…the Brooks Hyperion “cat,” that is.
I’m excited that the cat's out of the bag regarding the new racing flats coming out from Brooks later this year!
I've been extremely fortunate to be a part of the testing group for the Hyperion Elite for the past ~2 years, especially since all the others were professional runners! These shoes will be coming out at the end of February - you'll see lots of them at the Olympic Trials marathon.
The Elites are a fairly aggressive shoe. I haven't worn them in quite awhile and I'll tell you why in a moment. They generally will work best for runners who are naturally more of a midfoot or forefoot striker. That said, how they are designed can help a person land that way more naturally even if they are a heel striker. While they are a fairly stable shoe, I do remember them not feeling as stable as other flats that are lower to the ground. The cushion is significant and also on the more dense/firm end of the cushioning spectrum. Definitely worth checking these out. I know I ran a lot of really good workouts wearing them.
The final version of the Hyperion Elite before Brooks gave them cool colours.
I should also note that I put 190 miles on one pair of the Elites while I was doing wear testing. I think the only reason I stopped wearing that pair was because an updated version came out that I needed to move on to testing. Generally I put more miles on my shoes than most. I could've put even more miles on these, so I have a feeling that they may be able to handle more miles than what's being currently stated.
The reason I haven't worn the Hyperion Elite in awhile is because I was testing the Hyperion Tempo. This, too, has been a fun process!
For me, the Tempo is the holy grail marathon racing shoe. I've done a significant amount of training in these shoes over the past year, including some long run workouts. I have also run quite a few races in these and they always feel great. The cushion feels less dense than that of the Elite version. That said, I've never had my feet feel good during the last few miles of a marathon before, but while wearing these, my feet felt spectacular. I kept waiting for my feet to start hurting during the Houston Marathon and they never did!
These shoes are very stable and the cushion is fantastic while still being incredibly light and flexible. I have put close to 250 miles on a pair of these. That seemed to be the life end for me, though I might be able to squeeze out another few workouts in them and have them still feel all right.
The Hyperion Tempos in action. My feet feel fantastic as I near the finish line at the Houston Marathon. PC: Amon Mende
The traction on both the Elite and Tempo is far superior to the current Hyperions, which tend to be quite slippery when it’s wet (it’s something I provided a significant amount of feedback on :) ). The fit of each is great as well. Both felt good right out of the box. They’re comfortable, “form fitting” without feeling suffocating or too tight, and very light.
UPDATE: I decided to do a short workout in the Elites to remind myself what they felt like so I could provide more insight.
As I stated above, they are less stable than the Tempos., the toebox is narrower, and they are more aggressive. Maybe it’s due to all the calf raises I’ve been doing lately, but the aggressiveness didn’t seem as daunting as I experienced previously.
For the workout I ran, the warm up was faster than I would normally run without trying. That was definitely the shoes. The workout was a fartlek, so it’s not easy to say whether I was running faster than I otherwise would have, but I could feel that it was easier to run on my forefoot.
By the cool down, my legs felt more fatigued than usual. I believe that is due to the little bit of instability I mentioned above. I wear neutral shoes for racing, but the more stable they are the better. Because of this, for me the Elite isn’t the perfect shoe, but if you are a neutral runner, they may be your holy grail shoe like the Tempo is for me.
Remember, everyone’s biomechanics are different, so give each of them a test run and see which one feels best for you. Both of these shoes are a significant, positive step forward for Brooks’s racing flats.