New Running Shoes: An Epic Task
2012 Nike Free Run 3 and its 2026 replacement, the Altra Superior 7
Until this year, the last time I actively looked for a new pair of running shoes was around 2011. I had become motivated to run regularly for the first time and had already been teaching the Alexander Technique for 9 years. I read up on running shoes and standard recommendations. For beginner runners, it was widely suggested to wear very padded shoes with lots of ankle and arch support. This made no sense to me as someone who spent her days teaching people how to stand and move efficiently. Sure enough, when that first order arrived, I deemed every shoe of that selection to be unwearable if one knows how to stand properly on their feet. The shoes were preventing me from using myself in the best possible manner, physiologically speaking!
I read up on barefoot shoes and the advice was that only the most advanced runners should even attempt this. Back then there wasn’t a huge selection on the market and I opted for the Nike Free Run 3. This model was designed specifically to closely mimic the feel of barefoot running. Despite an 8mm toe drop, with minimal underfoot padding and deep grooves in the soles allowing for good grip and flexibility (and for small stones to get trapped!), these were an absolute dream compared to the fluffy clouds of instability I had previously tried on.
As my running phases were previously sporadic, this pair of shoes served me well until 2025 (!). After attending Malcolm Balk’s workshops in The Art of Running at the International AT Congress in Dublin, I decided to step up my running game and train as an instructor in The Art of Running with him. He told me the next training would take place in Slovenia in the summer of 2026, and thus began my determination to get my running in shape.
This newfound motivation and running routine led to me suddenly becoming very aware of the unsuitability of these very old, worn out shoes of mine. So I thought ‘great, I’ll get a new pair of those!,’ and oh, was I ever misguided!
On first googling my beloved Free Run 3s, I discovered Nike has moved away from their early minimalist shoes and towards the very popular heavily-cushioned maximalist shoes with a gentle rocker shape. So the search began.
My first stop of the quest was Hoka in Covent Garden. They are all the rage currently and I had been curious ever since an acquaintance in the US told me Hokas are the most comfortable shoes in existence. On walking into the shop my jaw dropped at the sight of the shoes. I was confronted with every imaginable combination of bright and wild colours, which I loved immediately. Apart from my quirky fashion sense, On closer inspection of the shoes however, I couldn’t imagine which of these might suit me even a little. The heel stacks were all sky high, with toes pointing to the sky and the whole rocker-effect of the new Nikes was here on steroids. A sales associate asked if he could help, so I described what I was looking for: something as close to a barefoot shoe as possible, with a bit of padding. He asked me why, so I explained the phenomenon of how if you know how to stand and move on your feet the way they are meant to be stood and moved on naturally, all that excess stuff gets in the way. He said they didn’t do anything like that, but the closest would be the Mach 7. I tried them on. With a relatively minimal toe drop of 5mm, these could in principle be alright, but with a heel stack of 37mm and their signature meta-rocker, I had no chance of placing my body weight anywhere but on the heels. This immediately leads to a tightening of the knees to stabilise. I ran some laps around the shop and could imagine these would enhance speed quite easily, as the rockers under my feet constantly gave me more forward momentum. Within the shoe my toes felt like they were hanging in mid-air. I am opposed to defaulting to 100% body weight through the heels. It is much more efficient, less damaging and natural for the body weight to be spread through the whole foot.
Next I headed to the Bankside branch of Runners Need. They have many different brands, so I was convinced I would find the right shoe here. I spoke to a salesman here as well and again described what I was looking for. He explained that those sorts of shoes are not popular currently, as people have a lot of issues they hope can be sorted by wearing the right pair of shoes. (If you are reading this and it describes you, please get in touch for some Alexander Technique and / or Art of Running lessons!) He thought I wouldn’t like anything he had to offer and suggested what I am looking for is a zero drop shoe by Altra. His shop no longer stocks these due to the lack of popularity of minimalist shoes, so he suggested I order them online. I asked to try the closest models he had to those. I tried a Brooks Ghost model and a New Balance 880. They were both preferable to the Hoka Mach 7, but still closer to that than what I was looking for.
I looked at the Altra website, but overwhelmed by options I chose to avoid the agony of ordering shoe after shoe just to return them again.
My final stop was Allbirds. Sporting my black wool runners, I explained to them what I was going through, that I had been running in said shoes and they were fine, if not what I had been hoping to find. I had come to the conclusion that I had best get a new pair of these, as they were slightly worn down. My model was not available unfortunately, so I tried some others, all of which were fine, if not perfect. I opted for the Allbirds Dasher NZ, which is very similar to the (now old) model of Wool Runners I have and love, with what feels like a tiny bit more underfoot padding and a lighter, airier upper fabric. These became my dedicated running shoes for about four months, including the duration of my instructor training in ‘The Art of Running’ with Malcolm Balk and they were fine. Not great, but fine.
When I arrived for our first session on the Art of Running instructor training course in Kamnik, Slovenia, I noted not a single person involved in this course was sporting Hokas, nor any other form of high stack or rockered running shoe. One of our instructors, Lindsay Newitter, was wearing Altras and we are coincidentally the same size. She let me try hers on and oh my, I should have taken the advice of the salesman at Runners Need! These were the shoes I had been looking for! Lindsay let me wear her shoes for an entire one-to-one running lesson lesson later that week, and they were a dream. Web searches revealed that model, the Superior 6, was not available in the UK anymore. As far as I can tell from Altra’s own website, the Superior models are now completely out of stock. I ordered a pair of Superior 7s, also no longer sold by Altra directly, and gave this saga a happy ending. Due to a shipping fiasco on some other models, Altra’s excellent customer service offered me a hefty discount on a pair of Escalante 5s, which I gladly accepted. Superior 7 is a trail running shoe and Escalante 5 is the road running equivalent, also a pure joy to run in. On a side note, I now wear Altra Lone Peak 9+ on the golf course and have never had a better golf shoe!
Here are a few links to retailers I recommend:
Altra: In my opinion, the brand to wear. Their customer service was also very generous when something went wrong.
Up & Running in Barnet: This new shop in Chipping Barnet stocks select Altra models and their customer service is superb. They are very knowledgeable, took the time to educate me on all sorts of running shoe topics and even let me try on multiple pairs of shoes I said upfront I wouldn’t buy, but was curious to know about for the sake of my students. They also offer weekly social 5Ks and other local running events
Runners Need at Monument: They didn’t have the shoes I was after, but the salesman was spot on in his recommendation that I try Altra zero drop shoes. This place certainly knows its stuff, in case you’re looking for something different to what I was!