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What are the best and worst running shoes? Inky Steve has bought more than 40 pairs of running shoes and ran almost 6,000 miles in them. He gives an honest running shoe review from someone who has paid full price for his shoes.
He’s an ultra runner, 5k runner, park runner, and everything in between. If you love running shoes or are curious about what to buy next, Inky Steve is a great resource.
(If you haven’t already, will you give us a rating and review?)
He opens his closet for a no-holds-barred deep dive into his massive running shoes rotation spotlighting the best trail running shoes and road running shoes he’s actually logged serious miles in, plus the absolute worst offenders that disappointed, fell apart, got binned early, or converted to lifestyle.
With 43 pairs detailed (mileage tracked obsessively), Inky dishes honest, no-filter verdicts on grip, bounce, durability, style, longevity, and real-world performance in Manchester mud, long ultras, and everything in between.
Chapters
02:06 Inky Steve’s Top Five Running Shoes
06:09 The Importance of Shoe Longevity and Functionality
08:56 Brand Preferences and Shoe Mileage
14:06 Lifestyle Shoes vs. Performance Shoes
20:00 Honest Shoe Reviews
24:15 Number One Trail Shoe Recommendation
28:09 Hoka Mafate X Shoe for 50 Milers
30:50 The Importance of Running Shoe Drainage
34:09 The Ultra Running Experience
38:50 The Impact of Shoe Design on Performance
44:20 Shoe Iterations: What to Keep and What to Scrap
Top 10 (Most Miles):
- 1. Nike | Vaporfly Next % | 535 miles
- 2. HOKA | Tecton X2 | 404 miles
- 3. Nike | Vaporfly Next% 2 | 382 miles
- 4. HOKA | Rocket X2 | 335 miles
- 5. ASICS | Superblast | 260 miles
- 6. Adidas | Adizero Adios Pro 3 (2) | 247 miles
- 7. Adidas | Adizero Prime X Strung | 228 miles
- 8. Nike | Alphafly | 231 miles
- 9. Adidas | Prime X Strung 2 | 204 miles
- 10. HOKA | Tecton X2 (2) | 204 miles
Bottom 10 (least miles):
- 35. Altra | FWD | 27 miles
- 36. HOKA | Carbon X2 | 25 miles
- 37. Nike | Rival XC Spikes | 18 miles
- 38. Norda | 002 RX:CCD | 13 miles
- 39. SATISFY | Rocker | 12 miles
- 40. Saucony | Elite 2 sample | 11 miles
- 41. Nike | Pegasus 41 | 9 miles
- 42. Speedland | GS:PGH | 9 miles
- 43. Norda | 001:TAM | 7 miles
- 44. HOKA | Rocket x2 limes | 5 miles
By Brand:
- 1. Nike | 1,774 miles
- 2. HOKA | 1,318 miles
- 3. Adidas | 1,071 miles
- 4. ASICS | 390 miles
- 5. New Balance | 311 miles
- 6. Speedland | 287 miles
- 7. Norda | 163 miles
- 8. Under Armour (Speedland Collab) | 136 miles
- 9. Brooks | 124 miles
- 10. Mount to Coast | 45 miles
- 11. Altra | 27 miles
- 12. SATISFY | 12 miles
- 13. Saucony | 11 miles
Transcript
Borderlands (00:08.193)
Waterlands Trail and Ultra running podcast presented by Kip Run. My name is Josh, the host and the founder. am hopefully going to be hanging out at the Paris Marathon with the Kip Run team because they’re going to have some stuff there at like the bib pickup place. I’m just hyped on Kip Run right now. I’m thankful for their sponsorship. They’re also a part of my race in Salt Lake City. And we are partnering up with a local run shop called Evo. They’re kind of their regional run shop called Evo.
Inky Steve (00:25.535)
Thank
Borderlands (00:35.086)
to do bib pickup for us and Kip Run is gonna be there. It’s gonna be a blast. So stoked on Kip Run, stoked to have Evo on board with my race. That’s presented by Path Project. So lots going on. Today, we’re talking about 44 different pairs of shoes. We’re not gonna call them all out by name, but my dude, Inky Steve, loves shoes. He legitimately loves shoes and he’s the guy that’s out there paying full price that I always talk about. Like he loves them enough to buy them and he keeps track of them in Strava.
Inky Steve (00:44.288)
Never too bad. Never too bad.
Borderlands (01:03.406)
Like nobody’s business. I wish that I had done at this point. I wish that done I always feel like it’s too late to start it. So he sends me this list What’s that? It’s never too late to start. he sends me the list and just for fun I’m like, this is an episode because I think there’s a lot of stuff I’ve got so many questions for I’m pulled out from these 44 pairs of shoes 43 pairs of shoes On his Strava list and so we’re just gonna come out of the gates high level here Steve. I’ve got these ordered
Inky Steve (01:11.838)
It’s never too late. It’s never too late.
Thanks.
Borderlands (01:32.622)
in your top five. I’m going to name your top five and let’s just see where your mind goes. The Nike Vaporfly, next percent, 535 miles. Hoka Tecton X2, 404 miles. Nike Vaporfly, percent, two, 382 miles. Hoka Rocket X2, 335. The A6 Super Blast, I think I did extra, 260.
Inky Steve (01:35.432)
Yep. Yep.
Inky Steve (01:56.161)
Yep.
Borderlands (01:58.094)
It’s a lot of miles in a few shoes. We’ve got 44 total, but that’s a ton of miles in your top five. What stands out to you in your own top five when you hear that?
Inky Steve (02:05.31)
I mean probably the my favorite shoe
is this one because this is what started it this was the shoe that i was sent because i needed a running shoe and my friend worked for these guys
Borderlands (02:23.202)
So for those only listening, what’s that shoe?
Inky Steve (02:25.884)
This is the Vaporfly Next Percent. So this was like the first one of this. Vaporfly range. I think it came out in like 2020. I think 2021, 2020. This was like this was like the Kipchoge Blaster. It was smashing everything in this. It was the first.
Borderlands (02:42.861)
one
Borderlands (02:50.668)
What makes that shoe what it is? Like what’s the value proposition of that shoe?
Inky Steve (02:56.057)
I mean it’s got some cool foam in it, it’s got a carbon plate in it, it’s light as anything even compared to like ones now five years later this is still, I’d better picked it up out of the box before I was like, fucking hell this is like why are they not still making this?
Borderlands (03:13.912)
So even five or six years later, that shoe is, it hasn’t been, I mean, it’s still light. I mean, with all the new technology and the lightness, it’s still.
Inky Steve (03:21.467)
yeah yeah yeah man there’s nothing to it there’s absolutely nothing to it and i can’t for life of me understand why they changed it because the new one sucks new one’s rubbish it looks shit this looks cool man this looks like look at the tick like just looks cool whoever designed this cool cool cool cool but like i ran like trails in this i didn’t know there was trail shoes
Borderlands (03:41.048)
Yeah.
looks fast.
Inky Steve (03:50.3)
I didn’t know the difference. Running shoes are running shoe, If you’re gonna run, if you’re running, just put a running shoe on. I had one shoe, this was the shoe.
Borderlands (03:59.702)
One thing that blew my mind, I was starting to become friends with some faster runners. One of them was Finn from Singletrack there in Salt Lake. And we were chatting one day and I was like, yeah, what shoes are you running in? And it’s Salt Lake Foothills behind the university and all that. And he said, well, if it’s not super technical, I’m running on road shoes. And I was like, what? I thought we had this trail shoes, then it makes sense. If it’s not super technical, it’s a wide trail, it’s nice, you’re not running over whatever it is. A road shoe is just fine on trail.
Inky Steve (04:28.509)
That’s the next wave, that’s another episode because that road to trail is now the hottest opposition on the market for running shoes now. But you don’t need it because you can just have one shoe and run nearly 600 miles in it and this is supposed to be like ultimate race day marathon two hour marathon shoe. I’m running like 10 minute miles in this.
Borderlands (04:36.93)
Yeah. Good point. Good point.
Inky Steve (04:58.166)
It you know what mean? works, doesn’t matter does it? It doesn’t matter.
Borderlands (04:59.596)
Yeah. Yeah. I’m going to do my own documentary for my next marathon called Breaking Four and a Half. So, you know, I’m going to go for my record of breaking four and a half hours.
Inky Steve (05:09.788)
Of course, looking cool. That’s all that matters. You’re looking cool.
Borderlands (05:11.822)
Yeah. Yeah. For those who are new here, you and I align on this is that the way that it looks is just as important. If not, maybe I would even skew it as 55%, 45%. Like I want it to look good. You know, this is, it’s a high value to me. And so, you know, when you’re talking about putting 535 miles on those shoes, when you’ve got 43 other pairs in your closet, you’ve prioritized them a lot. Was there a point where it just got prioritized because of its function?
Inky Steve (05:42.708)
No, I don’t think anything that I’ve got is prioritised over function to be honest. I’d just been out this morning, first run back after Saturday and I wore the Mounts-a-Coast H1. I’m not running on any trails. I ran on the road, I ran 5k on the road but I was like, I had a brown t-shirt on, I was like, I’m gonna wear the brown shoes and they’re a fucking great shoe.
they look look down look banging
Borderlands (06:14.336)
And speaking of longevity on shoes, a friend of the podcast and friend period, Colby Sharp, he said he’s 1200 miles into a pair of Mount to Coast that just won’t die. I think maybe he’s in the R1s. I think the point being is that, you know, we talk about design and function, but also longevity is such a key factor for so many people. You know, those Mount to Coast are going to last you a long time.
Inky Steve (06:30.139)
Thank
Inky Steve (06:39.397)
Well the longevity is a problem for me.
because I want them to wear out. So I can get the next one. So I can get the next one and they’re making them last longer.
Borderlands (06:45.602)
so can get another pair. Yeah.
Yeah, I think that’s what a lot of people don’t factor in is that yeah, they make a selling point of longevity. Like it’s in the marketing materials. And that’s nice. And that also allows the brand to sort of say, look, we’re being responsible. But how many people truly wait until they need shoes to buy shoes? I would venture to say that’s very few who actually buy like that. I know that they are. And I have friends that do. Jeremy Cox, one of them.
I know that they do that. However, so many people buy, that’s why they release a new model every year. Even if I only got 300 miles on the shoe, the 2026 is that much cooler though, that technology. You know what I’m saying?
Inky Steve (07:31.199)
Yeah, but I think that also is the… What I’ve found is now that it almost goes the opposite. The shoe that I really like, the new model they bring out, I think sucks. I think it’s shit. They change too much. So then I don’t want the new one, but I want the old one to last longer. So then I’ve got to buy the old one again, because the new one’s…
Borderlands (07:46.542)
Mmm.
Inky Steve (07:58.329)
Not very good.
Borderlands (07:59.534)
Okay, speaking of that, you’re gonna get a kick out of this. So when I said that I didn’t manage my shoes on Strava, I redownloaded Strava, I haven’t used it in a bit. Okay, so I need to find my shoes. How do I find my shoes here?
Inky Steve (08:14.106)
go down it’s like right at the bottom it’s got like kit
Borderlands (08:18.062)
Oh, okay. I did do this when I’ve, roughly when I first started tracking on Strava. So, but I’ve never changed the shoe. So for all of my runs. So according to Strava, I have 8,652 miles on a pair of Brooks Cascadia 11s. Yeah. So I’m.
Inky Steve (08:37.23)
Nice. Nice. Imagine if you had done that in them, what they would look like.
Borderlands (08:47.438)
Okay, I’ve got so many observations here. let’s let’s keep going. So if I look at your brands, the number of brands that you’ve got here is like 12. Yeah, it’s fun. So Nike, most miles in Nikes, you have 1774 miles in Nikes.
Inky Steve (08:59.086)
And you have to send me this spreadsheet because this is…
Borderlands (09:11.622)
1,318 in Hokas, 1,071 in Adidas, which being in Europe, because I’ve gone to this thing called a Adi house, now I’m saying Adidas and I feel like when I go back to America, I’m gonna laugh at myself, but 1,071 Adidas, 390 A6, 311 New Balance. Those are your top five. have a really, really steep drop after Adidas. So Nike, Hoka, Adidas, steep drop to A6. Why?
Inky Steve (09:38.586)
So, uh, because the others aren’t as good. I don’t know. Yeah, I just, don’t know whether I, so I think some, the thing with the Nike is that
Borderlands (09:43.064)
Practical.
Inky Steve (09:54.189)
Because this was so good this Vaporfly, when this wore out
bought the second one, second iteration of it.
Borderlands (10:04.782)
I don’t like that color way. I’ll say
Inky Steve (10:06.338)
Yeah, no, I’ve tried something different, know, tried something different. It didn’t work. I didn’t do as many miles in these, but I picked these because the others lasted so long and I never got an injury. So then I just got these and I just ran these to death. mean, that’s like that. I didn’t like these as much. I didn’t do as many miles in them.
Borderlands (10:29.486)
Mm.
Inky Steve (10:35.459)
So then I started looking at the other brands.
Borderlands (10:39.886)
You did 382 miles in them. I mean, that’s still a lot. 535 in your first pair, 382 in your second pair.
Inky Steve (10:46.04)
Yeah. But then I was like, maybe there’s other stuff out there. Maybe there’s other brands out there. But then it kind of came down to like.
Borderlands (10:51.66)
What a dangerous question. What a dangerous question.
Inky Steve (11:01.057)
I’m gonna buy something that I like the look of
rather than something that I think is going to make me better. at this point every single run I’m trying to in these is faster than the one before. I didn’t understand that that’s just stupid. I thought every run you had to do had to be better than the last one because you were that much better. You’re better the day after than the day previous. But then I obviously got to a point where I was like…
just like the look of these other shoes maybe I’ll just try them and that’s when you start like it’s scary at first because I knew that these worked for me I didn’t get like I said I didn’t get an injury did loads of miles in them so it was the unknown when you’re gonna spend at the end of day I was buying like the best ones I wasn’t going in like entry level I was going for like they raced they shoot because
just look the best, they’re the prettiest shoe, the most beautiful, I think they’re the most thought about shoe that these companies make because ultimately they’re the ones who want on start lines, they don’t want a daily trainer on a start line do they, they’re selling that as an extra but they want everybody to have a carbon race shoe so that’s where you know I like the look of the hokas and I was like you know maybe I’ll just get them because
Borderlands (12:31.726)
Okay, good.
Inky Steve (12:32.535)
They had that horrible, I did buy a trail shoe and I bought the Nike trail shoe. Horrible Zagama brick. The new Brooks Cascadia.
so i hated that trail shoe so then i was like looking at trail shoes more because i like running on the trails and that’s when these things pops up and still their best trail shoe i think tecton x2 the next two it’s beautiful this is this was the first shoe i’ve bought twice
Borderlands (13:07.022)
What model is that?
That’s the Hoka Tectonics 2. Good luck and shoo.
Inky Steve (13:18.2)
exactly the same color, exactly the same size because I was like I need another one of these because it’s that good so I think combined the two shoes have done like nearly 600 miles so thousand kilometers in two shoes and these have still got some life in them
bit, it’s a bit fucked around there. It looks alright but it started going on the inside, started ripping in there, in the heel cut and then bits started like, this bit starts coming away so was like, I’ll get another pair of them.
Borderlands (13:41.548)
Yeah, the tread looks nice.
Borderlands (13:58.894)
Okay, this leads into a nice question though that I had thought about is, what shoes did you buy that you were excited to run in? Yeah, I you bought them because they looked good too, if not primarily. What shoes did you buy that you just quickly converted them to lifestyle? You know what I mean? I feel like sometimes we talk about lifestyle shoes as there’s an intention, but sometimes it’s how those of us who spend a lot of money justify the expense. like, are they lifestyle? All right, tell me about that. What do you got?
Inky Steve (14:29.153)
This is an order 001 and anybody that listens to me and you they know we’re a fan.
Borderlands (14:37.452)
Yeah, die hard.
Inky Steve (14:38.923)
And this is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful shoe. It’s shit to run in. It’s proper shit to run in. It’s too firm. How anybody was running 100 miles in this, they need an extra medal from Norder. I want them to please send me the 001A because I would love to wear them.
Borderlands (14:43.862)
hurts. It’s so good. You didn’t like it.
Inky Steve (15:08.97)
for another 50 mile I’ve got coming up in a few weeks to see what it’s like in comparison.
Borderlands (15:15.554)
The 001A in comparison to the 001. Now, I’ve never fancy myself as a, I gotta stop saying this. I’ve always said, okay, I’m not really fancying myself as an expert, but I’ve spent so much time in these shoes. I’m starting to feel that way. And the difference between the 001 and the 001A is significant. It really is. I was thinking that it was this marketing, and then I got, mean, they’re good. They really are.
Inky Steve (15:41.215)
Yeah.
Borderlands (15:43.054)
And I tend to focus on like the 001A for me or the 001, I ran a half marathon in last year. To me, that’s a perfect distance for me in those shoes. And I don’t know what it is. Yeah, of course I see people, I don’t know. Do I see people do 001s for a hundred milers? I see them in the 005s for a hundred milers or 200 milers a lot.
Inky Steve (16:02.734)
But before it was before the 005 because obviously 005 was my shoe of year for last year Awesome shoe awesome shoe Could probably have done with being a bit firmer Which is why I want the 001A because I want to see I want to see this To the 005 and whether that 1A does sit in the middle of these beautiful tunes
Borderlands (16:30.37)
That would be interesting, an interesting analysis.
Inky Steve (16:31.978)
And I would love, there’s nothing I would love more than to run a thousand miles in a pair of these.
Borderlands (16:39.8)
It’s beautiful.
Inky Steve (16:40.95)
But I just can’t because they kill me.
Borderlands (16:43.682)
That’s an inky color way right there.
Inky Steve (16:45.717)
That’s an inky colour way. This was a… This was a collaboration one that they did. One of the early ones. I was an early adopter of the 001. Ray something. Yeah, Ray’s AI app.
Borderlands (17:02.774)
Rezaehab. He doesn’t wear socks, I hear, which blows my mind, and he does these epic multi-day things in those shoes without socks.
Inky Steve (17:12.671)
Maybe that’s the way forward. Maybe that’s the way forward. Maybe.
Borderlands (17:14.22)
in the desert. I bet he’s got the smoothest sandpapered feet.
Inky Steve (17:20.48)
Maybe they feel mega in bare feet.
Borderlands (17:27.062)
What about one that I’m looking at on here as I look to support answering the question would be the rocker. Now, but that may not have qualified. Out of the gates, were you planning on that being lifestyle vibe or were you looking to that to be a good running shoe?
Inky Steve (17:27.573)
It’s to try, it’s one to try.
Inky Steve (17:46.975)
So, I didn’t think it was going to be a good running shoe. I thought it was going to be a really cool shoe to own.
Borderlands (17:50.838)
by Satisfy.
Borderlands (17:58.646)
I still want one, to be honest, I still really want one for lifestyle vibe. And for light runs on, you know, three to five mile.
Inky Steve (18:02.069)
So when I was at the race on Saturday, they have a photographer that takes really cool black and white photographs. He’s called Dan. He’s called Dan. Yeah, he’s called Dan. And just as he’s doing my photo, he says to me, I recognize you. And I was like, he went, where do I know you from? Are you in the industry? I said, no, no, I’m a barber. And he was like,
Borderlands (18:13.538)
Really really good photos. Those were some that was a sick photo that you posted
Inky Steve (18:33.941)
I recognise you though. He went, do you do shoe reviews? And I was like, sort of, yeah. And he went, you did the rocker. You did the rocker. I bought a pair of those from that review.
Borderlands (18:39.598)
I talk shit. really? What?
Borderlands (18:48.61)
Dude, did he buy it from your guy in Manchester? Did he go buy it in person? What an epic win that would be. Good job. Because you were honest. I mean, off the mic and on the mic, you say the same thing about shoes. You’re not trying to sugar coat anything. You said that they looked great. You were happy with how they looked. You didn’t love them in the run, right?
Inky Steve (18:52.692)
I’m not sure, I’m not sure. Bye.
Inky Steve (19:10.993)
Yeah, I think they’re a bang average shoe really but they look fucking mega
Borderlands (19:17.41)
Man, I just, hope, I mean, I know that they’ve got shoes in development and I really hope that they’re great. I want them to be great. I want that for them. I want that for me. And their principal, know, head of shoes, Jean-Marc Dijon, I want that for him. I think it’d be cool.
Inky Steve (19:31.38)
Yeah, I mean, I don’t, to be honest with you, I don’t care if they’re good or not, as long as they look good. I don’t care. We’re just talking about the Norda. It’s a fantastic shoe. It’s just not great to run in. Or for me, it’s not great to run in. Because I know people run thousands and thousands of miles in them and I’m knocking that. But they saw the problem and they changed it. Without changing the shoe, which is…
Borderlands (19:36.546)
Totally. Yeah.
Borderlands (19:45.165)
Right.
Borderlands (19:57.784)
Yeah, totally.
Inky Steve (20:00.606)
Chef’s Kiss, with that.
Borderlands (20:02.2)
Totally. One thing that I like about your take on shoes is that you see a lot of shoe reviewers, they never say anything negative or they’re always skewed positive over negative. so at some point you start to doubt them. Like, hey, if you’re always positive, are you a reviewer? I don’t think of myself as a reviewer. I’m a hype man. I like to talk about stuff and get excited about it.
But a reviewer, like a restaurant reviewer, the only reason that everyone will run to the restaurant when a reviewer says it’s great is because they also will have, they have to say negative things about other restaurants. that way you’re trusting them. And so I think you build trust that way.
Inky Steve (20:41.94)
I mean, no, I mean, like I’m buying these shoes. They’re not brands aren’t sending me shoes. You know what mean? So I there’s a reason why I bought them. It’s because I like them. So I can be honest and say, I really like the shoe. Just not great for running in. Oh, there’s other ones that I’ve got that are better for running in. Like, here’s a shoe for you. And, you know, people that
Borderlands (20:54.476)
Yeah. Yeah.
Inky Steve (21:11.835)
watch this know how much I love this brand
Inky Steve (21:18.772)
I’ve hardly done any miles in these because they’re too nice. They’re too nice. I don’t want to get them dirty. I don’t want to get them dirty. This is the Speedland Cam Hanes GSPGH with the blood splatters down the side. You know what mean? I’m not running in this. This is just on a shelf. It’s too nice. This is like Louve Tackle.
Borderlands (21:24.014)
What are we looking at?
Inky Steve (21:46.663)
This needs a little shelf in the loo for people to look at it on a rotating thing like that. Because this probably is the best shoe that Speedland have brought out in terms of the colour way.
Borderlands (21:49.536)
someone that comes deal. Yeah. Yeah.
Inky Steve (22:03.837)
how they did it, you know, it fits with cab, it’s got his little keep hammering on it.
I I look at it and I’m like, man, I really like it, but I don’t want to run in it. And I’ve run nine miles in it and I’ve had it for two years probably. But it’s just, it’s just such a, such a nice shoe. Such a nice shoe.
Borderlands (22:23.394)
Ha ha.
Borderlands (22:30.798)
Do you have any shoes on this list here that you just hated on the first run and then grew to love? Like went from the extremes on it. Like, no way, I regret this to putting more miles on it than you expected.
Inky Steve (22:46.93)
That’s a pretty good question
Borderlands (22:51.936)
Or you can go the other way. Anyone that you loved day one and grew to hate.
Inky Steve (22:54.609)
Yeah. So the ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyo. I love the look. Love the look of that shoe. It’s such a beautiful, beautiful shoe. And anyone that knows me, I was banging on about these ASICS Metaspeed shoes for like the last three or the last two or three versions. I need to get one of them. I want to buy one. I want to buy one. I want to buy one. Never pulled the trigger.
Borderlands (23:02.094)
It’s a good looking shoe.
Inky Steve (23:25.35)
did pull the trigger and the first run I did in it I was like wow such a good shoe then I ran a marathon in it and it’s not touched my foot since October because that fucking shoemate can get in the bin
Borderlands (23:42.016)
Okay, so you put about 40 miles on it in training, maybe a little less, 35 in training, and then you got your marathon in it, and then it’s in the bin.
Inky Steve (23:45.117)
Yeah. Yeah. It’s just… fuck. There’s so many other shoes that I’d pick over that. So many shoes. Which is disappointing because it’s such a nice looking shoe. But now I’ve just tainted. I shouldn’t have worn it for that marathon to be fair. It’s my fault. It’s not the shoe’s fault. It’s me not being a good enough runner’s fault. That’s what it is. The shoe’s fantastic shoe.
I’m just not good enough to run it.
Borderlands (24:16.29)
What shoe did, okay, shoes are expensive. is foundational. Running shoes are getting more and more expensive and you got someone who’s coming to you and say, know, give me your top shoe. Say it’s your best friend comes to you, like, what shoe should I buy? So you have to, after they buy it, you have to see them every time you go out and have drinks, whatever. Stand by this shoe. What shoe would you recommend to your best friend right now who’s getting into running, gonna.
First time they’re not gonna buy a budget shoe and they’re gonna go for it. What’s that shoe for you right now? Trail or road?
Inky Steve (24:50.394)
We’re talking
I think trail h1, mountain to coast h1 if they’re running trail because you can run on the road in that as well you know what mean, I said before I just did 5k in it, top shoe I think road
would be an adidas shoe and if they if it was if they wanted carbon I’d say the adidas pro 4 but if they just wanted a shoe to do everything in I’d say the adidas evo sl I think it’s shoe
Borderlands (25:30.286)
I still haven’t done an Adidas Evo SL and I’m seeing it more and more out there. I mean, than ever before. think was the Hermanos Kimori collab on the Evo SL. man, the colors. Adidas is killing it on colors right now.
Inky Steve (25:35.131)
Fantastic shoe, mate, honestly.
Inky Steve (25:46.245)
got everything. They absolutely fucked themselves out of that by bringing that shoe out. Absolutely fucked themselves because they can’t improve it.
Borderlands (25:53.774)
How so?
Inky Steve (26:00.731)
can’t improve that shoe. Can’t make it.
Borderlands (26:02.324)
Interesting. So there’s not like a 2026 model. You know, it’s like a legacy model already out of the gates.
Inky Steve (26:06.086)
So what they’ve so from, mean, 100%, because it was never designed for running.
was designed as a lifestyle shoe but the runners adopted it because it looked like the Evo Pro which is like 400-500 quid and it looks exactly like it but
Borderlands (26:27.566)
This is why I probably as a distant consumer of Adidas, I’ve not been super close on it. Maybe this is why I’ve been so confused by it. Because I recall that shape being 500 bucks. So interesting. So they took that shape and that silhouette and turned it into an affordable.
Inky Steve (26:34.993)
Yeah.
budget shoe budget shoe it’s a budget shoe it’s 130 pounds I think it’s like 150 dollars and that shoe will go 500 miles
And what they’ve done is, because it’s so good, when they were going to bring out the EVO SL2, they went, we can’t call it that because it’s not as good. So they called it the EVO SL Woven.
which is heavier than the first one. So the new one’s heavier. It’s got a different upper. So it’s heavier. And then they’ve gone, what about the people that run a bit of trails? Well, make one called the EVO SL ATR. So it’s a road to trail shoe. And it fits in that, I’ve not tried that one, so I couldn’t tell you, but if it is the same shoe with a different outsole,
That be the Mount to Coast killer, the H1 killer, because that shoe is a banger.
Borderlands (27:48.856)
What a, man, that’s interesting insight. What shoe on your list here?
Borderlands (27:59.586)
if you look at the miles on the shoes does not reflect your love for the shoe or your commitment to the shoe, meaning maybe it’s newer than, you you had that the 535 miles on the, the vapor fly, but what, and if I, as I look at this list here, what shoe would you say, Hey, don’t look at the mileage. That doesn’t reflect where I’m at. Like I love that shoe.
Borderlands (28:22.892)
And did you run 50 miles in it?
Inky Steve (28:25.04)
Errr, I don’t know if I love this shoe.
Borderlands (28:28.076)
Hmm. Hmm.
Inky Steve (28:30.192)
But it is a great shoe.
fat a
Borderlands (28:38.05)
Such a well-designed shoe, just looks like a speedy shoe.
Inky Steve (28:41.04)
Apart from, this hooker that they’ve put on the side is shit man, it’s all coming off. So that’s going to peel off and no one will know if it’s a hooker or not. I might just scrape it off. It could be anything, it could be in a proto.
Borderlands (28:56.568)
Well, now why would you run a 50-miler in a shoe you don’t love?
Inky Steve (29:04.624)
I liked it! So I did some training miles in it. So I did some trail, did some road. I thought this is going to be… I think this is the shoe for that 50 miler. So knew how bad it was going to be muddy wise. I mean, it held up through the mud. No shoe was going to be great in those conditions because it was like fucking bad.
bad bad bad and the mud was like clay so it was just like slick as soon as you put your foot down it just shut off but I knew the comfort was gonna be there and they’re not like these aren’t the softest softest softest I mean it looks it’s massive it’s a massive chunk that
but it’s not super soft
Inky Steve (30:01.795)
and thought I’d have the stability. So even if I was walking…
Inky Steve (30:09.423)
thought this shoe would be good for that as well. We’ll do that to Waltz.
Borderlands (30:11.48)
How did your toes do as your feet were swelling? Did you blister? was that like?
Inky Steve (30:16.131)
No, so what’s really good about this, same with this, with Detecton, the upper shapes are similar.
Borderlands (30:26.446)
That’s nice.
Inky Steve (30:26.607)
through that bit and it laces quite far down so you can loosen it off through there and keep it tight up tight at the throat, at the collar. But I had plenty of wiggle room and what’s really good about it is you can almost see through it so when you’re going through watery bits the water’s just draining out of it so it’s not holding any water.
Borderlands (30:54.03)
You know, I never really thought about that until I got to interview Dave from Speedland where he’s talking about draining function in shoes and he had a pair of shoes, I think the Avery Collins maybe where you could cut something off the bottom and it would drain differently. bottom line, never really, is that? Okay, I never.
Inky Steve (31:10.414)
Yeah, little plug there.
Borderlands (31:15.758)
truly considered the value of that. It never crossed my mind. So if you don’t have a way for the water to drain, you’re just essentially getting real swampy in there. When a shoe that does drain could prevent that. And obviously we all, any ultra runner who’s done anything in the rain at all knows what I mean by swampy feet.
Inky Steve (31:33.679)
but that’s why I won’t buy a Gore-Tex shoe for running in because once that water gets in it can’t come out from the of the fabric know what mean? it’s the weakness yeah yeah so for trail shoes really what you want or what I think you want is like a hydrophobic shoe you want a good sock and a hydrophobic shoe so it doesn’t hold on to the water it just it just goes because you’re gonna be running
Borderlands (31:44.364)
Yeah, its strength is its biggest weakness.
Inky Steve (32:03.278)
If you’re running 50 miles, your feet are hot. If you’ve got a good sock and a shoe that drains, if you go start running through a bit that’s dry, the heat from your foot’s probably gonna dry out the sock if you’ve got a decent sock on.
Borderlands (32:24.012)
Let’s see that metal by the way, that GB Ultra’s metal looks sick. That’s good. That’s a good metal. Good job, GB Ultra.
Inky Steve (32:32.354)
Yeah, it’s a good one. Wasn’t the colour I wanted, but…
Borderlands (32:36.248)
Do they do colors based off finish times? Okay. Hey.
Inky Steve (32:38.69)
Yeah, yeah, I’m a bronze. I’m a bronze, but you know what? Fuck it.
Borderlands (32:45.166)
Yeah, it still still weighs something, you know what mean? Like you still got something you still earn some metal.
Inky Steve (32:50.414)
Yeah, man, that’s like… Yeah, crossing the line. You know this, crossing the line after doing, you know, that sort of miles. When they put this around your neck, you’re like, my God. I mean, I’m like… I am an elite athlete at that point, because if you talk about like, people say 1 % of the world population has run a marathon.
What percentage has run over 50 miles? If 1 % have run a marathon, I just ran 2 back to back through sh-
Borderlands (33:22.894)
of so few. mean, it only gets skewed when all of your friends are also ultra runners. That’s when you start to think, oh, okay, I didn’t do anything special. And it’s like, yeah. I love what Anne Flower said. She said after she ran Leadville, she said this, after you finish a 100-miler, and I think this goes for 50-miler, 50K, any race that you’ve just cared about and you put your heart into, you can’t be bothered for two weeks.
You know, nothing’s gonna kill that vibe. It’s just such a good feeling to have done something that means something to you that is so, so hard and so rare to do.
Inky Steve (33:57.337)
Yeah. Yeah man, out for like, I was out for 14 hours doing that.
Borderlands (34:04.854)
I pity the people who knock those things out in seven hours. They don’t know what it’s like to get to spend the day out there.
Inky Steve (34:09.504)
I exactly. I started in the dark and finished in the dark. That’s ultra. That’s ultra. That’s an ultra. Running it in seven hours. That’s just like easy, isn’t it? It’s easy. Easy work. It’s like someone that runs a marathon in just over two hours. You’re not enjoying that. How can that guy enjoy running that 50 miles in seven hours? He didn’t enjoy that. That’s like his job, isn’t it? That’s his job. Yeah.
Borderlands (34:13.29)
That’s a great day right there.
Borderlands (34:35.114)
That’s right. Yeah, he’s clocking in. He gets paid the same whether it takes seven or 14. Let’s get this over with.
Inky Steve (34:39.437)
He got a gold medal like this and he got a little thing as well but realistically it’s the same thing we did the same job just I enjoyed mine a little bit more I ate more food I was eating rice crispy squares and flapjacks all day and he was like he was blown out of his arse you know what mean? He was winning
Borderlands (34:44.044)
Yeah. Yeah.
Borderlands (35:01.112)
That’s hilarious.
Borderlands (35:07.314)
okay. Congrats on that. I don’t want to glaze over and act like that wasn’t a big deal. That’s fun. And we should absolutely have a day where we go through, maybe after you hit your A race, we should have an episode where we both just talk through our races of the year. Cause I know you got a hundred mile or in your crosshairs, you got more big stuff coming just like a day to celebrate all that and talk through all of that. I think will be, would be an awesome day. There’s a shoe brand that’s missing from your, long list here that
Inky Steve (35:09.677)
Thanks.
Inky Steve (35:28.311)
Yeah, I think so.
Borderlands (35:36.756)
Most people sitting in your seat would not have missed out. I don’t see a single Solomon on here. Why not?
Inky Steve (35:44.916)
like them.
Borderlands (35:46.062)
44 shoes and Solomon doesn’t even make it. What do not like?
Inky Steve (35:49.26)
like him. Just don’t like the look of him. Never seen a Solomon’s shoe and gone, oh man I wish I had a pair of them. They just don’t do it for me. I just don’t like the look of him. don’t like the look.
Inky Steve (36:07.806)
Yeah, it’s just, yeah, I dunno. There’s something about them that I just don’t know. They look long. They look long.
Borderlands (36:14.76)
Yeah, okay, that’s so that was gonna be one of my thoughts like I said, they’re very narrow shoe and so to me they’re always they always Always put them in the category of the f1 shoes. So these low profile shoes ground feel shoes, you know thin foam all that sort of Are there to help me understand the Solomon thing? Are there other brands like that too? Or you’re just like no way I think of like normal kind of has that look and well Solomon was built around Killian’s foot and then normal was built around killing You know his not just his foot but his likes and dislikes
Inky Steve (36:38.496)
Yeah.
Inky Steve (36:42.96)
I like the normal. I like the look of the normal shoes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I was having a good chat with them at the running show, the lads that were there, and they’ve got one called the Caddy coming out. And that, again, I think fits in that profile from road to trail. But it’s a nice, real nice looking shoe. Real nice looking shoe.
Borderlands (36:46.062)
Really?
Borderlands (36:51.576)
Okay.
Borderlands (36:55.341)
Mm-hmm.
Borderlands (37:03.02)
Okay, so you.
So you’re liking normal then what what are there other brands like Solomon or Solomon just exclusively free kind of in its own little space here of shoe that you just don’t like the way it looks
Inky Steve (37:15.134)
I don’t get me wrong, there’s shoes from all brands that I’m like no interest in getting. No interest in getting. think Brooks is the number one, right? Brooks is the number one. I do own a pair of Brooks. I do own a pair of Brooks.
Borderlands (37:31.362)
What do you got? mean, look, I’m looking on here. Yes, I’m saying Brooks is on here. You got you got a good representation of Grins. okay. 124 miles.
Inky Steve (37:35.595)
Caldera, it’s a Caldera I think Caldera Yeah, I ran a 50k in them So that was the bulk of that I’ve run the so they were like the trail shoe I think I got After the Zagama and then I went to the Texan X2 thinking back I think that’s what I where I went I Really like them. I really like the look of them
Borderlands (37:42.903)
Okay.
Inky Steve (38:04.703)
and doesn’t have brooks splashed all over them so you can’t tell and the black with like a really cool white yellow midsole big chunky thing like look like i’m kind of looks like them but this is all yellow they’re not as good as them they’re not as good they’re not as good as these but yeah man brooks i don’t really don’t really fuck around with them too much
Borderlands (38:08.27)
Hmm.
Borderlands (38:31.512)
Man, do those, the Cascade of the Elites, I put them on my feet and I was like, my God, I was kind of mad at how much I liked them. I didn’t want to like them, but you I don’t mind a white, I don’t want a white on white shoe, but white with that color of blue on there really hit me. That was good, it worked for me. I’m having trouble with any shoe right now that has the collar. Because as I’m getting over 13,
Inky Steve (38:34.729)
I’m
Inky Steve (38:40.639)
Yeah.
Borderlands (39:00.75)
15 miles, my foot is swelling just enough to where it’s putting pressure on it. And on those collars, you can’t do anything unless you want to cut them. and I don’t know if maybe the elites, some of them don’t deal with, you know, fat foot syndrome.
Inky Steve (39:15.242)
I think it’s the elites that have caused this problem. It’s the fucking Jim Warmsley’s of the world ruining shoes for the regular run. Fuck that guy. He ruined the best trail shoe. He ruined it by putting a sock on it. Fuck off Jim.
Borderlands (39:23.214)
fucking jim wamsleys
Borderlands (39:36.77)
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I don’t, you know what? What if this is what they’re solving with those stupid collars? Is we used to like in dirt, the dirt bag days that I was coming of age in the, the, the, the things, what am I thinking of? What are they called? You put the thing on the gator and it covers the whole shoe. So now you don’t.
Inky Steve (39:53.107)
Yeah, they the… thing. They had the thing over the top of them. The gator! The gator!
Inky Steve (40:02.633)
I know but who wants to… who the fuck’s putting a gator on a shoe? It’s like… it’s like wearing a plastic bag over your shoe. That’s just stupid. Stupid.
Borderlands (40:06.188)
Those desert runs, those.
Right. Well, the desert runs where you didn’t want the dirt to get in because of what it did. we I would I would only do them on my desert runs. And then I and then I stopped. But I wonder if the caller was to like kill that like stop covering up our shoes. Yeah.
Inky Steve (40:22.237)
Yeah, very bad song.
Inky Steve (40:27.485)
yeah yeah 100 % but the problem you’ve got with that is that they stink can’t clean them smell that sock on that Brooks Caldera or Cascadia smell that it’s I bet it stinks last thing you want to do is put a stinking shoe on
Borderlands (40:47.722)
Okay, a few more observations as we wind down. So let me let me work through a couple things here. Well one was How do you not have Solomon but you have under armor then I looked at your under armor and saw that it’s all the speedland Co labs Which shout out speed land, you know former creative director or chief creative officer Dave Dombrow of under armor. Okay, the number of shoes
Inky Steve (41:09.578)
I wouldn’t have bought that if it didn’t have speedland on it by the way. Like Under Armour made it but Dave and Kevin designed it. It’s a speedland shoe made in an Under Armour factory.
Borderlands (41:12.138)
Mmm, okay
Borderlands (41:23.15)
All right, so check this out. 50 % of your shoes, exactly half of your shoes, you have worn for less than 100 miles. Okay? Now, so here’s this. So between 100 and 200, 22 % of your shoes made it between 100 and 200. That’s 10 pairs. And then 18 % was between 200 and 300, which is eight shoes. Then you have…
Inky Steve (41:35.39)
Yeah.
Borderlands (41:50.414)
two shoes between three and 400, one shoe between four and 500 miles, one shoe between five and 600 miles. So you you start to develop, I mean, it’s classic, like the long tail. So you got, yeah, you’re getting more shoes and so that’s distributing. I wanted to have dates on all the, if I could have in the data set, if I could have the date of every run, that.
Inky Steve (42:01.469)
Yeah, I’m getting more shoes though, right?
Inky Steve (42:12.531)
Yeah.
Borderlands (42:13.068)
That would be interesting because we could solve for some of the, early on you maybe only had three pairs of shoes. Now when you go running, you’re looking at 44 plus pairs of shoes and you’re deciding.
Inky Steve (42:21.897)
I reckon at the minute I look at 10 shoes when I’m deciding what I’m gonna run in that day and that 10 shoes changes. Old ones come back in, new ones come in, some go out, some come in. Just depends on how I’m feeling. What’s my t-shirt look like? Is it gonna match my CLE hat?
Borderlands (42:45.646)
I like it. I like.
Inky Steve (42:46.569)
First hat, this was the first other than the shoe because I wore this special because of your podcast. This is the first CLE hat I ever bought. And it was the first bit of running kit other than the shoe that I bought. So before running proper running shorts, proper running t-shirts, vests, socks.
Borderlands (43:03.33)
Really?
Borderlands (43:11.146)
Mm. Dude, they really did change a lot. And so what you’re doing right there, popping up the thing I was talking with Jeremy before we were recording and he’s like, yep. He’s like, people just started to pop up our hats all the time and our logos got covered. So we started to put our logo on the bottom of the hat. It’s a good looking hat.
Inky Steve (43:11.868)
This was the first one.
Yeah, mom.
Love.
Inky Steve (43:24.456)
was on the ground.
is fantastic great color now this has seen some miles
I’ve in a wash a few times. Doesn’t smell, smells clean, smells clean.
Borderlands (43:42.828)
All right, I’m gonna land, we’re gonna land the plane here on these questions. What shoes, so you can’t name one that you’ve already named. So I know what you could answer, but I’m gonna push you to go beyond something you can’t name when you’ve already named. What shoe should be totally scrapped, thrown away, buried forever? Not a model number, but maybe a whole franchise. Is there a particular, but you could go franchise, you could go.
particular year of a certain shoe. But what do you think should be thrown away and was an awful mistake? And on the other hand, which one should they never iterate on and keep it exactly like that forever?
Inky Steve (44:22.12)
Err… Something we haven’t talked about? Err, I think we should scrap the Hoka Rocket X now. The Rocket X2 was the best shoe. I think that… The Road. Stop iterating it, because the third one’s shit. Nowhere near as good. Nowhere near as good. It’s just… It’s not even a race shoe, it’s a daily trainer. Like, dressed up as a race shoe.
Borderlands (44:34.296)
Really?
Borderlands (44:37.774)
So stop iterating.
Inky Steve (44:51.057)
whereas the other one was a race shoe and I love that rocket x2 I do have a second pair of rocket x2s so that’s the second time I’ve bought the same shoe and it’s been two hokas taken away from the speedland because I’ve got three pairs of GS’s but that’s they’re all different colors and stuff
Borderlands (45:16.216)
I mean, buying two pairs of the same shoe, that’s really the testimony of a good shoe.
Inky Steve (45:21.125)
Yeah, so I think like of a shoe that we’ve not talked about, think the Rocket X2 is a fantastic shoe. It’s not the lightest, it’s not the softest, but my God, it’s such a fun shoe to run in, such a fun shoe to run in. Unless they go back to the Rocket X2, they should fuck that off.
Borderlands (45:37.646)
Okay, so right there, they should stop. That’s the shoe to keep forever.
Borderlands (45:45.27)
Well now, I, then is the answer to my other question is the one that they should bury forever, the X3?
Inky Steve (45:52.263)
Probably not, because I reckon people will like it. I think people like it.
Borderlands (45:55.712)
Okay. The Tecton, what was the, what was one that they did the two and a half of that no one got?
Inky Steve (46:03.271)
Yeah, no one got that. Yeah. So that was this bottom. It’s really cool bottom with this upper made different, but it had the sock on it. So if anyone’s got a 2.5 tectonics 2.5. In a size.
Inky Steve (46:30.342)
Uhhh… UK9?
and they don’t want it anymore.
Borderlands (46:36.376)
Find him on Instagram at Inky Steve.
Inky Steve (46:39.674)
Yeah, please, please.
Borderlands (46:43.138)
Well, okay, that’s a perfect spot to wrap for today. I mean, we could do this forever on your list here, but I think it’s fun that you’ve kept this list on Strava. And this is a great episode to kind of survey through a bunch of shoes, but also, you know, show your honesty on these shoes, what you love, what you don’t, and set this up for fun future episodes. got an episode coming up that’s Return of the Jedi. We’re gonna attach that to a shoe brand. We got more stuff coming, but.
Inky Steve (47:02.373)
Yeah,
Borderlands (47:12.509)
This was a fun one. Thanks Steve.
Inky Steve (47:15.098)
Yo.
