Flat-Out Fast: 6 New Speedy Shoes for Summer

When you head to the starting line of a race or a speed workout, you want to feel light and fast. So instead of wearing the shoes you train in every day, you should lace up a pair of lean, mean, racing machines. Here’s a look at six light, agile new racing flats all but guaranteed to help you run faster than ever before.

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Brooks Hyperion

Highlight: An amazing one-piece upper that creates a sock-like fit.

Fit-Feel-Ride: Brooks went back to the drawing board to redevelop a fast, sleek racing flat and, according to our wear-testers, it succeeded. The featherweight Hyperion feels like it's part of your foot the moment you slip it on and lace it up. It's a snug-fitting shoe to be sure, but the one-piece perforated stretch woven upper material and semi-firm heel counter wraps the foot and secures it down to the flexible undercarriage made of moderately soft foam (BioMoGo DNA material) and small rubber outsole segments. The sock-like fit moves with your foot and never inhibits movement and doesn't feels at all cumbersome at fast speeds. (Our testers liked how the thinly padded tongue and flat laces completed the fit package.) The Hyperion strays in its design from the T7 racer it replaced in Brooks' shoe lineup (a lower heel-toe offset and a straighter last) and there are shades of the now-defunct Brooks Green Silence racing flat from a few years ago. In speed sessions, road races and tempo runs, we found this shoe to be full of "pop," meaning that it seemed to give off some noticeable energy return (without a bouncy ride) in every stride. Aside from being fast and light, the Hyperion is built to be more versatile (from 5K to the marathon) and durable than most racing flats. It might not be enough shoe for a marathon for most recreational runners, but it's certainly could be the tool of choice for shorter distances.

Price: $130; Weights: 6.3 oz. (men's 9); 5.3 oz. (women's 7); Heel-Toe Offset: 10mm; 22mm (heel); 12mm (forefoot)

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Hoka One One Tracer

Highlight: Hoka’s fastest, lightest and most responsive shoe yet.

Fit-Feel-Ride: Hoka has seemingly found a way to catch lightning in a bottle with this shoe—its first true racing flat. Part of Hoka’s new speed series of shoes, it’s decidedly not a maximally cushioned shoe on which the brand has built its reputation. Instead, it’s a featherweight, low-to-the-ground and super-speedy shoe that still feels substantial enough underfoot for longer races up to a marathon. It has a moderately soft midsole foam in the heel to cushion impacts that subtly transition to a firmer and more resilient forefoot foam that, combined with a slightly rockered shape from heel-to-toe, is aimed at catapulting the foot forward during the heel-toe transition. It feels light and speedy the moment you lace it up and our wear-test team raved about how quick and responsive it felt on all sorts of runs—long runs, tempo runs, intervals, recovery runs—but especially those at faster paces.

Price: $130; Weights: 7.0 oz. (men’s), 6.3 oz. (women’s); Heel-to-Toe Offset: 4mm; 22mm (heel), 18mm (forefoot)

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Mizuno Hitogami 3

Highlight: A lightweight, minimalist racer with exceptional flexibility and rebound.

Fit-Feel-Ride: Lightweight and low to the ground, the slipper-like Hitogami 3 offers amazing proprioceptive feel for the road, flexibility and energy return. Built on an elastic, thermal plastic Wave plate that’s sandwiched in the midsole between the heel and arch, this shoe gives off an energetic ride with a minimalistic feel. It has patches of durable carbon rubber and sections of a specialized rubber dot pattern in the outsole for optimal traction on both dry and wet surfaces. The stretchy mesh upper is secured by a slightly reinforce collar and a reinforcement overlay that doubles as the Mizuno logo. To many runners, this might feel like too little shoe for anything more than a track workout or 5K race. But if you like the “barely there” sensation of a shoe that won’t get in the way of your gait, this can be your tool of choice for running fast.

Price: $100; Weights: 7.6 oz. (men’s 9); 5.8 oz. (women’s 7); Heel-Toe Offset: 9mm; 21mm (heel), 12mm (forefoot)

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Nike Zoom Streak 6

[Editor's note: This shoe is due out in early to mid-June.] Highlight: An amazing one-piece upper that creates a sock-like fit.

Fit-Feel-Ride: No longer the tight, narrow toe of traditional racing flats, the Zoom Streak 6 has a more foot-shaped last that flares forward of the arch, particularly on the medial side to leverage the push-off power of the big toe. The Nike team also made sure the sole of their new racer didn’t have a specific flex point like many racers. Instead, a strong upward turn of the toe, as well as a slight rocker shape across the foot, allow for a rolling stride and the flex—which occurs wherever your foot most needs it—bounces back quickly due to a plastic flex plate embedded in the midfoot. As a nod to the popular Streak 3, which had a light, open, mesh with holes throughout, the new, engineered mesh on the Streak 6 also has holes that let you see your socks. Look closely, however, and you’ll see they are bridged with a thin layer of translucent yarn to maintain integrity and durability. Our testers report that it feels smooth, snug and protective, while light and fast. We took it on track workouts, road repeats and steady runs, and from the beginning felt like we could fly—without getting beat up from the ground underfoot or by a constrictive, rigid upper. The 8mm drop and zoom air under the heel provide plenty of support for later miles of the marathon when almost everyone’s form reverts to heel striking. But the protection doesn’t affect the weight or the ride at top speed, when you’re rolling fast off your midfoot and toes.

Price: $110; Weights: 6.7 oz. (men’s 9); 5.6 oz. (women’s 7); Heel-Toe Offset: 8mm; 20mm (heel), 12mm (forefoot)—Photo and text by Jonathan Beverly

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Salomon Sonic Pro

Highlight: A brand known for trail racing lets the rubber hit the road.

Fit-Feel-Ride: Salomon, one of the world’s biggest trail running brands, is making a foray into road running with the Sonic Pro. True to the brand’s recent heritage in trail racing shoes, it’s a light, fast, neutral-oriented shoe with a semi-firm and very responsive feel. It has a low-to-the-ground feeling, a modest amount of cushioning and a moderate heel-toe offset, so it’s definitely meant for strong-legged neutral, efficient runners and faster running. It also features the brand’s one-pull speed laces, which tuck into a “lace garage” at the top of the tongue. With only a little cushioning and a moderate heel-toe offset, it’s definitely built for efficient runners and faster running. Runners who like the agility, fit and tenacity of Salomon trail shoes will appreciate this new road shoe.

Price: $140; Weights: 8.3 oz. (men’s), 7.3 oz. (women’s); Heel-to-Toe Offset: 8mm; 30mm (heel), 22mm (forefoot)

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Skechers Performance GoMeb Speed 3 2016

Highlight: An updated version of the shoe Meb Keflezighi wore to win Boston in 2014.

Fit-Feel-Ride: A new flat-knit seamless upper offers a smidge of support with a foot-enveloping fit of a sock and helps cinch down the foot to the shoe’s chassis. This version also retains the TPU shank in the mid-foot to add to the responsive feeling of the shoe while the outsole opens up a bit to provide more compression on impact. It has a slightly rockered outsole, meaning it’s designed to help runners land more in the middle of their foot instead of the heel. It’s a light and agile shoe, but it has enough cushion and structure for a variety of training and racing efforts and isn’t so minimally designed that it can’t handle longer distances. The bottom line is that it’s versatile—it can handle speed work, tempo runs and 5Ks to a marathon.

Price: $130; Weights: 7.1 oz. (men’s), 5.4 oz. (women’s); Heel-to-Toe Offset: 4mm; 21mm (heel), 17mm (forefoot)

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