My most recent race shoe purchase is the AP4. Haven’t run a full in them yet, but have done some shorter races.
Previously, I’ve raced halfs and fulls in the Clifton 8, Vaporfly 2, Alphafly 1, Endorphin Speed 2, Adios Pro 3, Zegama 1, Topo Specter 1, Endorphin Trail, Endorphin Pro 3, Endorphin Speed 3, and Tyr Valkyrie Speedworks.
AP3 has been my favorite of those. Ran 2 halfs and 2 fulls in them plus an ultra and then put a lot of miles in them as a daily trainer. Great shoe. AF1 was great too, but I did a lot more daily miles than races in those.
No suggestion for a shoe — lots of good recommendations already — just wanted to chime in to say that blisters on the ball of your foot isn’t from the shoe being to small, but the opposite. You might actually need a tighter, more locked ifit rather than a size up.
I've been team Brooks glycerin for years, but I just got a pair of Topo Spectres and they feel great. Plenty of room in the toe box, makes my feet a little happier.
Topo has a whole line of wide toebox shoes. The Atmos is great for easy, long miles, the Phamtom is the daily trainer, the Cyclone for speed work and the Specter for longer speed efforts
They actually narrowed the toe box in the Bondi this year so you may have to go with a wide width. It’s a lot firmer than I remember, but that may make it feel more nimble while running, enabling to go at different paces. I second the Topo recommendation. They have the Phantom for daily training, the Cyclone for speed work, the Atmos for recovery runs and the Specter for longer marathon training runs.
The TYR Maverick is a daily trainer that can do most paces, not a race day shoe. It’s not soft and mushy, but has a good amount of stack height while not feeling bulky. The toebox is quite accommodating as well. The Topo Specter, anatomical toebox, race foam that can be used for daily miles & uptempo work. The Maverick is only $150 but they have sales on all of their stuff regularly and the Specter is discounted since the 3 is coming out in several months
Top Road Running Shoes on Reddit
1
ASICS
SUPERBLAST 2
71% positive of 805 users
Marathon workhorse, but loud and clunky at slow paces.
AgentUpright
