CARBON RUN SHOES

Top-end carbon shoes were everywhere in the Ironman world champs - but are they a good choice for your average age-grouper? We put five pairs to the test.

- WORDS AND PHOTOS EDWARD PICKERING

MIZUNO WAVE REBELLION PRO 3 £210

emea.mizuno.com

As soon as the Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro 3s came out of the box, I could tell that Mizuno were really thinking outside the box when they designed this shoe. They are striking in their look – the wedge cutout at the back makes them look like they are itching to get moving and the 60mm stack at the heel is huge. Turn the shoe over, and there’s a large cutout in the sole. They’re also incredibly striking in their feel – that thick stack means that I felt a lot taller in these shoes, and the cutout gave them the sensation of propulsive momentum at speed, even aggression. And they bounce. This manifests itself in two ways. At speed, these shoes made me feel fast – there was a lot of energy return, and they’re obviously designed with racing in mind. Standing still, they’re like being on a pogo stick – that bounce and spring is tangible and standing on a start line is going to be fun in these. In between… it’s more complicated. The Wave Rebellion Pro 3s aren’t suited to jogging, or slow and steady runs – even jogging between efforts, it felt like they were fighting back. This is fine – a shoe that’s designed for speed needs to be used for speed.