Altra Vanish Pulse Review
The Altra Vanish Pulse builds on the zero-drop experience of the Escalante Racer series to create a shoe that is dynamic and fast. The Vanish Pulse is designed with speed in mind, for high-intensity workouts such as fartlek and track sessions, where your focus is on pace and running fast.
The mantra of Altra is to run as nature intended, creating a wide toe box that enables the foot to sit relaxed, rather than boxed in, and allows it to function naturally from heel or midfoot strike through to toe-off. Whilst other brands have built systems around the foot to ensure the runner can spring along seemingly effortlessly, Altra encourages your foot to do the work. After all, that is what feet are designed for, and nature is a great engineer!
The Vanish Pulse is the next stage in development from the Escalante Racer 5, and whilst this remains a great shoe, Altra have made great even better. The stack height of 22mm is the same as the Escalante Racer 5, yet the foot sits deeper in the shoe, keeping it firmly grounded without taking anything away from the firm midsole.
The midsole itself is made from Fast PCE foam, creating a firm, low-cushioned shoe that glides across the ground. Compared with the normal EGO midsoles, which offer a little more cushioning, the Fast PCE foam is designed for quicker paces and feels more energetic and responsive.
The shoe is extremely lightweight, as you’d expect from a fast, sleek running shoe, weighing in at 239g for men and 200g for women. As the Vanish Pulse harks back to the days when racing trainers were the most minimalist of all running shoes, and runners weighed shoes on scales (yes, they really did!) because lighter meant faster, this feels incredibly light, despite being slightly heavier than the Escalante Racer 5. Personally, the weight feels exactly the same.
The low stack height ensures your foot responds to the ground with every stride, and you feel able to generate propulsion and quicken your cadence with ease, as the shoe feels glove-like rather than clumsy. Unlike other fast racing shoes, where I’ve felt uncomfortable between reps, the Vanish Pulse naturally allows you to build into your pace, and you feel in control throughout the session. Some racing shoes don’t handle sharp corners or sudden deceleration particularly well, but the Vanish Pulse moves with you, not against you.
The outsole is another area where the Vanish Pulse impresses. The softer, more flexible sole bends with the road surface, allowing it to adapt to the ground beneath your feet and providing reassuring traction. This is particularly noticeable on wet tartan tracks, where the grip remains dependable, even when cornering or changing direction at speed. It adds to the feeling of control, allowing you to concentrate on your running rather than worrying about your footing.
Possibly the main difference between the Vanish Pulse and the Escalante Racer 5 is the upper. Both remain lightweight, breathable and comfortable; however, the Vanish Pulse has a wide-gauge knit that doesn’t feature the larger perforations around the toe box found on the Escalante Racer, which can let the icy wind in during winter. The shoe feels snug, yet the toes have the room they need to function when moving at speed.
The tongue has been refined a little, too. It’s softer to the touch, enabling it to sit sock-like against your foot, and is attached on either side to the main upper mesh. This ensures the tongue remains in place under the laces and cannot slip to either side of the foot. The heel cup is equally well thought out, with comfortable padding around the collar. As it’s soft and flexible, tightening the laces draws the heel cup closer around your ankle, creating a secure fit with no slippage. It’s a small detail, but one that makes a real difference when running at pace, particularly during sessions involving repeated acceleration and deceleration.
The upper both looks and feels more durable, which, if you’re doing fast efforts on hard-packed terrain such as resurfaced disused railway lines or park paths, helps keep the grit out of your shoe, as well as the wind.
Even though the Vanish Pulse is designed for speed, it has retained the Altra zero-drop midsole. Whereas some racing shoes have a higher drop, the Vanish Pulse has flexibility in the forefoot, allowing your foot to bend naturally and push off with ease, rather than sitting at an angle to encourage that propulsion.
If you’ve not experienced a zero-drop sole before, I’d recommend transitioning into these shoes slowly to avoid tightness in the calf and Achilles. Speed workouts already put the calf and Achilles under tension, particularly when you’re running up on your toes, so running in something like the Altra Escalante first, or a more cushioned zero-drop shoe, may help bridge the gap and avoid unnecessary aches and pains.
Again, with the natural-fit toe box, your feet may need time to adjust to the extra space if you’ve previously run in brands with a narrower toe box. You may initially notice that the muscles in your feet feel more tired after faster-paced runs, as they’re being encouraged to work in a slightly different way. As your feet adapt and strengthen, this should ease, although it’s important to allow yourself time to adjust rather than pushing through discomfort.
Altra running shoes are similar in length to Topo, Brooks, Saucony and 361. If you use Hoka, Karhu, New Balance, INOV8 or La Sportiva, then we would suggest trying half a UK size smaller in Altra running shoes to achieve a similar length. For example, a UK 11 in Altra is a similar length to a UK 11.5 in Hoka or New Balance.
Summary
The Altra Vanish Pulse is a fantastic shoe for runners who enjoy the feeling of running fast and naturally, without relying on the technology of a plated racing shoe to do the work for them. It’s lightweight, firm and responsive, with a flexibility that allows your feet to move freely and a connection with the ground that gives you confidence when picking up the pace.
What really impresses me is how comfortable and controlled the shoe feels throughout a speed session. Whether accelerating into a fast rep, negotiating tight corners or easing back into recovery, the Vanish Pulse feels completely at home. The improved upper, secure heel fit and excellent traction are all welcome refinements, making this a shoe that performs as well as it feels.
For those who already love the Escalante Racer, the Vanish Pulse takes everything that makes it such a great shoe and improves on it. It’s not a shoe that tries to propel you forward artificially; instead, it encourages you to run naturally, allowing your feet to generate the speed. If you enjoy a low-profile, zero-drop running shoe and want something that comes alive when the pace increases, the Vanish Pulse is certainly worth considering.
Sometimes the best way to run faster is to let your feet do what nature designed them to do!
Alternatives to Altra Vanish Pulse
Topo Cyclone 3
With a slightly higher stack than the Vanish Pulse, and 5mm drop from heel to forefoot, The Cyclone 3 is ultra lightweight, has a wide toe box to ensure natural foot function, and would be suitable for race distances up to ½ marathon. If you’re not ready for the zero drop yet, the wide toe box will let you experience the natural foot function similar to Altras. As a racing trainer, you would also find you can get away completing warm up and cool downs in them without the need to change into a more cushioned shoe.
https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/topo-athletic-cyclone-3-review/
Altra Escalante 5
With a zero drop like the Vanish Pulse, it has a higher stack at 24mm, and the ride is softer than the Vanish Pulse as the cushioning is slightly higher. It can be used for everyday running, and faster paced, tempo runs, and could be a good shoe to transition into the Vanish Pulse, if that’s the way your running takes you.
https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/altra-escalante-5-review/
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