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What constitutes the best running shoe will depend a little on what you're looking for. Right now, there are five shoes that I would consider to be 'the best' in their categories.
* '''Best Beginners Shoe'''. [[Saucony Kinvara]] is a great shoe if you're [[Starting to run]]. It's light, comfortable, and reasonably cushioned. It's also a fairly easy shoe to find due to its popularity.
* '''Best Transition Shoe''': [[Saucony Kinvara]]. If you're moving away from a heavy, over-engineered shoe like the [[Asics GT 2000]], then the Kinvara is a great halfway house on way to one of the shoes below. It's useful to make changes gradually in order to let your body and biomechanics adapt. It will also help you get a feel for what direction you'd like to go – minimalist, optimal, or [[MinimaxMaximalist]]. You may find that like me, you end up with several shoes in different categories for different lengths or types of run. * '''Best Minimax Maximalist Shoe''': [[Hoka Clifton]]. This is by far the best [[MinimaxMaximalist]] (minimum drop/maximum cushioning) shoe available. It's remarkably light and remarkably cushioned. So far, nothing else comes close.
* '''Best Optimal Shoe''': [[New Balance RC5000v2]]. The RC5000v2 is a stunning shoe, providing more cushioning for its weight than any other I've tested. I still love the [[Asics Gel Hyper Speed]], [[Nike Zoom Streak LT]], [[Puma Faas 100 R]], and [[Pearl Izumi EM Road N0]], but the RC5000v2 is even better.
* '''Fastest Shoe''': [[New Balance RC5000]]. The original RC5000 is amazingly light, offering just enough cushioning to make it efficient. It's the fastest shoe I've tested, and it would be my first choice for a fast marathon.
=Shoe Categories=
I've classified my shoe recommendations into several categories, each with their own pros and cons.
* '''[[MinimaxMaximalist]]''' (Minimum Drop, Maximum Cushioning). The minimal drop has been the hallmark of minimalist shoes, but these shoes also include lots of cushioning. At their best, these shoes can be like running barefoot on a cushioned track. Minimax Maximalist shoes offer lots of protection and comfort. They are great for longer ultramarathons where sore feet become a problem and for trail running where the cushioning makes it easier to ignore smaller rocks and stones. However, the extra cushioning may [[The Science of Running Shoes| increase the risk of injury]] compared with minimalist shoes and the extra sole thickness increases the stress on your ankle. * '''Optimal'''. These shoes ideally have just enough cushioning to improve [[Running Economy]] without the weight penalty of the Minimax Maximalist shoes. These shoes are often called "racing shoes", or "racing flats", but I don't believe this term is appropriate any more. Many years go, a "racing flat" had little cushioning, but with the advances in materials science, these shoes are now surprisingly comfortable.
* '''Minimalist'''. These shoes vary between the almost barefoot and those with a little more protection. I consider a shoe to be minimalist if it has insufficient cushioning to improve [[Running Economy]].
* '''Balanced'''. These are shoes that are part way between minimalist and MinimaxMaximalist, but are too heavy to be considered Optimal.
* '''Traditional'''. The classic running shoe has a high heel, normally about 10mm higher than the forefoot . The biggest advantage of traditional shoes is the wide variety to choose from, making it far easier to find the right fit.
=Unfamiliar Brands=
You're probably familiar with brands like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, etc., but you may be less familiar with Hoka and Altra.
* '''[[Hoka Shoe Review| Hoka One One]].''' The Hoka shoes started the 'Minimum Drop, Maximum Cushioning' style of shoe. The Hokas generally use extremely soft foam, with a wide base to improve stability. Their soles are thicker than most shoes so they are quite heavy, though not as heavy as they look. Most of the Hokas do well on both asphalt and rocky trails. The Hokas provide remarkable protection from rough trail surfaces, and the thick, soft soles mold themselves around stones to provide more grip on rocky trails than you'd expect. Other than the sole, the Hoka is a poor design, with a remarkably tight toe box and they are typically rather inflexible.
* '''Altra'''. The two distinctive features of the Altra shoes are their zero drop and their shape which mirrors the shape of the human foot. Originally their shoes were quite minimalist with a thinner sole that was typically made of quite firm foam. More recently they have moved towards softer cushioning and the [[MinimaxMaximalist]] style.
=Comparison Table=
{{:Shoes-table}}
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=How Far Can I Run In That Shoe?=
Many shoe reviews talk about "this shoe is good up to half marathon", or some other distance. Such advice is based on the idea that many people find that as the distance increases, they want a little more cushioning to protect their feet from the pounding and to offset a little of the fatigue that sets in over time. However, because different runners want radically different levels of cushioning, generalized advice is unhelpful at best. Some runners may want a [[MinimaxMaximalist]] shoe when they run a 5K, while others will run a 100 mile race barefoot. There is no maximum distance that can be run in any given shoe; it depends on what you want. I compare cushioning levels provided by the shoes I review, but remember a thicker, firmer shoe would have the same cushioning rating as a thinner, softer shoe, but would feel rather different.
=Shoe Gallery=
Images of the shoes reviewed on this site can be found in the [[Shoe Gallery]].
''Main article: [[Shoe Modifications]]''
[[File:ModifiedShoes.JPG|none|thumb|250px|Clockwise from the top: Nike Free 3.0 (early version) cut open more than most to form a 'running sandal', Saucony Hattori, NB Trail Minimus, Nike Free 3.0 and the [[Hoka Shoe Review|Hoka]].]]
With a few exceptions such as the Mizuno Curoris, I find that most shoes benefit from [[Shoe Modifications| cutting open the toe box]]. This allows the toes to spread out as you toe off, creating more natural biomechanics and preventing toe blisters.
=Shoe Dissection =