The Best Running Shoe from Every Top Brand: 10 Standout Picks

Introduction

With so many running shoes on the market, it can be tough to know which ones are actually worth your money. This roundup picks the standout shoe from each of ten top running brands: not just the popular models, but the shoes that genuinely over-deliver in their category. Whether you are after a daily trainer, a race day rocket, a recovery shoe or something in between, there is a gem here for you.

Nike Zoomfly 6: The Budget Super Shoe

The Zoomfly 6 is a great tempo and long-run shoe, and a more budget-friendly race option. It costs around £155, with a 42 mm heel stack, 8 mm drop and a 322 g weight. The midsole pairs a ZoomX layer with an EVA base and a carbon fiber Flyplate between them, and it ran true to size. The waffle outsole offers excellent durability, and the rocker geometry gives a smooth transition through the stride.

For runners targeting three to six hour marathons, comfort over long periods matters as much as speed, and this shoe looks after your legs while still letting you pick up the pace. The main drawbacks: the waffle grip can be noisy, and rear stability might give some heel strikers pause.

Asics Super Blast 2: The Mileage Monster

Nothing else on the market quite matches the Super Blast 2. It is built for long runs and high mileage: a big stack of foam to look after your legs. At around £200, it carries a 45 mm heel stack, 8 mm drop and a light 288 g weight, and it is worth going half a size down. The midsole uses a huge layer of FF Turbo Plus over a thin FF Blast Eco layer for stability and durability, and crucially there is no plate.

That plate-free design is exactly why it is special: it is snappy, fast-feeling, and makes long runs a joy, while still delivering around 1,000 km of strong performance. The downsides are the price and the fact that it can be frustratingly hard to find in stock.

New Balance More v5: Maximum Softness

The More v5 is a recovery and easy-run shoe for anyone who wants the ultimate soft, squishy, marshmallow feel. It runs about £140, with a 44 mm heel stack, 4 mm drop and a heavier 374 g build. A huge volume of Fresh Foam X fills the midsole with no plate, and it fit true to size.

Simply put, it is the softest, most plush shoe on the market right now. The wide, stable platform inspires confidence in corners, the roomy toe box and wide-fit option suit broader feet, and the comfort carries over beautifully to long days on your feet at work. It is not versatile, it is heavy, and the upper is a touch thick, but for pure cushioned recovery nothing comes close.

Hoka Skyward X: Big Cushion with a Plate

The Skyward X is a long-run and easy-run shoe, and a surprisingly good race day option for heavier runners thanks to its plate. Around £185 buys a 48 mm heel stack, 5 mm drop and a chunky 378 g weight, true to size. Half the midsole is lightweight PEBA racing foam, with supercritical EVA beneath for durability, and a carbon plate more for stability than outright speed.

This is one of the biggest plated max-stack shoes ever made, genuinely fun to run in, and a strong pick for road ultras. The midfoot strap keeps everything locked in. The trade-offs are obvious: it is very heavy, it is a specialist shoe best up to marathon pace, and it is not comparable to high-end carbon super shoes.

Puma Velocity Nitro 3: The Value Daily Trainer

Puma does budget offerings very well, and the Velocity Nitro 3 is the proof. Its RRP is around £110, but it is almost always discounted to roughly £70 to £80. You get a 36 mm heel stack, 10 mm drop and a 336 g weight in UK size 12, true to size, with Puma’s Nitro foam midsole and no plate.

It is the go-to budget-friendly daily shoe: bouncy, fun, versatile across paces and distances, comfortable and durable, with some of the best grip in any price bracket. The one clear limitation is fit: the standard width runs narrow, so runners with particularly wide feet should look elsewhere.

Saucony Endorphin Pro 4: The Versatile Racer

The Endorphin Pro 4 is a race day shoe for all distances, from 5K to marathon. It costs around £230, with a 40 mm heel stack, 8 mm drop and a light 252 g weight, true to size. The midsole stacks PWRRUN PB foam, a carbon plate and PWRRUN HD foam on top.

Its defining quality is versatility. It suits heel, midfoot and forefoot strikers alike, which is rare in super shoes, and it adds strong grip, outsole durability, comfort and stability. It is not quite the fastest shoe out there, with more aggressive and more expensive options available, but for the majority of runners, especially anyone dipping a toe into super shoes, the Pro is the smarter buy.

Brooks Glycerin Max: The Fun Max Cushion Trainer

The Glycerin Max caught us by surprise in the best way. It is a max-cushion daily shoe, good for long and easy runs, and a solid no-plate race option for heavier runners. Around £180 gets you a 45 mm heel stack, 6 mm drop and a 375 g weight, true to size. The dual-density DNA Tuned midsole runs softer at the heel and firmer at the forefoot.

That dual-density setup is what makes it special: soft and bouncy when you want it, yet confident enough to hold its own at marathon and half marathon pace. It goes up to UK size 14, offers strong durability, and is arguably the best-looking shoe in the Brooks range. It is weighty and bulky, and there are no wide-fit options, which is unusual for Brooks.

Mizuno Neo Zen: Soft Daily Value

Mizuno has been quietly building an impressive lineup, and the Neo Zen is its standout daily trainer. Priced around £130, it offers a 40 mm heel stack, 6 mm drop and a reasonable 295 g weight. The Enerzy NXT foam is very soft and plush, and the bootie-style construction means going half a size down is a good idea.

The value here is excellent: a genuinely good quality foam, a fun and engaging ride, and a strong cushion-to-weight ratio at a friendly price. Energy return is not class-leading, and if you want speed up to 5K and half marathon paces, the Neo Vista is the better pick. But for everyday soft miles, the Neo Zen just works.

On Cloudmonster 2: Premium Build Quality

On is renowned for distinctive design and premium quality, and the Cloudmonster 2 stands out in the range as a daily training and recovery shoe. It is expensive at around £170, with a 35 mm heel stack, 6 mm drop and a 346 g weight in UK size 12, where going half a size down would have been wise. Dual-density Helion foam surrounds a nylon Speedboard plate.

The appeal is the superb build quality, roomy toe box, wide stable base and a little extra pop from the nylon plate, plus excellent durability. It runs a bit heavy and firmer than you might expect, and it will be too wide for some feet, but the premium feel makes sense of the price. A great first On shoe.

Adidas Evo SL: Speed Without a Plate

Adidas is on a winning streak, and the Evo SL is the shoe that smashed it out of the park at a brilliant price. Around £130 buys a 39 mm heel stack, 7 mm drop and a light 267 g weight, true to size, with a full-length Lightstrike Pro midsole, the same super foam used in the brand’s £200-plus race shoes, and no plate.

That combination of value and speed is what makes it special: lightweight, fast, fun and versatile, and a great daily trainer for anyone who does not want to train in plates. It is often compared to the Super Blast, which costs £70 more and is slightly firmer and more stable. The compromises: cheap laces, a short tongue that moves around, a less secure upper fit, and some instability in sharp corners.

How to Choose Between Them

If you want one shoe to do everything on a budget, the Puma Velocity Nitro 3 and Adidas Evo SL are the obvious value picks. For high mileage long runs, the Asics Super Blast 2 and Hoka Skyward X shine, while the New Balance More v5 and Mizuno Neo Zen cover soft recovery duty. For race day, the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 suits the widest range of runners, and the Nike Zoomfly 6 offers plated speed at a friendlier price.

Conclusion

Every shoe here earns its place by doing something distinctive exceptionally well: plush recovery, long-run comfort, no-plate speed or accessible super shoe performance. Match the shoe to your training and your feet, and any of these standouts will be money well spent.