look at the weights of some of the shoes on test here to realise that times really have changed.
A closer look at the shoes worn by the leading athletes at the 2022 Ironman World Champs in Kona revealed some pretty advanced shoes (courtesy of Triathlete‘s round-up online), but many of the fastest marathon times were posted in chunkier, cushioned shoes. Rookie women's champ Chelsea Sodaro wore the Asics MetaSpeed Sky, while the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3, Hoka prototype shoes and New Balance Fuelcell SC Elite v3 all featured. That said, men's winner Gustav Iden raced in the On Cloudboom Echo 3, a shoe with a firmer, less cushioned ride, offering further proof that it really is down to personal preference.
For the average age-group triathlete, though, consuming mile after mile in search of
