9 Best Marathon Running Shoes for 2024 Run Coach Tested

You know a giant a part of my philosophy is that it is advisable rotate your trainers, which suggests having footwear for totally different sorts of runs. Today we’re reviewing the very best marathon trainers. From the long term with tons of cushion to the carbon plate, there are alternatives for each runner.

What’s going to have sufficient cushion, sufficient construction and sufficient life to get you thru coaching.

More than that, there’s one thing that offers you a psychological increase if you discover the precise shoe. It simply feels good to place it on, it carries you thru the miles and are available race day you’re assured in that operating shoe.

Lucky for you I’ve run in all of those fashions, however extra importantly have over 3000 of you taking part in weekly Instagram Polls giving me further suggestions on what you like and has helped fellow runners full 26.2 with glad ft.

Why It’s Important to Find the Right Marathon Running Shoes

The proper operating shoe issues a lot as a result of over the miles it’s very easy to have points like ankle ache whereas operating or knee ache whereas operating.

Not merely from weak hips and glutes, however from footwear that aren’t proper for you! In truth, sporting the incorrect kind of trainers is the highest reason behind foot ache when operating.

At the bottom stage, you’ll wish to discover a shoe that:

• has sufficient room within the toe field for your ft to unfold and probably swell over the miles
• means that you can change the lacing to supply extra room or lock in your heel
• retains your arch from dropping during which locations stress on knees and ankles

There are, nonetheless, different issues to think about when selecting the correct marathon shoe for your self. Let’s have a look at what these are in additional element.

What To Look For In Marathon Running Shoes?

When contemplating a pair of trainers to cowl all of the coaching miles to over 26.2 there are a couple of key areas that you just wish to look at. The objective is to discover a shoe that may take you thru most of coaching, so then you’ll be able to seize a brand new pair and circulate simply in to race day.

Comfort

Your marathon trainers must be, initially, snug. Running for 26.2 miles is not any joke, and it’s vital to prioritize consolation. This is the place lots of private preferences could come into play.

An uncomfortable shoe is usually an indication that it’s forcing your physique to maneuver in methods it doesn’t like or which can be going to create points like blisters.

Cushioning

How cushioned your marathon footwear play a giant half in not solely how snug they’ll be, but in addition how good your type is whereas operating.

Remember that extra just isn’t at all times higher. A brilliant plush shoe just like the Hoka Bondi could lead on you to sink in a bit bit because the run goes on and result in decrease again ache whereas operating. Surprising, however not unusual. Which is why I really like that shoe for my restoration days.

The flipside goes with minimal cushion might be actually exhausting on the ft and joints with endurance occasions.

In basic, I like to recommend reasonable cushioning for everybody. Heavier runners or these with a bigger body (howdy my very tall male mates) could need a extra cushioned shoe.

**And keep in mind that you wish to have a pair totally different footwear of various varieties in your rotation for coaching! The HOKA Mach didn’t make my record beneath, however it’s a superb velocity work coach and the Altra Provision is an efficient every day for these trying for zero drop.

Some Flexibility

Speaking of assist, it’s an extremely vital side when selecting the correct distance trainers.

As we run over lengthy distances, our muscular tissues finally turn into fatigued, and this causes our type to deteriorate. When you’re drained, sporting supportive footwear may help you run longer and with higher type and that’s precisely what we’d like throughout a marathon.

What I’m NOT implying is that you should purchase a stability shoe. I don’t wish to power your foot in to any specific course.

Instead, we like footwear with a barely wider base that present pure components of stability.

Durable Outer Sole

When it involves sturdiness, it’s vital to look for a strong rubber outsole slightly than one product of blown rubber. This will guarantee your footwear survive for various long-distance runs.

Even although a rougher outsole might add weight, it’s worthwhile to take that into consideration, particularly if operating in the summertime on extraordinarily scorching concrete or asphalt.

Breathability

I like to recommend trainers with good breathability. Because we naturally have sweaty ft whereas operating and our ft swell, we wish to dissipate as a lot warmth as potential. This will once more forestall blisters or hotspots from forming.

That further breathability will make all of the distinction by way of consolation come race day if you’re operating for 26.2 miles!

When trying for footwear with lots of breathability, look for kinds which have mesh uppers. This can even serve the perform of lowering pores and skin friction which can lead to blisters.

Type of Feet

Another actually vital factor to think about is the form of your foot and particularly the peak of your arch.

This is as a result of your arch impacts your gait, or how your foot strikes the bottom if you run.

Different forms of gaits decide which areas of the foot require probably the most assist and this can have an effect on how a lot arch assist to look for in your footwear.

When operating, individuals with flat ft or low arches incessantly discover that their ft roll inward which is known as overpronation.

Such runners ought to take into account stability footwear which offer further assist via the midsole and into the heel stopping accidents.

However, impartial footwear are greatest for these with excessive arches since they want lots of cushioning, notably within the midfoot.

Ample Space within the Toe field

You’ll wish to look for a shoe with ample house within the toe field.

In basic, the longest toe ought to have a thumb’s distance from the shoe field. This prevents the toe from repeatedly placing the toe field, which may trigger issues like runner’s toes.

We additionally wish to guarantee there’s loads of room for our toes to maneuver as our foot swells throughout the race. If you’re getting numb ft whereas operating, then your shoe is just too small.

However, a shoe that’s too broad may additionally trigger your foot to maneuver about inside it and your toes to rub in opposition to the toe field, which might lead to blisters or different points.

Fits the Terrain

The kind of terrain you’ll be operating in throughout the marathon can even have an effect on which marathon footwear are greatest for you.

For instance, the footwear you’ll want for path marathons will probably be very totally different from those you’ll want for street marathons.

Road runners will want loads of cushioning whereas path runners will want outsoles with a very good grip.

Other Things to Consider

While one pair might get you thru all of coaching, it could be run down sufficient that you just don’t wish to put on it for race day.

If you’ve discovered a pair that you just love throughout coaching, then seize a brand new pair about a month earlier than the race.

And after all, it’s vital to know when to switch your trainers!

Other inquiries to ask your self when contemplating which marathon footwear to purchase are:

• Do you’ve got pronation points that you may’t appropriate with strengthening workout routines?
• Do you need a pair particularly for race day that’s lighter? (take into account them your race footwear)
• Do you want a large shoe? (ft swell the farther we run and in warmth, so know your foot)

A significant factor is knowing how trainers ought to match.

Go via these key items earlier than choosing any shoe from the record of concepts that comply with.

9 Best Marathon Running Shoes

I’ll be sharing one from every of the foremost operating shoe manufacturers. Each model has a barely totally different match and really feel, so in the event you’ve tried a shoe from them beforehand now you’ll know which mannequin will go the gap.

Luckily I’ve been in a position to run in all of them to assist in giving you extra particulars. I picked them having examined out a wide range of footwear from every model, together with having coached hundreds of runners and speaking via their footwear.

Click on any marathon shoe identify beneath to see full particulars.

Best Marathon Shoes Overall for Neutral Cushion – New Balance 1080

Fresh Foam is each bit as beautiful because it sounds. These footwear really feel fabulous if you slip them on and but keep good responsiveness. Unlike the tremendous plush Bondi that you may sink in to, you’ll stay fast off the bottom in these footwear. This just isn’t a max cushion shoe, however it’s positively cushioned and with out the large stack top.

These footwear do not need a padded collar which some could dislike, however I didn’t discover any points with that. I did the conventional heel lock lacing as with all my footwear they usually felt nice. Probably one in every of my most advisable footwear.

I’d say these footwear run not broad or slender, however straight within the center. However, New Balance is understood for providing broad sizes in most fashions!

• Current mannequin is the 12
• Neutral operating shoe
• 8mm heel drop
• Cushioned and responsive
• 8.3 oz girls’s
• Read my full NB 1080 Review >>

Best Marathon Shoes Overall for Stability- ASICS GEL Kayano

You’re in luck as a result of I lately examined out this shoe and did a full overview! It’s been a protracted operating favourite for many, which is why they’re as much as the twenty ninth mannequin.

It’s a extra structured and cushioned shoe that for many strikes the stability of cushion, is pretty mild, and has sufficient construction to maintain their foot strike in line. So far they haven’t made main adjustments to the earlier model, so in the event you favored it this will probably be a winner.

The shoe has been designed to be a stability shoe for overpronators, however it’s extremely in style for high-mileage impartial runners as nicely.

The 3D Space Construction underneath the forefoot and heel accounts for the variances in males’s and girls’s strides, leading to a extra tailor-made match and really feel for every gender.

• Current mannequin is the 29
• Stability operating shoe
• 12mm heel drop is far increased than most want
• Long time favourite to many runners
• Cushioned, however not overly mushy
• 10.8 oz

#3 Stability Shoe Runner Up: Brooks Ghost

I’m beginning to get embarrassed by what number of of those footwear I’ve at present or have run in, however the Ghost can be on the record! In truth, that is my precise shoe within the photograph!

The Brooks Ghost’s spectacular cushioning, light-weight really feel, and assist make it an ideal alternative for marathon runners because of the DNA loft cushioning it makes use of.

These really feel like a shoe with much more construction and whereas cushioned, they don’t have the plush really feel of some footwear.

This is helpful to many runners who find yourself with decrease again ache whereas operating in a too cushioned shoe.

Neutral runners like this shoe because it provides a very good power return whereas having the ability to deal with the pounding of longer runs. It’s an ideal and responsive pair of footwear that propels the foot via every stride.

The light-weight, breathable engineered mesh higher supplies a safe match that can forestall blisters in your ft.

• Current mannequin is Ghost 15
• Listed as impartial operating shoe now, however nonetheless identified for stability
• 12 mm heel drop
• 9 oz
• See Full Brooks Ghost Review

Do it is advisable purchase probably the most present mannequin of operating shoe? What if an older mannequin is cheaper??

Assuming the footwear have been saved accurately (i.e. not a boiling scorching warehouse) then I’m a fan of saving $50 at any time when potential, understanding that I’ll have to maintain shopping for extra footwear.

Just checkout the opinions to see if something main modified between fashions. As everyone knows we could love one model and never a lot the subsequent in the exact same shoe.

Best Marathon Shoes For Beginners – Saucony Triumph 21

I hate to disappoint, however you actually don’t want carbon fiber on day one. Unless perhaps you’ve got a really particular time objective and have been performing some large half marathon racing to follow with them.

Instead, what you really want is a shoe with strong cushion and simply sufficient assist to assist as your muscular tissues fatigue.

I’ve used the previous few fashions of the Triumph for MANY coaching miles and positively suggest.

The Saucony Triumph is understood for its plush cushioning, which you’ll be able to completely really feel greater than within the  Saucony Ride. This supplies a mushy and comfy experience for runners who prioritize cushioning and impression absorption. That being stated, I nonetheless discovered the shoe to really feel actually steady on runs as much as 16 miles (I wasn’t marathon coaching so didn’t go farther).

(*9*)

In basic, I actually favor footwear with a decrease heel drop, however the Triumph is 10mm and that is usually a snug spot for newer runners who’ve in all probability been operating on this drop. The Triumph can be very sturdy for all of the miles you’ll be logging!

• 10 mm drop
•  8.8 oz girls’s, 9.8 oz males’s
• Available in broad
•  $150

If you actually favor a decrease drop, then I’ve endlessly and ever cherished the Saucony Kinvara.

Best Marathon Shoes for Cushion + Style – Nike Pegasus 40

So much has been stated in regards to the Vaporfly 3%, however they aren’t the shoe I’d suggest for most runners. While carbon fiber is thrilling, the value level is increased and all that cushion decreases stability considerably which might result in harm.

The Pegasus makes use of the Nike React foam midsoles that aren’t solely light-weight but in addition springy and sturdy.  Rather than feeling bouncy, that is only a good quantity of cushion that means that you can nonetheless get a fast rebound off the bottom. The breathable mesh higher supplies an ideal impartial match that will probably be good for many runners.

The Pegasus additionally incorporates a wider toe field for extra room whereas its curved collars assist cut back irritation to the Achilles tendons. I positively perceive why this shoe has made it to mannequin 40 and is so extraordinarily in style.

The Pegasus is a very long time shoe for Nike, which to me is at all times a sign of an ideal mannequin.

Best Marathon Shoes for Overall Cushioning + Speed – HOKA Mach X

Previously I advisable the BondiX as a result of it was actually designed as an excellent alternative for those that will want 5+ hours to run a marathon.  But they’ve stopped making that mannequin in favor of their new excessive greenback carbon fiber shoe the Rocket X2, which sadly I simply don’t love as a result of heel blister points.

HOWEVER, I’m an enormous fan of the Mach and with the Mach X, you’re getting a bit increase from the Pebax plate, with out fairly the price of a carbon fiber plate.

I like that it’s not too mushy, which may lead us to have decrease again ache throughout lengthy runs as we fatigue and since in to the shoe.

The wider toe field feels actually great as your ft swell on the run and the very slight meta rocker helps roll your foot ahead. This is very noticeable on any downhill and I cherished it!

“We requested ourselves why each carbon-plated shoe in the marketplace needed to be created with an eye fixed on solely the elite runner. Everyone deserves to fly and everybody can stage up.”

• Cushioned shoe with nylon fiber plate
• Wider platform supplies stability with out over correcting stride
• 5mm heel drop
• 8 oz girls’s, 9.4 oz males’s
• $180
• See all of the greatest HOKA trainers from my testing

Best Carbon Fiber Marathon Running Shoes – Nike Alphafly

Listen it’s a toss as much as say the Vaporfly vs Alphafly, however really for longer distances the Alphafly has much more stability. And we’re seeing some Achilles points pop up with these tremendous duper cushioned carbon fiber footwear, so I’d slightly take that further stability.

Additionally, the brand new Vaporfly 3 has a really skinny outsole and should come rubbing off over 26.2.

The Nike Alphafly options numerous updates and enhancements over the Nike Vaporfly, together with a thicker midsole and a further carbon fiber plate. The shoe additionally options Nike’s newest foam expertise, Nike ZoomX, which is designed to supply even better cushioning and power return than the ZoomX foam used within the Nike Vaporfly.

The Nike Alphafly Next% 2 has been making headlines ever because it helped Eliud Kipchoge set the World Marathon Record in Berlin in 2022. But after all it began with the Eliud Kipchoge unofficial 1:59:40 in 2019, which was run within the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT%.

Now we’re on to the Alphafly 3 additionally setting world marathon information!

• Neutral Carbon Fiber Shoe
• Weight: 8.4 oz males’s, 7.1 oz girls’s
• Heel drop: 8mm
• 2 colours
• Not accessible in broad
• Complete Nike Alphafly 3 overview >>

Runner Up For Speed – Saucony Endorphin Pro 4

Those trying for velocity are sometimes drawn to the carbon fiber footwear for that further increase. I definitely was for the Chicago marathon! It’s vital nevertheless that you just not run in them an excessive amount of to breakdown the shoe, so simply sufficient to interrupt them in!

For these actually trying to hit sooner occasions (something Sub 4) the Saucony Endorphin Pro generally is a good choice.

This has been a extremely cherished shoe from model 1, to the newer increased stack top model 4. It was seen everywhere in the Boston marathon course within the neon inexperienced coloration. AND I AM LOVING the 4 a lot! I might positively run a marathon in it.

I’ve at all times favored the reasonable cushion of Saucony footwear, so this felt improbable to me. It’s consistent with one thing like a Kinvara, however so phenomenally mild. And the upper outsole appears to supply a bit further stability.

• Current mannequin 3
• Max Cushion with Carbon Fiber Plate
• Narrow match
• Lightweight and really breathable
• 8mm heel drop
• 6.5 oz girls’s, 7.2 oz males’s
• See my full Endorphin Pro 4 overview

See all of my greatest carbon plate operating shoe suggestions >>

Best Lower Stack Height Carbon Plate – On Cloudboom Echo 3

After seeing Helen Obiri win Boston, lots of runners stood as much as take discover of what On was doing with carbon fiber. It’s a really totally different kind of shoe than Nike and for lots of runners, that’s a very good factor.

Slipping on the On Cloudboom Echo 3, I might inform immediately lots of issues had modified from the primary mannequin in 2020. Changed for the higher!

• Increased cushion for distance operating
• No pods alongside the underside to gather rocks
• Better general match and foot room

This is a decrease stack top and barely increased heel drop than most of the different tremendous footwear in the marketplace. Compared to the Nike Vaporfly 2 or 3, it’s a 100% totally different match and feeling. Where Nike appears like bouncing, this shoe principally feels tremendous mild. And the place you may hate the tremendous excessive stack on the Nike, this shoe goes to really feel extra pure.

• 10 mm heel drop
• 7.6 oz males’s and girls’s
• Carbon fiber impartial shoe
• Available in 1 coloration
• Not accessible in broad
• Available at On Running for $289
• Ready my detailed On Cloudboom Echo 3 overview

How Long Before the Marathon To Buy New Shoes?

If you’ve discovered a pair of footwear that you just love throughout coaching, then get a brand new pair about a month earlier than the race.

This provides you an opportunity to put on them on a couple of shorter runs and one future.

Remember the NOTHING NEW on race day mantra. You wish to take your race day footwear out for a couple of runs simply to verify there are completely no points with blisters or the shoe becoming barely totally different.

However, if you’re not feeling good in regards to the mannequin you’ve been utilizing then two months earlier than the race I’d be on the hunt for one thing that feels good. This provides you an opportunity to take it on a number of lengthy runs and the shoe will nonetheless have loads of life left in it for race day.

How Many Running Shoes Should You have?

I cowl in depth why it is advisable rotate trainers, however for the sake of time say a minimal of two pairs of footwear for marathon coaching.

And sure, that’s two totally different kinds for throughout coaching after which a brand new pair developing on race day.

If you’ve solely performed a 12 week coaching plan, then perhaps you received’t want a brand new pair for race day. But most of us begin coaching in an older pair and pile on the miles.

Those recent footwear could have higher construction and cushion, which we completely need when operating 26.2 miles.

How Do You Tell When Your Running Shoes Are Worn Out?

If you practice over longer distances, your footwear will doubtless put on out sooner.

If your trainers are worn out, the higher could also be worn or torn, the outsole could also be smoothing out, the midsole foam could seem compressed, and chances are you’ll be getting foot or knee ache if you run in the event you weren’t earlier than.

These are the traditional indicators that your footwear are worn out, so head on over to get a brand new pair to be prepared earlier than the race!

If that is your first marathon, don’t neglect to take a look at these newbie marathon coaching suggestions and my new Couch to Marathon Training Plan.

Looking for extra opinions to seek out the very best issues for your run?

Checkout our full web page of my should have operating gear opinions and guides to avoid wasting you time looking and cash! I share what’s labored for me and fellow runners, together with what wasn’t definitely worth the price ticket.

A number of frequent requests:

Other methods to attach with Amanda
Instagram Daily Fun: RunToTheEnd

Facebook Community Chatter: RunToTheEnd

Get extra operating suggestions: Pinterest

Get each new submit delivered to your inbox