13 Fast New Racing Shoes

Not everyone can (or should) run a race in a pair of “barely there” racing flats. But it’s smart to have a speed shoe in your quiver, whether it’s a racing flat or a lightweight trainer. The relatively minimal weight, supreme flexibility and fast, proprioceptive feel can pay dividends for most of us in shorter workouts—from track intervals to fartlek runs to tempo runs—but they can also be a benefit in longer races. Here’s a variety of new race-ready shoes for 5K to the marathon. You could wear some of these shoes for training every day, but durability is always reduced with shoes intended for racing. Smaller amounts of outsole rubber, fewer support bands on the upper and other less-is-better design features tend to make these models wear out faster. (Plus, running in some of the more minimal models on a regular basis can increase your risk for injuries if you’re not used to it.) But if you save them for races and special workouts, they could pay dividends over a couple of seasons. (For comparable reference, all weights listed are for a men’s size 9.0.)