Fall marathon season is here, and if you're toeing a start line in the next few weeks, there's one performance upgrade still on the table: fresh racing shoes. Outside Online's test team logged hundreds of miles in dozens of models this summer and just refreshed their annual marathon shoe guide, adding three new plated options to the list.
The big shake-up at the top: the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 has replaced the Nike Alphafly 3 as best overall. The Pro 5 weighs just 6.3 ounces with a 39-35mm stack, and borrows tech from Adidas' near-unobtainable Pro Evo 3 race shoe — including a soft, bouncy TPEE foam top layer and a new U-shaped "energy rim" carbon piece in the sidewalls. The result is a smoother, more supportive ride than the slightly squishy Pro 4, which used to feel flat in the final miles.
Two other new picks stand out. The On Cloudboom Strike 2 wins for stability, thanks to a clever three-segment midsole with grooves cut across the bottom that let each section rebound independently, plus PEBA foam sitting directly under the foot as a thick insole. There's also a lace-free LightSpray version that shaves off 1.2 ounces. Meanwhile, the Topo Specter Elite was the guide's surprise hit — a carbon-plated shoe with Topo's signature wide toebox and a lively new A-TPU foam that testers loved at everything from warm-up pace to race effort.
The full list covers a range of needs: the Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo is the lightest recommended super shoe at 5.9 ounces and a solid pick for first-timers; the Hoka Cielo X1 3.0 is the bounciest, though testers warned it gets wobbly at slow paces; and for runners who skip carbon plates entirely, the Asics Megablast and Superblast 3 lead the non-plated category, joined by the Adidas Hyperboost Edge, R.A.D. UFO, and flexible Topo Cyclone 3.
One point worth acting on: modern racing foams lose energy return over time, so the guide's core advice is to buy fresh shoes a few weeks before race day — enough time to break them in with a couple of shorter runs, but not so long that they're worn. It's also worth remembering that super shoes all ride differently despite sharing the same basic recipe of light foam plus a curved carbon plate, so what works for your training partner may not work for you.
If you're travelling for an autumn marathon — Boston, Berlin, New York or wherever your bib is — this is the practical read before you pack. The right pair (and a spare in your carry-on) might do more for your time than any last-week training tweak.
Outside Online
