Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 117, April 2019 | Page 44

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It’s not often I liken a running shoe to a rocking chair, but that’s such a great way to explain the new Asics MetaRide,
which is designed to help you run longer by helping you save energy. – BY SEAN FALCONER
I
’ve said this before, and I will likely say it many
times yet in my career as a running journo, but when
a shoe brand sends me a new model to review
accompanied by a media release that starts with
something along the lines of “Brand X is redefining
running,” I tend to be a bit sceptical. That’s because
I’ve been receiving releases like that for nearly 20
years now... and no doubt will continue to receive
them until I retire. shoe box, I could immediately see what the people at
Asics mean. The new Metaride model is certainly eye-
catching – and I’m not just talking about the black, red
and gold colourway, although I would like to mention
here that these shoes hit the spot with me in terms of
looks! No, it was the clearly rounded, built up outer
sole that immediately caught my eye, and I knew I
was indeed looking at something different here.
That said, I was rather intrigued by the latest arrival
from Asics, which read, “Asics today turned the world
of running on its head as it revealed a completely
new concept in run efficiency, Metaride. One of Asics’
most important innovations in seven decades, and as
part of Asics’ ambition to help all runners to win the
long run, the shoe was designed with one purpose in
mind, to make running longer distances easier.” Asics says this new technology has been two years in
the making at its Institute of Sport Science in Japan,
and they believe they have found a way to minimise
ankle movement and thus save you 19% of energy
expenditure when running. For those not so good with
the maths, that’s one-fifth of your energy expenditure,
which would really make a difference when running
longer distances, as we are rather fond of doing here
in South Africa.
My first thought was, I hope this new shoe lives up to
the claims of the media release, because I’ve heard
this kind of thing before... but when I looked inside the
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SAVING ENERGY
It boils down to the science behind shifting your
body weight forward, from landing to toe-off, and
ISSUE 117 APRIL 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
that’s where the curved GuideSole comes into play.
Basically, it’s designed to rock you up onto your
forefoot easier and quicker, using less energy to do
so. Think of a rocking chair, with its curved rockers.
This shoe mimics that... although the Japanese
designers say it was actually inspired by a rolling
wheel, but I prefer my rocking chair analogy.
The shoe’s midsole is built out of three layers to create
this ‘rocker’ sole. The one level of midsole rubber is
FlyteFoam Lyte, for cushioning and structure, while
the other layer is made from FlyteFoam Propel, which
gives you extra rebound in the toe-off phase. This
combination has already featured in other recent Asics
models, such as the Kayano and Cumulus. Thirdly,
there is a visible Rearfoot Gel insert to add extra
cushioning when your foot strikes the ground. That
gives the shoe the traditional squishy landing that so
many runners love about Asics models.
STACKED MIDSOLE
The midsole has a 30mm stack height, and a zero