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Outside Magazine June 2001

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Fast Friends
That's right, you should like your footwear. This will help.
By Jonathan Hanson

CELEBRITY-endorsed thigh toners notwithstanding, nothing beats running for quick fitness. But fitness need not come at the expense of ankles, knees, and backs. Good running shoes are designed with cushioning and control foremost in mind. The dosage you need of each depends on how your body managesthree phases of the stride. The first is the heel strike: Each time your heel hits the ground it's subjected to a force equivalent to three times your body weight, which pitches the heel over dangerously with each footfall. Next comes the midfoot phase, in which your foot splays to dissipate the load. Finally, there's liftoff, when the ball of the foot incurs five times the body's weight. The way a running shoe handles all this commotion determines who should use it.

Don't like running on the road? You'll need a high degree of support and protection. We used to call them trail runners, but with all the Raids and Eco-Challenges someone decided that "adventure racers" sounded cooler. Whatever. They're still built with stable uppers, stiff soles for armor against rough trails, and a straight last to maximize control.

If your passion is for pavement, though, you'll want plenty of padding and some help keeping both feet tracking straight, but you'll need more flexibility. For that, try an all-arounder built on a less rigid, semicurved last. Within this category, if you're flat-footed, buy a motion-control shoe; if you're high-arched, buy a shock-absorbing model.

If you have no joint or biomechanical problems (we hate you), take advantage of lightweight trainers (under 22 ounces per pair). Trainers are built on pliable—and therefore not especially stable—C-shaped lasts (picture the imprint of your foot in sand).

We tested several shoes in each category, ten in all. Each one is a top performer, but only one is the shoe for you.

Adventure Racers
Nike ACG Air Trigo | $65; 31.8 ounces (1)
You could chase down Sasquatch with the Trigos on your feet. This shoe has the grabbiest all-terrain sole ever glued to an upper: sharp, aft-angled lugs in front grip like mountain-bike tire treads when you hit an incline, and corresponding forward-angled treads on the heel prevent you from glissading out of control on the way down. A full-length nylon shank prevents sticks, stones, and broken Rolling Rock bottles from poking your tender soles. As for the uppers, a tall heel cup, stiff rand, and heavy-duty nylon mesh keep you anchored on the worst off-camber talus.

Salomon Raid Race | $100; 28 ounces (3)
From their one-yank, ultra-thin Kevlar laces to the polyurethane-reinforced midsoles that keep weight down and stiffness up, these shoes are made to race. Pounding up a hiking trail with a 15 percent grade, for instance, they have the feel of a lightweight trainer on a rubberized quarter-mile track: stable, comfortable, fast. The soles grip like lichen on slickrock, even if you're boulder-hopping in a creek. Unfortunately, the shallow lugs clog instantly in mud, but an elastic ankle collar and watertight tongue keep all that goo on the outside.

Mountain Athletics Charging | $85; 30 ounces (6)
A crossover model for the urban runner who takes to the boonies on occasion, the Charging's lightly lugged sole grips well in loose dirt (although it's too shallow for mud or gravel), and the insole reins in a pronation-prone gait. Mountain Athletics has taken a comfortable running shoe and glued in a stiff, two-thirds-length nylon insole, creating an agile trail and road jogger. Since the nylon extends only partway, the shoe hinges for a silky liftoff. The Charging goes from urban decay to pastoral splendor with equal aplomb. Turn around when it gets rough, though—it lacks the protection for deep wilderness forays.

Adidas EQT Tangent Low | $100; 28.6 ounces (9)
Adventure racing is tough duty, and it happens in hot places (don't ask us why). So Adidas made the Tangent, which combines mesh uppers cool enough for the Sahara with a sole stout enough to fend off ankle-deep scree—think of an SUV with chunky tires and no roof. A fat rand armors your foot against scrapes, and even though there's no shank, the foam midsole and dual-density outsole shrug off underfoot debris. Be warned: The lightweight uppers mean only those with soccer-player ankles can push it on steep terrain.

All-Arounders
Reebok Icon III DMX | $110; 30 ounces (2)
Go for a spin in this shoe and you'll think you're running on springy alpine tundra, thanks to the Icon's raised-chamber sole, which suspends your foot on ten air pods. At first it feels awkward, almost tippy, but once you get used to it, those bubbles feel like magic fingers, massaging your soles, guiding your feet into perfect alignment, and soaking up uneven pavement like so many suspension forks. As for pronation control, while not on par with the Brooks, it's more than adequate for many runners. Trust us. Your knees (and vertebrae, and hips, and physical therapist) will thank you.

New Balance 1040 BS | $110; 23.2 ounces (4)
If you can get over thinking that "1040 BS" sounds like some trenchant income-tax joke (sadly, it isn't), you'll find this shoe to be an all-arounder that performs like a lightweight trainer. The lightest-weight shoe that we tested in this class, the 1040 feels even lighter, due in part to a snug fit. Yet thanks to a forefoot cushion and a heel insert similar to the Saucony's, there's a lot more padding here than there is in the Asics. Light and plush, the 1040 is a speedy shoe for runners who like to force the pace but need shock absorption. Pronators, steer clear.

Brooks Adrenaline GTS | $85; 23.6 ounces (5)
Do your feet splay so badly it feels like you've got carp attached to your ankles? The Adrenaline takes charge of mutinous metatarsals as Border collies do unruly sheep. It has the best pronation control of this group—surprising, given that Brooks builds it on a semicurved last, usually a sign of compromise between stability and flexibility. But despite the lateral rigidity, there's no lack of cushioning in the heel or forefoot, and even with all that support the shoe hinges perfectly on liftoff thanks to a slight gap between the tread blocks near the ball of the foot.

Saucony Grid Hurricane | $110; 25.6 ounces (6)
The term "pavement pounding" never would have been coined if the Hurricane had been around—the soft heel strike makes asphalt feel like beach sand. Credit a midsole with two densities of foam, and an elastic thermoplastic grid in the heel that absorbs shock while maintaining stability. The shoe is soft in the midfoot phase as well, but it's best for mild pronators who want a livelier feel at liftoff; when the shoe hinges, it feels less plush than you'd expect after such a nice landing. Still, for the average heel-to-toe runner, the Hurricane is great for racking up above-average mileage.

Trainers
Mizuno Wave Phantom | $80; 16.4 ounces (8)
With mesh uppers held together by a latticework of synthetic leather, the Phantoms are nonpareil for ventilation. Despite the vaporlike weight, a well-cushioned heel and a surprisingly taut and supportive fit through the arch lift them out of the minimalist (read: punishing) racing-flats category. Mizuno's rippled layer of polyurethane embedded in the rear of the sole crumples on impact, absorbing shock and stabilizing the heel—a design that works well with either a flat-footed jog or a heel-to-toe run. Pronation control is scant, as one would expect in an eight-ounce shoe. Still, that comfortable heel strike and feathery feel (we have socks that weigh more) constantly urge you on.

Asics Gel-Lyte DS | $85; 20 ounces (10)
Take the bare-bones recipe of the Mizunos, add gel at the heel and forefoot, and you get a shoe with similar warm-weather comfort but with shock absorption that would've been relegated to heavier shoes just a few years ago. Unlike the Mizunos, the Asics work best with a strong heel-to-toe stride—flat-footing it doesn't seem to take advantage of the gel. From the comfortable heel cup to the wide forefoot sole that eases liftoff, the entire shoe works throughout the stride. In fact, if you're not in the heavyweight class and don't need excessive pronation control, this shoe could serve as an all-arounder on smooth roads.

Where to find it: Adidas, 800-982-9337, www.adidas.com; Asics, 800-678-9435, www.asicstiger.com; Brooks, 800-227-6657, www.brooksrunning.com; Mountain Athletics, 800-445-5545, www.mountainathletics.com; Mizuno, 800-966-1234, www.mizunousa.com; New Balance, 800-253-7463, www.newbalance.com; Nike, 800-344-6453, www.nike.com; Reebok, 800-648-5550, www.reebok.com; Salomon, 800-225-6850, www.salomonsports.com; Saucony, 800-365-7282, www.saucony.com

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