I love my wave rider 26s. I recently tried on the 28s and 29s, but didn't care you for much cushion they added. So now I'm giving the Inspire 21s a spin.
The 26s have far outlasted two pairs of Hokas, in terms of time and mileage.
You’ll find that every brand’s wide sizes are wide in different places. Stores typically don’t carry a lot of wide sizes, so be prepared to order a bunch of shoes to try on and return most of them.
I have a duck-shaped foot (normal heel and midfoot, very wide forefoot), so I’ll give you what’s worked and not for me.
My rotation:
- Mizuno Wave Rider 2E - higher drop but specifically made with a normal heel and wide forefoot (I’ve been told I have a Mizuno-shaped foot).
- Topo Athletic Ultrafly Wide - I’m on my second pair. Love this shoe. Had to get it in a wide size since the midfoot runs a little narrow, but their regular width shoes are plenty wide in the toebox.
- Hoka Speedgoat 4 2E (half-size up) - My trail runners. Love them so much I bought 3 pairs. They got way narrower with subsequent generations so I don’t know what I’ll do in another 300 miles.
Saucony Peregrine wide - My other trail runners. Saucony used to make wide shoes for brick-shaped feet, but their newer shoes fit my duckfoot way better.
Shoes I returned:
- Altra everything - I am used to zero-drop shoes, so that didn’t bother me. But their rubber just goes dead two miles into my runs, and it felt like running barefoot. If you want wide toebox, Topo is a better run IMO
- Hoka Clifton - Not wide enough. Hoka has wide sizes, but the shoes run narrow so a 2E is more like a generous D. I occasionally run in 4E Bondis, but they’re a little too max-cushioned for me.
- On Cloud something - they have one 2E shoe but they run really narrow. Returned them instantly.
- Brooks Ghost - They got really narrow, even in a wide, which is a shame, because I wore out some Ghosts back in the day.
One more note:
- ASICS and New Balance make several models in wide sizes. Haven’t ran in them, but I appreciate having options.
Mizuno wave rider in green/sage looks pretty good. Stable. Not the most exciting shoe and not for front foot strikers, but otherwise a pretty good shoe
I have a few pairs of mizuno wave riders that absolutely refuse to die and every time I think I should probably retire them I go for a run in them and they still feel fine.
Not many people ever seem to recommend them but one of my favourite long run, comfortable, not racy shoes that just never die and take a pounding are Mizuno Waveriders.
I agree. I own a pair of Mizuno Waves and they are just old fashioned workhorses. I mix them in with a variety of stack height type shoes, but compared to all the newer type shoes, the Mizunos are far more durable. I currently have 300 miles on mine and I'm convinced they will easily get a couple hundred more. They seem like new still. Boring, no frills, and I wouldn't lace them up for a race. But for easy long runs, they are extremely reliable.
Add the New Balance 1080 v14 into the mix. So comfortable and I love running in them.
For a bit more support and more heel to toe drop the Mizuno Wave Rider series have been a consistently strong option for a while.
Both would fit a medium to narrower foot, not sure about a wide foot.
Runrepeat have reviews that cover the breathability of the shoes they test so you can look there for how they might do in warmer weather.
Consider Puma Velocity Nitro, Adidas Boston, or Mizuno Wave Rider. They reach offer slightly different pros and cons and fit, depending what works for you.
If you want stability, comfort, some energy return and good quality the Mizuno have been a really solid choice for a long time.
Mizuno Wave Riders are a great all rounder with a little bit of support and they're lighter and more energy return than they used to be. If they are a good fit for your foot shape they'd be worth a look I think.
You could get a second pair on top of the Cliftons and rotate between them, and use them for different things.
A Kayano or Wave Inspire or Wave Rider might be your easy day and long run shoe, and your other pair e.g. Clifton 9's could be your shorter/quicker run shoe. The comparison between the two can also help give you an idea of what you need going forward (though what you need, and want, may change with time of course). It's also good not to run consecutive days in the same pair, to let the midsole recover. And it's good for your body not to get too used to just one type of shoe I believe.
There's no substitute for the strength work of glutes and core etc, and the gradual build of condition in a training cycle, but these types of shoes certainly seemed to help me along the way. Now I can mostly run in neutral and stable-neutral shoes, and race up to and beyond marathon distances in race shoes like the Vaporfly Next%(inherently not stable!).
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1
ASICS
SUPERBLAST 2
71% positive of 805 users
Marathon workhorse, but loud and clunky at slow paces.
tiredone905
