Supwell’s 2025 Running Shoe Brand Awards
We're back with Supwell's top 5 running shoe brands of 2025. Below we are giving out awards to Puma, New Balance, ASICS, R.A.D, Skechers, and Saucony for MVP, Most Improved, Best Newcomer, Most Disappointing, Most Underrated, and Brand to Watch in 2026.
This year’s running shoe lineup gave us everything from major leaps forward to a few surprising letdowns across the big brands. ASICS led the pack with the strongest overall lineup, earning MVP, while Puma took a most improved and R.A.D made one of the best debuts in road running history. Skechers kept flying under the radar with real performance value, and Saucony set themselves up as the brand to watch heading into 2026.
ASICS: MVP
ASICS was unstoppable in 2025. The Metaspeed Ray, Edge Tokyo and Sky Tokyo all made our top 5 race shoes of the year list, while the Nimbus 27, Cumulus 27, Gel-Kayano 32, and Sonicblast were excellent training options. And you know how much we love the Megablast. No other brand delivered the same level of quality and consistency in 2025.
ASICS Metaspeed Edge Tokyo
ASICS Megablast
Puma: Most Improved Brand
Prior to this year, Puma was well-respected in the running community, but some of their key shoes lagged behind the competition. 2024’s Fast-R 2, for example, was overly firm, clunky, and simply too heavy for most people. Puma took this feedback to heart and followed up with arguably the greatest race shoe ever made in the Fast-R 3. And the Velocity Nitro 4 became a hobby jogger favorite as a lightweight daily training option with a great foam. This rapid night-and-day improvement between models exemplifies Puma’s willingness to evolve fast and deliver exactly what runners have been asking for.
Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
Puma Velocity Nitro 4
New Balance: Most Disappointing Brand
2025 was largely a year of stagnation for New Balance. While other brands pivoted to energetic modern compounds like ATPU, New Balance stuck to their guns with safe, and ulimately mediocre, updates to the Rebel v5, which was too soft and lifeless, the More v6, which is more of a comfortable walking shoe, and the 880v15. The SC Elite v5, however, was a great step forward compared to the previous generation.
New Balance Rebel v5
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New Balance SC Elite v5
R.A.D: Newcomer of the Year
At the start of 2025, virtually no-one knew R.A.D even existed. What followed was a breakout new brands dream of. R.A.D stormed onto the running shoe scene with the release of their signature elevated trainer, the UFO, which quickly became a top pick among hobby joggers for super trainer of the year.
R.A.D UFO
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Skechers: Underrated Brand of the Year
Although Skechers gained popularity this year among enthusiasts after releasing a trio of fantastic training shoes this summer, the masses are still sleeping on the brand. The highly versatile max cushion Aero Burst, the responsive and aggressive Aero Tempo, and the streamlined, workmanlike Aero Spark are all highly underrated in their respective categories.
Skechers Aero Burst
Skechers Aero Spark
Saucony: Brand to Watch in 2026
Saucony clearly heard the allegations that they’ve “fallen off.” At The Running Event last week, they showcased a number of new exciting shoes for 2026, including the Paramount Max, a 100% Incredirun max cushion cruiser, and the Endorphin Azura, a non-plated, EVO SL competitor with a PWRRUN PB midsole. After a mediocre 2024 and 2025, Saucony is gearing up for a return to form.
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