HOKA - Rocket X

I’m a pretty serious runner and rotate about 14 pairs of shoes, 7 of which are HOKA’s. I have racing, tempo, easy and trail HOKA’s and I love them. I go half a size up, and specifically with the Clifton’s (only the Clifton’s) I need a wide version. The Rocket X feels narrow, but I’ve not raced in them yet so don’t know if that’s going to be a problem. Going a full size up might be excessive though. I’ve never heard of Cloud brand, so can’t help with that.

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.

I am very slow and my feet and legs feel very noticeably better after wearing them. I wore Hoka Rocket X for 80 miles in an ultra and had no foot or leg pain at all.

I divide my faster workouts between Hoka Mach X3 (Pebax plate supertrainer) and older Hoka Rocket X 1 (carbon plate, though no superfoam), mainly to keep my Machs mileage low for races. Not really much point doing that as I almost exclusively race trails, but my next season will start with halfmarathon PB attempt and some 5k/10k races to get some speed before I fully switch to the mountains prep.

Try the Rocket x 3–firmer but responsive

It'll be Hoka without hesitation: Clifton for training, Rocket X for race days, and Stinson for trail running

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.

Rocket and deviate were my instant thoughts before i read you mentioned them. Nb elite, but maybe not for narrow feet and maybe too pricy? Saucony pro 4, too slow? Adidas pro 4 - beware of durability. Is metaspeed too aggressive?

Yeah that makes sense. Rocket is overpriced too but there are discounts. Puma, idk about deviate but i've ran a lot in velocity with no complaints. It kinda does it all except the fastest efforts. Fit is on the long side, but if you have narrow feet maybe it works.

Hoka rocket! Though narrow/ish. The platform has a great base

Those are the exact 3 pairs in my rotation now. The hokas feel a bit firmer in my opinion. The brooks have the softest inside and fit the best. The NB are my favorite though (only issue is the mesh that holds the tongue gives me hot spots on my arches). I’d vote for the Hokas but it totally depends on how they feel on you not me. Also a great review site to check out is runrepeat .com, great to see all the different ways a shoe could be different and find what factors matter most to you. Makes it a little easier in the future to narrow down the selection when you inevitably get more shoes. Good luck!

Hoka changed my running from a casual fling to proper hobby. i never cared about running times, but the moment i put on them shoes i was running a lot faster.