Race-Tested in London: New Balance SC Elite V5, RC Ultra Shorts and Ultra Race T-Shirt

Introduction

A hot half marathon is about the sternest test you can give race kit. Warm air, sweat and a fading pace in the second half expose any shoe, short or shirt that is not up to the job. On a warm day at The Big Half in London, three pieces of New Balance gear went through exactly that test: the SC Elite V5 racing shoe, the RC Ultra split shorts and the Ultra race t-shirt. Here is how each of them performed.

The Race Setting: A Hot Morning at The Big Half

The Big Half takes place in London every September and follows a route that overlaps parts of the London Marathon course before finishing at Greenwich. It is a well-organized event with strong crowd support, good water stations and a finish in Greenwich Park that genuinely works as a finale.

The route is not as flat as it might look. There is a long tunnel around 3.5K where pace is hard to judge, some tricky little climbs through the Canary Wharf area, and a cobbled section around the 10.5K mark that demands a careful eye on foot placement. On the flip side, there are long, fast sections, few U-turns, and crossing Tower Bridge is as good as race-course moments get.

Race-day conditions turned out hotter than forecast. Temperatures climbed past 20 degrees by mid-morning, and the opening 10K, run close to sub-40-minute pace, became progressively harder as the heat built. That made it a demanding but honest environment for testing gear: fast enough to see what the shoe offers at pace, hot enough to see how the clothing manages sweat.

New Balance SC Elite V5: Sharper Than Its Predecessor

The SC Elite V5 marks a clear shift in direction from the SC Elite V4. The V4 earned a reputation as an accessible, comfortable carbon plate shoe: a wide base, a soft feel and a less aggressive character that made it easy to run in even if you were not used to performance racers. The trade-off was propulsion. It felt pleasant, but it did not push you forward the way the faster carbon-plate competitors do.

The V5 changes that. It is a bit narrower, a bit lighter, a little more aggressive, and there is more toe-off in it. On the course it showed exactly where that new character pays off. In the first 10K it was easy to hold a fast, consistent pace, sitting around 3:50 per kilometre with clear responsiveness underfoot. It felt nippy and genuinely propulsive.

Slowing to a more conservative 4:30 per kilometre in the second half, the shoe still felt fine, but it was clearly more at home at speed. This is not a shoe for a slow marathon; it wants you to run faster. That said, it is not the most aggressive racer available either. Compared with something like the Puma Fastar 3, it sits slightly lower on the outright aggression scale, and despite the narrower fit it still feels relatively stable, similar in that respect to the Brooks Hyperion Elite 5.

If you liked the V4 but wanted more bounce and propulsion for PB attempts, the V5 closes that gap convincingly.

New Balance RC Ultra Shorts: Minimal, Light, Effective

The RC Ultra split shorts are as minimal as race shorts get: a very thin material with a split hem and, in this case, a three-inch inseam. For anyone who normally runs in longer shorts with liners, that takes some adjustment, but on a hot day the extra airflow was exactly the right choice.

They proved very comfortable throughout, with no issues over 21K. The practical detail worth knowing is the inner pockets, which hold a couple of gels for race-day fueling. There is no compression or extended liner beyond a standard brief liner, so there is nothing protecting the legs, which is worth accepting before you buy. Beyond that, there is not much to criticize: they are lightweight, unobtrusive and do the job.

New Balance Ultra Race T-Shirt: Thin, Light and Fast-Drying

The Ultra race t-shirt is a genuinely lightweight piece. The fabric is thin, with perforations across the body that help airflow. On a hot, sunny day, wearing a black version was not the ideal color choice, and a vest would have been cooler, but the shirt still delivered its key selling point: drying speed.

After a very sweaty first 10K, the shirt dried off remarkably quickly once the pace dropped in the second half. By the finish, the front of it felt close to dry. That fast-drying behavior has been consistent across repeated use, which makes it an easy recommendation if your priority is wicking sweat away as quickly as possible.

How the Kit Held Up Over 21K

Taken together, the three pieces worked well as a race setup on a difficult day. The shorts caused no distractions, the shirt managed sweat better than the conditions suggested it would, and the SC Elite V5 delivered its best performance when the pace was highest in the opening 10K.

The one race-day lesson worth carrying forward: in hot conditions, color and layering choices matter as much as fabric technology. The kit performed, but a vest in that heat would have been the smarter pick. As a package for fast racing in warm weather, though, this combination held up without any real complaints.

Conclusion

The SC Elite V5 is the headline of this trio. It moves the SC Elite line decisively toward the aggressive, propulsive end of the carbon-plate market while keeping a bit of stability and accessibility that some outright racers lose. The RC Ultra shorts are a no-nonsense, minimal race option with useful gel pockets, provided you are comfortable with a three-inch inseam and no compression liner. And the Ultra race t-shirt earns its place through sheer drying speed, even if a vest is the better call in extreme heat. For anyone assembling a race kit for fast half marathon or shorter efforts, this New Balance lineup is well worth a look.