NorthernRunner.com Blog

This week we’ve been on the trails producing our New Balance Hierro v7 review. The New Balance Hierro is essentially the trail shoe version of the New Balance 1080. It offers a soft, smooth ride on the trails. It’s available in two widths for women and three widths for men, so offers good fit for a wide range of feet widths [Browse Hierro v7 Wide & Extra Wide]. Although a lot of road shoes now come in width fittings, the trail shoe market is only catching up slowly, so the... Read More

The New Balance Fresh Foam X Tempo v2 is the second version of a shoe that replaced the New Balance Zante as a light, quick feeling shoe and this week it’s time for the review. The main difference between the two styles was the Tempo had increased firmness and stiffness compared with the Zante. I wouldn’t describe the Tempo as a stiff shoe, but the Zante was very flexible. The New Balance Fresh Foam X Tempo v2 is a lot more like the New Balance Zante Pursuit. Fresh Foam X... Read More

The Altra Escalante started life in the middle of the barefoot running craze and was very popular because it offered a broad rounded toe box and Zero Drop with some cushioning. This week we’ve reviewed the latest Altra Escalante 3. A lot of runners using barefoot shoes found that they liked the more natural way these shoes let you run, but on long runs and over months of training they were getting sore feet. The cushioning in the Escalante stopped the sore feet and therefore became the go-to shoe for... Read More

This week we’ve been off road creating our Saucony Xodus Ultra review. The Saucony Xodus started life as a heavy-duty shoe designed for distance. It was heavy and robust, almost like a walking shoe. The latest version of this shoe, the Xodus Ultra has a focus on racing over ultra distances, which has led to a considerable change in the shoe. When you pick up the Saucony Xodus Ultra it feels light. Now weighing in at 293 grams for a men’s size UK8. Compared with the previous version this is... Read More

“How Does the Speedgoat 5 Compare to the Speedgoat 4?”   Today we’re exploring the differences between the Speedgoat 4 and Speedgoat 5, before writing a dedicated review after an appropriate time to test the brand new Speedgoat 5. The Hoka Speedgoat was designed as a versatile, well cushioned trail shoe. The cushioning has a soft pillow-like feel to it, yet the shoes are fast feeling and surprisingly responsive. This has made them a very, very popular trail shoe! BROWSE THE SPEEDGOAT RANGE   Although the Speedgoat 4 is a... Read More

Incredibly popular for amateur and experienced off-road runners alike, the La Sportiva Akasha II (2) is getting a review this week. La Sportiva makes clothing and footwear for all mountain exploits, including trail running. The Italian brand has been making footwear since 1928 and you could say the focus is on making footwear and apparel that ‘does the job’. They don’t change their shoes every 6 months, like the more fashion-orientated running brands. They make shoes that work and only change/update them when there is some real improvement to be... Read More

A Swedish brand this week, Icebug, and it’s their Capra up for review. Trail running in Sweden is very similar to the UK. They have a lot of wet and muddy conditions, so even Icebug’s cushioned trail designed for harder packed trails have a good level of lugging that gives some traction on softer ground. The rubber used for the outsole always grips well on wet surfaces. The Icebug Capra is designed to work well on rougher more broken ground. Tove Alexandersson (17 World Orienteering Gold Medals, smashed the record... Read More

This week we’re reviewing the NVii (pronounced “en-vee”) Ultimate, which comes with rubber or metal studs. NVii are an orienteering and trail shoe brand from Finland. Their shoes are designed to be light, nimble and durable across very technical terrain. We reviewed the NVii Terra TT back in October 2020 here. The Terra TT is a light, nimble and surprisingly cushioned for such a flexible shoe. The NVii Ultimate is more of a soft ground trail, orienteering or fell running shoe. The NVii Ultimate upper is a sock construction. This... Read More

This week we review the Altra Vanish Carbon, Altra’s race day shoe for road running, designed to help you run faster! Like all Altra shoes the Vanish Carbon is zero drop. This means that the midsole of the shoe is the same height in the heel as it is in the forefoot. This is to allow you to run with a more natural posture and land on the ground with your feet under your centre of gravity. This promotes a more midfoot landing which loads the foot correctly. This allows... Read More