HOKA - Mach 4 (1113528)

Hoka Mach series have lasted me 900-1000km. I’ve had 7-8 pairs going back to the Mach 4. Edit: just checked Garmin gear: 4 pairs of Mach 4, 3 pairs of Mach 5, 4 pairs of Mach 6 and counting. When you like a shoe……….

Hoka Mach 4, then Mach 5, now Mach 6

The struggle is real. I also like normal running shoes but also like less drop and a wide toe box. The Hoka Mach 4 is the last shoe I really enjoyed running in. Moderate stack, flexible, not squishy, low drop. The only problem with that shoe is I had to go a full size up to make room for my toes. I also really liked the Kinvara 12. Still have a pair that I use for walking and casual wear. I had to go up a size in that shoe too. I’m really looking forward to the release of the Altra Experience 2 next month. On paper it’s the perfect shoe for me.

I personally love Hoka Mach or Saucony PWR Run. I always size up (half to full size) than my normal shoe size as your feet tend to swell during runs. Everyone raves about Brooks but their shoes gave my shin splints and didn’t provide support. I recently discovered Mount to Coast R1 shoes and I LOVE them

I was always this girl and I may be again soon but I’ve accidentally built up a collection 🙈. I’ve always in just brooks adrenalines. My coach said she’d like to see me in another shoe too, perhaps one with a slightly lower drop. I liked the idea of a tempo shoe so I ended up with a pair of hoka machs. Recently my current pair of adrenalines were causing knee/shin pain which was in line with the 300+ miles I’d put on them so I went back to the shoe store. I’ve been curious about straying from adrenalines because I have HEFTY callouses / blisters on my big toes and I question how normal that is. I ended up with a pair of ASICS GT 2000 14s - a lighter stability shoe… and a new pair of adrenalines in case I don’t like the asics 🙈. So now I have 3 pairs. A tempo shoe for faster shorter distances, a light stability shoe, and a heavier plushier stability shoe 😅. I still feel monogamous in my very sole though so we’ll see if I don’t just gravitate towards one shoe anyway

Brooooks. I’ve been running in just adrenalines for years. I have bad arches and those + custom orthotics keep me upright and mobile. I recently bought a pair of Hoka Machs which I do like but if I could only pick one brand of shoe I’d stick the brooks and just get some kind of brooks tempo shoe

I’m a dedicated Hoka wearer, and I just do speed work in my Bondis, which are the most cushion you can get. I can’t justify buying a “speed shoe” when I only do speed work 1x per week. Until last week I was rotating 3 pairs of Bondis, two of them Bondi 9s, the other was a Bondi 8. I had gotten one pair of the 9s and the 8s as a used resale, and the 8s worked great as a speed shoe. I also tried the carbon plated racing speed shoe in the panic that was 2020, and it just wasn’t worth the $$. I have ran in the Rincon, Mach, Clifton, and my forever favorite but sadly discontinued Cavu. I would say those are all decent contenders for a mid-weight shoe.

Hoka rocket/mach? Sounds like they'll fit your feet. Saucony pro 4, Evo SL, Rebel v5? More cushioned 1080 and vomero.

I tried these models and they were short and wide for me. More so than nike, puma (duh) and nb. Would have bought them otherwise.

For more advanced runners (50+ mpw, sub 3:30 marathon), 2 pairs are definitely needed. Any shoe that would be comfortable to run that many miles in probably isn't responsive enough for high quality speedwork, and any shoe that is responsive enough for good speedwork would put too much mechanical stress on the entire lower body at that volume. I've never worn carbon plated shoes- I don't think the improvements to running economy are considerable enough to justify the cost at my skill level. The benefit is nonlinear- you have quite a bit to gain from supershoes while running at a <6:00 min pace, and virtually nothing to gain when running at a 10:00+ min pace due to the ground contact time/stride length/etc associated with such a pace. IMHO, a 3:00 Marathon is where it becomes worth considering. I'm happy running 2:5x:xx races in Saucony Endorphins or Hoka Machs.

You’re right that nothing new on race day is the general rule, but there are definitely a lot of modern shoes, especially race day shoes, that you can wear with very minimal break-in. A lot of the newer foams and designs are made to feel good right out of the box. Shoes like the Saucony Endorphin Speed or Pro, Nike Vaporfly, ASICS Superblast, or even something like the Hoka Mach or Rocket X are all known for being pretty runnable immediately without needing tons of miles first. In your case, I’d be more concerned about going into a marathon with 1000 km on a shoe. Even if it feels okay, the foam is definitely more compressed and less protective than it was earlier on. If you do go the new shoe route, just don’t go completely wild. Try to find something similar in feel to what you’re used to light stability or neutral with some support, get a couple short runs in, maybe one longer run, and make sure nothing feels off. It’s not ideal timing, but plenty of people successfully race in shoes with only a few runs on them.

Almost all companies, including Hoka, are making what I'd call "normal" running shoes. My perspective on "normal" - I started running in fall 1980 for ski team training in a pair of adidas lowcut basketball shoes. Didn't understand the difference between them and running shoes. My first real running shoes, a year later, were Brooks Vantage Supreme, followed by a pair of Saucony Jazz, then a pair of Brooks Chariots. Amazing how I can remember all that like it was 5 years ago. 2001-2021 I coached a D2 college XC team, we had a Brooks preferred buyer program so I got very familiar with the Brooks line. I also work for a company that produces running races, 2012-2023 our largest race was sponsored by Hoka, so I became very familiar with their line. I gotta say, when we started with Hoka I was extremely skeptical of their designs. I've always liked more minimalistic shoes like the Brooks Burn and Launch - still "normal" shoes but on the lighter and more flexible side of the equation. I remember rolling my eyes at Hoka's original designs and saying to myself, "fine, I'll wear these on raceday to fulfill the sponsorship, but I'm not going to be wearing them for my training." And then I actually ran in them, the Bondi 2. They worked great for me. But I digress... Like I said, lots of "big' shoes these days, but most everybody still makes some "normal" models. For Hokas, check out the Rincon and Mach. I'm not super familiar with their line these days because our sponsorship ended, but I still have a pair of each of those models in my rotation and they're close to normal. For Brooks, check out the Revel, the Stack, the Ghost. The Ghost sole looks thicker than it is because it kind of wraps up, so your foot sits lower than it would appear.

I’m a fan of the Hoka Machs for my road shoes, but I’m also a Hoka fanboy.