Pulsar Trail Series

I like my Salomon Pulsar Trail for that purpose. They have a quite thick sole, so a lot of cushionning on easy trails at the expense of stability on technical trails.

I like the Salomon fit. I have a couple shoes--the Trail Pro 2 is good and smooth, but too heavy. The Pulsar is great, but not efficient for flat/buffed terrain. Genesis is probably the pick, but I'm still not crazy about the Energy Surge foam...

What you may want is low/medium stack height, not necessarily “stability”. Try one around 30mm or lower at the heel. Saucony Peregrine, Altra Timp (zero drop), Salomon S/Lab Genesis, Salomon Pulsar, etc. Do you have a history of rolled ankles? I do and I and over pronate. I prefer being closer to the ground.

Salomon Pulsar - lower stack and foam is somewhat firm, but has pleasant energy return.

Prodigio Pro probably has the best blend of grip, cushion and fit (beware of sizing!). They are slightly overkill and expensive for 25km/700m though. You could try the Salomon Pulsar (i saw them for 85 chf on snowleader). Kjerag 2 is a bit more minimal and a lighter race option. A lot depends on the terrain, your foot shape, foot strike, if you want to them for hiking later, if you are planning to run ultras later, etc.

I tried the PDX and Tam 2 years ago and currently run in the MTC R1 (~100 miles) and T1 (~50 miles). I don't have them side by side though. The Speedlands were ok but nothing special, there were already other fast shoes like Nnormal Kerag and Salomon Pulsar series, and long run/ultra shoes like the Saucony Endorphin Edge that worked great for me at a fraction of the price and lighter to boot. I don't care for boa, they add to costs, bulk, maybe weight and for me would be a hardware solution for a minor problem having to do with attention to detail when just lacing up. R1 fits my feet well which is a major item for me, durability is good so far, and runs well enough. Will take time to compare to the Endorphin Speed 3s I enjoyed for a few years because I could get 900-1000+ miles/pair out of them and the current Endorphin Speed 4s are notably too narrow. T1 is what the Speedgoat or MTN Racer could be. Fits my wide feet well, good amount of bouncy cushioning that I don't feel like I'm fighting when picking up the pace, and solid traction.

The downside of trail runners to me (Solomans) was I would sometimes get foot bruises on sharp rocky ground. I switched to hiking shoes (Merrell's) and I feel it's a better compromise between trail runners and boots. Pretty light and more comfortable.

My Solomans had a rock plate (thank you for pointing out my omission), but I feel a big difference with my Murrell Moab's. To each there own, I know trail runners are the favorite, the Moab works better for me (I have dainty feet, I guess).

The Salomon has the Contagrip All Terrain. This Contagrip seems that is really really bad. I have the Salomon Quest Elements with Contagrip Mud and is amazing how good the grip is on wet rocks of the rivers. The problem with Salomon is that they only say "Contagrip" and not the kind of Contagrip... And reviewers only say Contagrip. To check the model of Contagrip you have to go to their website and search the shoe and see the details of it.