Best Running Shoes 2022: Race Day, Max Cushion, Innovation and Budget Picks

Introduction

Every year we lace up dozens of road shoes and ask the same question after each run: is this the shoe of the year? This list is the result. We covered every base, from plated super shoes to plush recovery trainers and honest budget options, and settled on our favorites as a team. Only shoes released in 2022 were eligible, so even beloved older models did not make the cut. Here is how the year shook out.

How We Picked

Three things determined our picks: how enjoyable the shoe feels on the run, price, and style. Feel carries the most weight, but a shoe has to earn its keep at its price and look good doing it. Different testers with different preferences and foot shapes weighed in, which kept the picks honest rather than one person’s favorites.

Race Day Shoes

This is the sexiest category of the year: the plates, the foams, the premiere tier. It is the best of what the industry has to offer, and the margins between the top shoes were razor thin.

Runner-Up: ASICS Metaspeed Sky Plus

The Metaspeed Sky Plus is the new version that arrived this year, and the update added a little more foam and a slightly softer ride. You get more of that bouncy responsiveness, and it stays super light, which makes it a genuinely fun shoe. It was hard to place it any lower given how narrow the gap is between the top race day shoes.

Runner-Up: Adidas Adizero Pro 3

The Adizero Pro 3 wins you over with the way its light stripe works underfoot and an extreme toe-off transition that feels fast and snappy, especially if you land midfoot to forefoot. What held it back: getting a good fit through the lacing was genuinely challenging, and the tall platform can feel a little unstable at times.

Winner: Saucony Endorphin Pro 3

The Endorphin Pro 3 takes the race day crown. This update widened the platform, added more stack, and softened the foam, making it noticeably more cushion-friendly than the original Endorphin Pro series while keeping a light, airy, minimal upper that breathes well. The heel collar fit securely with no heel lift, and it probably has one of the best-fitting collars of any speed shoe. The PWRRUN PB foam stays snappy, the plate still pops, and grip on the outsole is excellent. It can go toe to toe with the best race day shoes on the market.

Max Cushion Shoes

Super shoes get the headlines, but for most runners comfort is what matters day to day. Max cushion is where the fun, plush miles live.

Runner-Up: Adidas Adizero Prime X Strung

The Prime X Strung was a near-unanimous favorite. The previous version’s upper did not fit well and the platform felt unstable, but this update fixes both. With nearly 50 millimeters of stack at the heel, Lightstrike Pro foam, and energy rods, it is cushy and genuinely fun, yet it goes fast enough that some runners will race in it. It blurs the line between max cushion and performance in the best way.

Winner: New Balance Fresh Foam More v4

The More v4 sets the standard for what a soft, cushy recovery-day shoe should be. The trend this year was softer, bouncier, and more stack, and this shoe leans all the way in. The upper is nice, and the shoe is plush enough to double as casual wear. One fitting note: our tester went down a half size and it made a huge difference, aligning the foot better with the midsole, so it may be worth trying a half size down. If you want to feel like you are cruising through your miles, bouncing along in total comfort, this is the one.

It is plush, it is soft, and it is exactly what you want on recovery days. The only minor annoyance was the trash tongue, which occasionally needed to be readjusted mid-run.

Most Innovative: New Balance SC Trainer

No runner-up here, just one clear winner: the SC Trainer. At first glance it is confusing, a little heavy, a little max cushion, with a plate, and called a trainer when it clearly leans toward racing. The innovation is the Energy Arc: a large section of foam is carved out of the midsole, which lightens the shoe and lets the platform give and spread slightly on landing, then pairs with the carbon plate for a really nice bounce back. The weight is made up for by the energy return.

It is also one of the most versatile shoes of the year. It handles easy and recovery days beautifully, works for long runs, and you can even pick up the pace on tempo days. If you need one shoe to do most of your training, this could be it, and it transitions perfectly into a light race day shoe on target days.

Most Disappointing Shoes

This category exists for a reason: we would rather you not make the mistakes we lived through. Expect some disagreement here, but these picks come from genuine letdowns.

Runner-Up: Hoka Kawana

On paper the Kawana looked great: cool styling, a nice upper, and unique detailing, and we could not wait to get it on our feet. Underfoot, the cushioning was lacking, to say the least. It is not what you want from Hoka, and the brand itself described it as more of a gym shoe than a running shoe. Even a replacement pair felt the same, so it is not a one-off manufacturing issue.

Winner: Nike Alphafly 2

This one hurt the most because it is a follow-up to a favorite, and the images looked amazing. The Atomknit upper is genuinely spectacular and deserves to continue on future models. But the ZoomX feels firmer, the shoe got heavier and wider, and the magic of the original is gone: that springy feeling late in a race when you lean forward and get feedback from the front of the shoe just is not there. The heel also caused some rubbing. We went back for more speed sessions hoping we had it wrong. We did not.

Best Budget Pick: Saucony Axon 2

There are not many performance-oriented options around the $100 mark for serious runners, which makes the Axon 2 stand out. It is on the firmer side, so do not expect max-cushion softness, but it softens up a bit out on the run and has a speedroll-style rocker feel that rolls nicely through the stride. It feels like the budget sibling of the higher-end daily trainers.

At $100 it is a genuinely good bargain: a gusseted, lightly padded tongue, plenty of cushioning around the collar and heel, durable foam and solid rubber on the outsole, and much of the same quality you would expect from a shoe costing considerably more.

Conclusion

The Endorphin Pro 3 earns race day honors with a wider, softer, bouncier update, the More v4 defines plush recovery comfort, the SC Trainer is the year’s most versatile innovation, and the Axon 2 proves you can get real performance on a budget. Match the shoe to the run you actually do most often, and any of these picks will serve you well.