Sagasu Running Top 10 Running Shoes of 2025

The year is coming to an end and it is time to talk about my favorite running shoes of 2025.

0:00 Intro
1:00 First things first
3:29 Honorable mentions
6:15 Number 10
9:24 Number 9
11:34 Number 8
13:30 Number 7
15:37 Number 6
19:07 Number 5
21:44 Number 4
24:17 Number 3
27:06 Number 2
30:44 Number 1
34:18 Outro

Super Shoe Innovation – Paradigm shifting shoes (and ideas) since 2017 https://youtu.be/g_CAMYFCZQo
The difference between the Asics Megablast and Nike Vomero Plus https://youtu.be/COnPQzYdOc4

🗓️ Best of 2025 Series
The best (and worst) running shoe brands of 2025 https://youtu.be/vJFwrCDuPos
The best running tech of 2025 https://youtu.be/GGlpkoZL88E

🎯 Previous Tops 10s
Sagasu Running Top 10 Running Shoes of 2024 https://youtu.be/o5Pqx6R8GoE
Sagasu Running Top 10 Running Shoes of 2023 https://youtu.be/Ywpk9lR3tlE

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The top 10 running shoes of 2025. As I’ve said a few times on this channel recently, 2025 was a great year for running shoes. And I reviewed a bunch of them, close to 30 shoes. Now, I’m the only reviewer here. This is my channel. It’s only me talking about these shoes and reviewing these shoes. And I try to put as much time into them as I possibly can. And if you follow this channel, you know that I’m very selective about what I actually cover on this channel. I only cover things that I’m interested in either talking about or running in. Mostly running in. So, this list very much is my top 10 list of the things that I found best of, the things that I already curated to talk about on this channel over the course of the year. And there’s some really amazing shoes here. So, let’s sit down and get into my top 10 list for 2025. This video is the third video of a four video series covering the best of 2025. So, if you’re watching this video after the fact, there’ll be a link in the description to the other three videos in the series. And with that out of the way, let’s jump in. Two things before I jump in. The first is that I define a model year on this channel, November 1st to November 1st, because the shoes that come out after November 1st at the very end of the year, generally are previews of what’s coming out next year for the brand. And we’ve seen this repeated over the past few years, especially. Plus, taking out the shoes that had just come out at the end of the year when this video is generally being produced. Takes some of that recency bias out so that I make sure that I cover all of the shoes over the year and not just focus on the ones that are currently hot right now. Second thing is my rating scale for this channel is a mix of a few things. And here it is, and I’ve adjusted this a little bit for 2025. The first factor that I put into is how much I enjoyed the shoe. Again, this is my channel. I’m the only one testing these shoes and talking about these shoes. So, the biggest part of this is how much did I enjoy the shoe? What was my experience with that shoe, good or bad, everything in between. Second point is the importance of the shoe. The importance of the shoe to the brand. And I think this is really important for quite a few of the shoes, especially how I talk about it, coming at this stuff from really a design and runners point of view. How important is the shoe for the brand? Does it move their tech forward? Did it become a big hit for them and, you know, really influence their bottom line? Did it not work within a range of other shoes? You know, things like that. I think it’s really important to look at a shoe and how it fits into the larger program that the brand is designing. And the last one is impact. How much impact did this shoe have for the industry? Did it create a new trend? Did it end a new trend? Was it something that the brand was really excited about but consumers didn’t really want? The industry didn’t really pick it up, you know, things like that. I think balancing all of this stuff is really important. Obviously, the biggest part here is how much I enjoyed the shoe. But those other two things are actually quite important, and I think in 2025, they actually play a very vital role. And for this year, I’ll be showing that scale on each of the 10 shoes in the top 10 list. Now, I’m not trying to create a score. I’m not going to tally these up. I’m really just doing thirds. It’s really just to give you a gauge of how I’m waiting the shoe because there’s some shoes on this list that I really enjoy. There’s other shoes that I didn’t, but I think they’re quite important and they had a lot of impact. So, I think it’s really important to see that. Again, I’m trying to be as transparent with how I’m gauging this list to make it very clear for you as you’re watching it. Let’s start with a couple honorable mentions. These are shoes that I enjoyed, but they didn’t quite make the cut to the top 10. And the first one is this shoe, the New Balance Rebel V5. Now, it is hard to argue that the Rebel V4 was one of the top shoes of 2024. And coming into 2025, frankly, New Balance didn’t really need to do a lot on this shoe. And they did some minor changes on it. They improved the foam, they improved the fit, they improved the textile. Very minor changes, but enough that it made this shoe actually, I think, viable for a lot more runners. I also think this outsole was a huge advancement for them. This single piece of rubber here. Now, I did not like the Rebel V4 at all last year, but I actually quite enjoyed this shoe. I found it very versatile, very fun, very bouncy, and probably the best shoe that New Balance has right now, which really isn’t saying much. But this shoe I thought was going to be in the top 10 list, but it turns out there’s a lot of other shoes that I enjoyed much more than this one. The second honorable mention is this, the AS6 Nova Blast 5. This was the first 2025 shoe that I started to run in back in late November of 2024. This has generally been the first of the new shoes that have come out. A little different this year, but last year this definitely was the first one. And it was a great shoe. I think it was a huge advancement for the Nova Blast. I think the overall design, the way the shoe fit, I think the improvement of FS FF Blast Max was good. Though some people have saying it’s not that durable, but I’ve never really found FF Blast Foams that durable anyway. But I have found this one very consistent and overall this was a really solid shoe. But again, there’s other shoes I enjoyed much more than this, even from AS6. So, this one also only gets an honorable mention in 2025. And the last honorable mention is this, the Adidas Supernova Rise 2. Now, this is a shoe that came out in January for me. I reviewed it. I actually really enjoyed it. And then I didn’t really run in it much at all this year because again there’s just a lot of other shoes that came out that I actually just like better or always would fill the spot that this shoe would. And that is really saying something about the quality of shoes that came out in 2025 because this shoe, the Adidas Supernova Rise 1, was my shoe of the year last year and this one’s only in the honorable mention. Again, that just tells you the quality of shoes we had this year. This is an excellent trainer. The updates in this shoe were actually very good. I actually awarded this upper my upper of the year for training shoes. I really like this shoe, but again, there is some other options that just I always reach for instead of this one. I am excited about the Supernova Rise 3. It’s a big change. It’s changing what this shoe’s been, but I definitely want to cover it and that’ll be something you’ll see next year here on the channel. And starting with number 10, that would be the Adidas Evo SL. Now, I have made a ton of content about this shoe this year. Some people think I’m really obsessed and I really hate this shoe. I don’t actually totally hate this shoe. I enjoyed the shoe as a tempo trainer. Back when I reviewed it in January, it was a fairly positive review for what this shoe was. Again, it’s a very good tempo trainer. It’s a fun tempo trainer, but that’s all it is. It’s not a daily trainer. It’s too aggressive for all of that stuff. There’s the fit issues. There’s the marketing. There’s all that stuff I’ve talked about on this channel. But if I objectively just look at this shoe, it’s just a tempo trainer. It’s not the second coming like everyone is telling you it is. So my enjoyment of this shoe was, you know, okay, but there’s definitely options that I would rather pick for a Templar trainer over this shoe. But this is why this shoe is actually in my top 10 cuz it wasn’t one that I totally enjoyed in 2025. But I think the importance for Adidas was off the charts. Not from an engineering standpoint. This is all old technology. This is a shoe from 2023. It should have come out side by side with the Evo 1, and it would have paired very well between the Evo 1 and the Adios Pro 3 back in 2023. But coming out in 2025, there’s no real new engineering here, and it has nothing to do with the engineering direction that Adidas is going with Audi Zero. But this shoe was arguably the biggest hit of the year. This shoe jumped from running into fashion and pretty much everywhere else and was a huge money maker in cash cow for Adidas. So from the brand’s bottom line, this is probably the most important shoe for Adidas in 2025 and probably one of the most important shoes for the overall industry in 2025. And then on the impact for the industry, I think it’s actually really high because what this shoe did was really made the idea of a simple shoe that’s a simple foam, a super foam with a lightweight upper and really nothing else kind of the norm now in the industry. Looking ahead into 2026, every brand is trying to make their Evo SL. The other thing this shoe did really well was the price point. This brought a ton of value for what this shoe is and what you’re actually getting here. So, between the looks of the shoe, the fashion of the shoe, the performance for the shoe, for many people, this was the slam dunk shoe of the year for a lot of people. But again, if I look at it how much I enjoyed running in it, it’s a good tempo shoe, but it’s not all that. And the other thing is shoes that came out over the course of the year, I think really showed that some of the technology, mainly the Light Strike Pro foam in the shoe are just a little bit dated now. Light Strike Pro foam is still a great foam, but there’s been some foams that have come out in 2025 that really are just better foams. So, even if I loved this shoe earlier in the year, which it was okay, there’s other shoes I think really surpassed this shoe towards the end of 2025 with better foams, better fits, better technology. Maybe not the same price point, but definitely better performance. So, that’s why this shoe is number 10 for me. And I feel like there’s going to be a lot of comments around this one. Coming in at number nine is this shoe, the Atrau Daily Trainer 2. Now, this is one of the saddest stories of 2025 for me with the end of Ito as a company, a little boutique brand over five years that, you know, finally had to call it an end in 2025 just for various reasons, economic reasons, the tariffs, a bunch of other stuff. And it’s a shame because everything a Treyo is trying to do for their five-year run, creating very simple shoes that are very elegant. They have a lot of ground feel. They’re just very focused on the basics and feeling your foot, feeling the energy transfer in your stride. This shoe achieved all of that masterfully. This, if you’re going to go out, this is the best possible product for the brand to end on because it ticks all of the boxes. a great high-end foam, a great lightweight upper, an excellent fit, very flexible, a CPU outsole that is excellent and durable. This shoe really had it all and it’s really the culmination of everything Michael was trying to do with a Treyo. It’s just a shame that you can’t get this shoe anymore and the brand is no more. It’s one of the real sad stories of 2025. The enjoyment factor of this shoe was off the chart for me. I loved running in this shoe. I’ve always loved running in the Atrau models, especially the base model. This is really the culmination and the evolution of that shoe and it was just great. I actually stopped running in the shoe much sooner than I really wanted to because again, this is the end of line for a Treyu. We’re not going to see another Atrau shoe. So, I want this one to go in the archive in fairly decent shape. The importance to a Treyu I think was pretty decent. This was again the culmination of everything the brand was trying to do in one single shoe that I think is really excellent and the impact to the overall industry I don’t think it was very high though if this shoe would have stuck around and Michael could have brought out the further models he had been planning past this shoe I think you would have seen a lot more impact from this small boutique brand but again it’s a shame what happened with the Treyo this year this is a great note to end on but I’m sad to see them go number eight is a huge surprise for me the Nike Vomero premium. This is so not a shoe that I typically would be reaching for or even talking about at length on this channel. It’s all the max cushion, all of the foam, all of the tech. Generally, not the type of shoe that I really love, but I was convinced as soon as I ran in this shoe, it really is really well engineered for what the shoe is intended to be, a very easy and recovery run shoe. Yes, it’s heavy, but you don’t notice it. The balance of the shoe is actually very good. A lot of the details of this shoe, the midsole, which I talk a lot about in my tech of the year video. Link in the description to that if you’re interested. The upper is great. The eyelet chain is great. And in fact, this has my favorite eyelet. These coated uh TPU or nylon uh eyelets that actually grip the laces. They let the laces slide, but when you lock it down, they grip. This tongue that’s actually very lightweight, but it’s padded at the top. And these laces, which are not stretchy, but they’re not super narrow either, and they do have some texture to them, so they stay really uh well tied. They don’t come undone. Gives you a really good mid-foot lock down in this really generous fit, airy upper. I actually really love the upper of this shoe as well. It’s actually my second favorite training upper of the year. There’s just a lot of details of this shoe that I like, and it really convinced me as soon as I ran in it. Now, I don’t think it’s a daily trainer for everyone. I think it’s more a shoe that’s purpose-built for training for a race, for all those easy runs in between workouts where you just need to get the consistency in, but you need your legs to be fresh for the workouts. This is the shoe for that. I think it’s it’s optimally built and designed for a race build, for a race. Beyond that, I think it’s a fun shoe. You can definitely use it as a daily trainer, but I do think there’s better options. But again, huge surprise here. really great engineering and a shoe I really enjoyed in 2025. And coming in at number seven is this shoe, the Nike Vaporfly 4. I absolutely adored this shoe this year and I think to me it’s the best Vaporfly yet. And I’ve loved all of the Vapor Flies and this is the shoe I’m actually going to be racing in a few days as of the recording of this video. This is the Super Shoe of 2025 that I’m actually choosing to race in. And obviously my enjoyment of this shoe has been very high. I found it very anchored, very nimble, very fast. It’s everything I wanted in a Vaporfly and more. It’s got the kind of protection and cushion that was added into the Vaporfly 3, but it still maintains that kind of aggressive snap off the toe that the Vaporfly 1 and two actually had that the Vaporfly 3 maybe lost just a tiny bit. I think the changes to the plate, especially the new elevation of the plate in the heel, getting closer to the heel, makes the shoe activate your entire foot instead of just your forefoot. I think it’s an excellent, excellent shoe. Obviously, my enjoyment is very high. I think the importance for Nike on this shoe, for the brand, actually was pretty high because Nike’s elites that were choosing to race in the Vaporfly were choosing the Vaporfly one or two. They were racing in old shoes. They were all ignoring the Vaporfly 3. This is the shoe that Nike redesigned and now the Nike Elites actually were racing in this shoe. We didn’t see any of the older Vapor flies raced in 2025. Those Nike Elites who do use the Vaporfly were all in this shoe and it actually has some success in the World Majors. I think the impact to the industry is probably very marginal. The Vaporfly is not what it used to be. It’s not as dominant as it used to be. There’s tons of other superhoe options out there now. And honestly, this one does feel fairly traditional in 2025, but I kind of like that. I like how this shoe feels compared to some of the other excellent Super Shoes of 2025. So, I am looking forward to what the future of the Vaporfly is. I do think there might be a bit of an evolution of this probably in 2027, but we’ll talk about that then. But for 2025, this is the super shoe that I actually love the most. Number six is a shoe that I think was probably one of the most talked about shoes of 2025, and that is the Puma Fast Iron Nitro 3. Now, I didn’t actually purchase this shoe, though I did test it on two occasions, and it is everything that everyone said it is. It is super fast. It is super aggressive, and it has that snap off the toe because of the cantalvered plate in front of the toe, which I talk a lot about in my best tech of 2025. Link in the description to that video. And the impact of that is massive because modern supershoes tend to be a lot of bounce and roll. And if you’ve only run in super shoes of really the past three maybe four years, that’s primarily what you’re used to. But if you come from the era of racing flats preupers shoe or you come from a track background, you understand the importance of be being able to kick off your toe. So at the end of your stride, you’re kicking off your toe. That’s something that the modern super shoes kind of lost. The Vaporfly always maintained that, but a lot of other shoes lost that. But the Fast R3 because of that can deliver plate and a lot of the other engineering in the plate brought that back to really just normal runners, runners who didn’t have a kick. So you’re getting the bounce and the roll of a modern shoe, but because of that canolvered plate, you’re getting the snap off the toe and you’re getting the kick now. So runners didn’t have to change anything about their mechanics and their stride, but now they’re getting a kick. The problem, and this is what I ran into when I tested the shoe, was that if you do have a kick, you’re used to digging off your toe. Again, coming from race flats or track spikes, having that cantal lever play was almost too much. And this is why we saw, I think, more elite runners kind of 50/50, at least Puma elite runners, choosing the Fast R3 or the DVA Nitro Elite 3. They’re they’re kind of mixed there because it may be too much for very efficient runners. I’m very much a non- elite runner. I am not an efficient runner, but I’m just used to having a kick because I come from a pre-supshoe time in running. So, running in the Fast R3, I totally understood why it unlocks so much potential for so many runners. And I think if I would have bought it and stuck with it, I probably could have gotten used to it and adjusted to it. But that’s why I didn’t pick it up cuz I don’t want to have to adjust to running in a shoe. But I completely understand why this shoe is so wellloved. It’s a great package of foam, an amazing plate, a really good fit, and a great outsole. It’s everything that I think modern people are looking for in a low plate configuration shoe, and it definitely deserves to be on this list. So, overall, my enjoyment of the shoe was good. I thought it was a good shoe, just not for me. I think the importance for Puma was also sort of moderate. I don’t think it really moved the bar, and this is saying something for Puma because Puma does all of these crazy sort of prototype R&D shoes already. The Fast R3 was actually kind of toned down from some of that stuff. So, I don’t think it’s really pushing the boundaries for Puma. Again, that’s saying something. But the impact to the industry, I think, is massive. I think the cantalvered plate and a lot of the plate design of the power plate in the Fast R3 are probably one of the more substantial evolutions of super shoes overall. Uh, that we’ll see, especially I think when we look back on this shoe in the next couple years, we will definitely see that. I made a video which goes into this at length. Link in the description to that video if you’re interested. But overall, hugely important shoe for the industry in 2025 and a shoe that I know many many people love. In at number five is this shoe, the AS6 Meta Speed Sky Tokyo or the AS6 Meta Speed Tokyo series in general, which is the Sky, the Edge, and the Ray. These shoes have been fantastic for AS6. huge upgrades over last year’s Paris series because of the foam and some of the tweaks to the geometry that brought a little bit more stability into this platform. Again, relatively speaking, this is still a high performance, very nimble super shoe, but I think it is a a considerable evolution over the Paris series of last year. And FF Leap, their foam that’s in this shoe, the primary foam is absolutely breathtaking. I absolutely love this shoe. I’ve always been an edge runner, but this year it’s the sky because this is really finally getting to that real execution of what AS6 has always been doing with the sky, putting the plate really close to the foot so that you can load up all of the foam under it and really get all the resilience off the toe in that foam. This is finally hitting that mark and it hits it extremely well. And bringing some subtle updates to this motion wrap upper, making it more compliant to the foot, making it a little bit lighter, make it a little bit more open, more breathable. And in the Meta Speed Ray, actually putting it in a matrix textile, which is absolutely fantastic, elevating even this amazing upper. I think you’ve got an amazing foam, great geometry, probably the best race uppers that are made. And I’ve always loved AS6’s race uppers, especially their motion wrap technology in a shoe that just works. And this shoe finally, I think, elevated AS6 to the top tier level in the world major scene, equal with what Nike and Adidas are actually doing. And this shoe had a lot of success in the World Majors in 2025. My enjoyment for running in this shoe was very high. I loved every time I put this shoe on for a workout. I think the importance for the brand was actually on the higher end because I think this showed AS6 engineering really is top tier and I think they can compete with the overall industry and what the big ones are actually putting out there. And I think the impact in the industry is actually quite high as well. I think particularly the Meta-Peed Ray I think has a huge impact for the industry. Just showing how simple and refined an elite level super shoe can be, but also at the price point that the Ray came in. Yes, it’s still expensive, but it’s not as expensive as say what Adidas is putting out there with their elite level shoes. So, I think again there was a big impact for the Meta Speed Tokyo series overall for the industry and I’m really looking forward to what AS6 does with these next year and into 2027. Now, we’re into the top four and at number four is a shoe that I was convinced for the first half of 2025 that this was my shoe of the year and nothing could touch it and that is the Adidas Adios 9. This shoe for the first six months of 2025 was by far my favorite shoe. I spent quite a bit of time in this shoe. I love the shoe. I talked a lot about this shoe on the channel. I just absolutely adored the shoe. And coming into June, I did not think this shoe could be beaten as shoe of the year. I was convinced to call it back then in June. But luckily, I didn’t because there were some other shoes that came out later in the year that did one up this shoe. But this is still a fantastic shoe. And I stand by the fact that I think this is probably Adidas’s best shoe of 2025. It is a traditional race flat but in modern materials. All of the materials, the upper, the midsole, the outsole, it’s all the same as the Adios Pro 4, just in this traditional geometry race flat. This shoe fits like a slipper. It’s a lot more protective than you would expect it to be because of this CPU outsole and this Light Strike Pro 2025 formula. It’s very durable, but it’s very resilient, very bouncy, but not squishy. It’s just an excellent shoe if you like a lower stack shoe that has a lot of ground feel. Now, unfortunately, a lot of people watching this could not buy this shoe this year. And at the end of 2025 when this video is being recorded, it feels like this shoe’s been pulled from the market. So, I don’t know what the future of this shoe actually is. I don’t know if we’ll see another generation of this shoe, but if this is the end of the Adios, which would be a shame for Adidas, this is definitely the high watermark for the Adios series. I enjoyed this shoe endlessly. I think the importance for Adidas, I don’t think this shoe was important for Adidas at all. In fact, that’s probably why they pulled it from the market, seemingly so. I think the technology in this shoe, I think, is really nicely implemented. I think it goes very well with the Adios Pro 4. I think it is the ultimate training partner to the Adios Pro 4. But beyond that, I don’t think this has had much impact for Adidas in 2025. And then impact for the overall industry, I don’t think it has any either. I think again, race flats that are like this are very, very niche in 2025. But as far as race flats go, this was great. If you love the Nike Street Fly 1, but you wanted more durability, that’s what this shoe is, and it’s excellent. I enjoyed this shoe so much, and that’s why it’s earned its place at number four. And now it’s time to get into the top three shoes that push the Adios 9 to spot four. And coming in at number three is this shoe, the AS6 Mega Blast. This shoe has been also a massive surprise for me. A Max Stack heavily rockered shoe that generally is not the type of shoe I go for, but as soon as I put this one on, I was sold. I got it. This shoe is everything that everyone said it is and a little bit more. This is finally that shoe from AS6 that really can do everything, including racing with no compromises. what people said this super blast was. This shoe actually is. It does everything. A performance upper, which is excellent. I know a lot of people wanted a more padded kind of training upper on this shoe, but this is a performance trainer. It’s not meant to be a daily trainer. It can definitely do daily training, but it’s meant more for performance. That’s why you have this upper on here. A new training foam, FF Turbo Squared, which is absolutely outstanding. It’s not a D-tuned race foam. It’s a foam that’s developed specifically for performance training. Again, this is a performance shoe. An outsole that looked way too minimal, but turns out to be extremely durable and extremely grippy. And a foam that turns out to be very durable because there’s actually no wear on this shoe. This shoe just does not wear. And the performance of this shoe is just kind of off the charts. It really does everything. There’s no compromises with this shoe. Again, a lot of people said that about the Super Blast, myself included, but this shoe actually lives up to that. I enjoyed everything I did in this shoe. And once the shoe softened up and loosened up, broke in a little bit, probably around 40 to 50K, somewhere in that area, I think I really, really fell in love with this shoe. It just molded to my foot and it just felt extremely natural. This is a shoe that can do easy running, but it likes to do easy into a little bit faster into steady running, definitely tempo running. This is a shoe that’s surprisingly fast for how much shoe you’re actually getting. And we saw this shoe raced a lot for pack runners, runners that were going for 4hour plus marathons. This is probably now the best shoe available for that use case. Again, hugely impressive shoe. I enjoyed running it thoroughly. I think the importance for AS6 is actually quite high in this one because this showed that AS6 can create a performance training foam and then create a whole new direction for for performance trainers. They have the Nova Blast for sort of basic trainer. They have their Meta Speeds for race shoes. They really needed that true performance tier. The Super Blast sort of opened the door to that, but this really pushed it much further. And it’s really exciting where AS6 can now go with their performance training line. So, this shoe definitely deserves spot three. And the fact that two other shoes beat it out really tell you how good those other two shoes are. And in at number two is this shoe, the Nike Vomero Plus. Now, this is a shoe that I was going back and forth with quite a bit with the AS6 Mega Blast. It was really hard for me to determine which one I liked more. And the bottom line is I love both of them, but I slightly prefer this one. I made a video talking about the difference between these two shoes. I’ll put a link in the description if you’re interested in the full story on that. But the reason I prefer this shoe is it’s just a little bit more geared towards smoothness. This is a shoe that’s just a little bit more easy on the body. The A6 Mega Blaster is really tuned for performance. It’s very cushioned. It’s very comfortable, but it wants to go fast. It’s a per more of a performance shoe. The top end on that shoe is higher than this shoe. But in this style shoe, which I’m going to use as an all-around trainer with some performance characteristics, I want more smoothness. The geometry of this midsole is one of my favorite geometries of the year. This latestage rocker, which is very reminiscent of the Alphal, is very smooth. This nice flat section in the midfoot is nice. If you’re landing flatter, like doing an easy shuffle recovery run, this is going to be very absorbent. And the heel bevel is really nice if you’re heel striking. And there is stability built into this shoe, but it is a softer foam. So, if stability is what you need in a max cushion performance trainer, the Mega Blast is the better option, but this one’s more supportive than you would actually expect. And the thing that really sold it for this shoe is that there’s more flex in this shoe than you would think. I wouldn’t think a shoe that has this much foam in it has any flex at all, but there’s enough in here that I found it very usable across a large range of paces and distances. In fact, for the past two months in my race build, this has been my primary trainer. This has been the shoe that I reach for when I don’t need to do a workout or I’m not actually reaching for the Vimeo Premium because I want a recovery run. This is the one that sort of is filling in the blanks of really the all-aroundness. It can do everything the Vimeo Premium does, but it has a more high top end than the Romero Premium does. So, it’s a shoe that I can do that easy sort of just general running in, that shuffle, that recovery run in, but I can also get up on my toes and do a workout in this shoe. I’ve done some marathon pace uh repeats in this shoe. It was fantastic. In fact, I did a longer run, which was a fartlick in the shoe with my Race Pace. It worked exceptionally well. This shoe really has impressed me this year. And for me, this is the Max Cushion performance trainer of the year, but by just a slight amount, which tells you how close this shoe is with the A6 Mega Blast. Obviously, my enjoyment of this shoe was quite high, and I think the importance for Nike of this shoe was also quite high. Nike really needed this shoe. Yes, it could be lighter. Yes, the upper could be a little bit more generous fit, though I like the performance fit of this. But this is the shoe Nike really needed to resonate with runners, and I think it has. This shoe is popping up in a lot of best of lists from people you wouldn’t expect to actually be talking about a Nike shoe or actually praising a Nike shoe. I’ve seen this on the feed of a lot of runners and I think it’s just the solid shoe that Nike needed to get out there in the marketplace and have people actually accept and I think it’s done wonderful for them. I think the impact to the industry overall, I don’t think that’s very high for this shoe because a lot of brands have this shoe. I think Nikes is probably the best Max cushion trainer of the year for me. But I think this shoe doesn’t really stand out for some people in the industry as a whole. Though, if you’re a Nike fan, this is definitely the shoe you’ve been waiting for. And that brings us to number one. And if you followed the channel this year, especially the past couple months, this shouldn’t be a surprise to you. But for me, the top shoe of 2025 is this, the Puma Velocity Nitro 4. What can I say about this shoe? a lower stack traditional geometry all-around sort of basic daily trainer in a exceptional super foam. Though a super foam that’s tuned for cushion and protection, therefore for training and not resilience, not for performance or racing. But because it comes from the Nitro Elite foam, the race foam from Puma, it does have a lot of resilience when you need to pick it up in a workout and do faster running in the shoe, it definitely can handle that. But this shoe has really impressed me. I’m a runner who has always loved the Nike Pegasus. This shoe is kind of the modernized Pegasus to me. It’s everything I want in a simple, low stack, flexible. This is one of the most flexible shoes I’ve run in in some time. Great ground feel, but never that I’m not feeling protective. It’s just really, really well done. I cannot stress how much I’ve actually enjoyed this shoe. Now, I’m going to do a full dedicated shoe of the year video, which is going to be my long-term review of the shoe. It’s been exceptional, but this shoe has hugely impressed me. So, obviously, my enjoyment of running in this shoe has been great. I have loved to be able to put this shoe on and treat it as a basic daily trainer, go out and just do general running, not really really focused on any paces or any goals of any point, just enjoying running and feeling protective, does that. But if I need to use this for training or something specific, it does that too. It also does that on any surface. Wet, dry, road, trail, dirt, gravel, mud, this shoe just does everything. So, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve done in this shoe this year. I think the importance for Puma is not really that high. I think Puma’s had some other super important shoes this year, mainly the Fast R3. This shoe, I think, fell under the radar a little bit as far as the crazy R&D that Puma does, but I think this is a very innovative shoe. Taking this traditional basic trainer with this basic traditional geometry and putting this foam in it, I think is hugely innovative, especially at the price point of the shoe. It really is showing how you make a simple shoe at a good price point bring a ton of value and actually give a lot of range to a lot of different runners. This is the better all-around daily trainer that I think a lot of people were saying the Evo SL was. This is what this shoe actually is. And the impact overall to the industry. I think again it’s moderate. I think this shoe is showing that you can take a very basic almost entry level shoe, but put a really solid foam into it and you’re going to get a shoe that’s really remarkable that a lot of people fall in love with. So, overall, this is definitely my shoe of the year, and this is a shoe that came out halfway through the year, and this is the one that really pushed the Adios 9 down. Um, and it really surprised me. However, for most my viewers who couldn’t get the Adios 9, if you’re looking for a shoe that could do a lot of what the Adios 9 did, this is the shoe you want. It has a lot of the same feel, just more in a overall training package that’s just a little bit more versatile and a little bit more durable. As I said, I’m going to make a shoe of the year video that really goes into the weeds on this one and really gets into my thoughts of the long-term review of this shoe because it’s been outstanding. But the Puma Velocity Nitro 4 is without a doubt my shoe of the year for 2025. Thank you for making it to the end of the video. If you want to support what I do here, check out sagasunning.com for merch or click the join button below. 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