Supwell's 2025 Running Shoe Awards
Below we are giving out the Supwell-Certified 2025 Running Shoe Awards. We will be awarding prizes to the R.A.D UFO, ASICS Megablast, Puma Fast-R 3, Saucony Endorphin Elite 2, Brooks Hyperion Max 3, Mizuno Neo Vista 2, Nike Vomero Plus, and Adidas Evo SL. See which one received MVP status and more!
2025 was the best year yet to be a shoe sicko. From max-cushion recovery options to full-on race weapons, no matter what shoe category or combo of them you enjoy, there was something for everyone. Here are our awards for 2025.
1. MVP: ASICS Megablast
The Megablast is a true unicorn: it offers a highly cushioned max stack platform that's proficient atboth mileage and speed, all in an incredibly lightweight package. ASICS' category-defining super trainer emerges as the clear shoe of the year.
ASICS Megablast
2. Race Shoe of the Year: Puma Fast-R 3
2025 saw a number of featherlight, ultra-bouncy race day shoes—such as the ASICS Metaspeed Ray and Metaspeed Sky and Edge Tokyo, but the Puma Fast-R 3 stands as the crowning achievement of racingtech innovation this year. Puma's pinnacle racer is unmatched in raw speed by any other carbon plated shoe on the market.
Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
3. Value Shoe of the Year: Adidas Evo SL
In a year of rapidly rising prices, Adidas went against the grain and delivered a daily trainer with full slab of race foam for just $150. Brands scrambled to respond, but no one could match the Evo SL's value proposition in 2025 and by the end of 2025, Adidas had even answered the upper dilemma by coming out with the Evo SL Woven.
Adidas Adizero Evo SL Woven
4. Max Cushion Shoe of the Year: Nike Vomero Plus
In 2025, we saw significant changes in consumer preferences toward max cushion shoes: turning away from ultra-soft, pure recovery cruisers like the New Balance More v6, runners increasingly reached for max cushion shoes with higher levels of energy return. The Vomero Plus was the most popular of this new wave, offering both max stack protection and pace versatility thanks to its full ZoomX midsole.
Nike Vomero Plus
5. Best Entrant from New Brand: R.A.D UFO
New brands sometimes take years of trial and error to find their footing, but R.A.D hit a leadoff home run with the UFO. Featuring a highly-rockered geoemtry and a bouncy supercritical PEBA midsole, the R.A.D UFO is an unprecedented debut.
R.A.D UFO
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6. Daily Trainer of the Year: Salomon Aero Glide 3
The Aero Glide 3 put Salomon on the road running map this year, delivering everything we look for in a true daily trainer: comfort, bounce, reliability, and fun. We call this shoe the Aero Goat 3 for a reason.
Salomon Aero Glide 3
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7. Long Run Shoe of the Year: Mizuno Neo Vista 2
Long run cruisers demand leg-saving protection for high-mileage training, and no shoe executed that better in 2025 than the Neo Vista 2. Its massive 50mm+ dual foam midsole soaks up miles effortlessly, earning it Long Run Shoe of the Year honors.
Mizuno Neo Vista 2
8. Plated Trainer of the Year: Brooks Hyperion Max 3
Offering one of the most versatile and durable midsoles of the year, the Hyperion Max 3 is a near-perfect take on the plastic plated trainer.
Brooks Hyperion Max 3
9. Best Experimental Shoe: Saucony Endorphin Elite 2
The Endorphin Elite 2 might be too soft and unstable for our racing preferences, but Saucony's innovative new Incredrun foam deserves its flowers. Bouncy, aggressively rockered, and unapologetically wild, the Endorphin Elite 2 is the most fun experimental shoe of the year.
Saucony Endorphin Elite 2
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