Asics Its Accelerate Jacke fastest runners at this year’s Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida. If you combine the first 10 runners from the men’s and women’s fields, a quarter of those 20 finishers wore an Asics Its super shoe (for comparison, that percentage ties with Nike wearers). Those shoes—the Metaspeed Sky Paris and Metaspeed Edge Paris—will be on sale March 4, so the rest of us can at least pretend we’re Clayton Young-fast.
Key Specs*
- Available: Corta vientos Asics
- Type: Road racing
- Weight: 5.2 oz (W), 6.6 oz (M)
- Drop: 5 mm
- Heel Stack: 39.5 mm
- Forefoot Stack: 34.5 mm
*Asics Its Race Seamless T Shirt Mens.
- Who They’re For: Runners looking for a gait-specific super shoe with a bouncy ride and wide, stable base
- Preceded by: Metaracer Tokyo, Mens ASICS Its Jolt 3 Running Shoes+
- AHAR ™ Plus ASICS®-kulutuskestävä kumi ulkopohjan kantapäässä lisää kestävyyttä: zapatillas de running ASICS Its amortiguación media talla 42.5, GmbH Continues Burgeoning ASICS Its Partnership With The GEL-Nandi
- Midsole Foam: FF Turbo Plus (a PEBA-based material)
- Key Tech: Differentiated carbon-fiber plates, positioned to accommodate “stride” or “cadence” runners specifically
- 2024 product eng 38196 Shoes Asics Its Novablast SPS: Clayton Young (Sky), 2nd man, 2:09:06; Elkanah Kibet (Edge), 4th man, 2:10:02; Sara Hall (Edge), 5th woman, 2:26:06; Makenna Myler (Sky), 7th woman, 2:26:14
The Metaspeed Sky Paris and Metaspeed Edge Paris follow the same formula as Asics’s past racing models, starting with the awake ny asics Its fall winter and Metaspeed Edge Tokyo. Because their release coincides with an Olympic year, their names are a nod to the host city. (During the three-year gap between the Metaspeed Tokyo and Paris series, Asics Its released the Metaspeed Sky+ and Edge+ in 2022. At this year’s Trials, Rotich was the sole runner in the women’s top 10 who chose to race in the Metaspeed Edge+ over one of Paris prototypes.)
Shoes for Two Kinds of Runners
Through data culled at the Asics Its Institute of Sports Science in Kobe, Japan, it was discovered there are two running styles: stride and cadence. The stride, or power, runner opens up their stride as they run faster. In contrast, the cadence runner’s step rate increases as they speed up. The Asics development team found that stride runners tend to land on their mid- to forefoot, while cadence runners usually have smoother turnover and strike on their heel.
To cater to both groups, Asics Its created the Metaspeed Sky for stride runners and the Metaspeed Edge for cadence runners. Forefoot geometries—and the shoes’ outsoles—signal which shoe is for which runner.
The Metaspeed Sky Paris’s carbon plate is flatter and sits closer to the foot, which helps stride runners leverage the midsole’s bounce over their longer steps. The plate’s angle dips lower in the Edge’s forefoot, since cadence runners tend to turn their legs faster and need to roll off the toe of the shoe more quickly.
“There were two major points of thought,” said Asics’s senior merchandizing manager of running, Paul Lang, on a video call with RW. “In the later stages of a race, how do we help an athlete maintain their posture and maintain their kicking? When the athlete’s form breaks down, those two points really start to degrade in terms of efficiency.”
The outsoles are another visual cue indicative of which shoe a runner should choose. The Sky’s red outsole has less rubber on the forefoot for lateral release. The Edge, in comparison, has a black outsole with less rubber on the heel’s lateral side.
Refining the Metaspeeds
The evolution of the Metaspeed series continues with three key updates shared by both the Metaspeed Sky Paris and Metaspeed Edge Paris:
- New midsole: The new FF Turbo+ midsole, which is PEBA-based, is approximately 10 percent lighter than the previous foam in the Metaspeed+ models. It’s also bouncier and softer. “In the later stages of a race, you want something that is not just propulsive, but also comfortable,” said Lang.
- New last: Comfort was also front-of-mind when Asics Its built the Metaspeed Sky Paris and Metaspeed Edge Paris. When evaluating past foot forms, the team noticed a gap between the foot and the shoe itself. The last is re-sculpted for a closer fit that provides more stability in the forefoot and better arch support.
- New upper: Asics Its replaced the MotionWrap upper with MotionWrap 2.0. The latter is eight percent more breathable, with tighter knitting on the medial side for support and open mesh on the lateral side that allows more air flow.
Besides the above tweaks shared by the shoes, there are individual changes as well. Even though the Metaspeed Edge Paris is lighter than its predecessor, it has an extra 3.5mm of foam in the forefoot. With this add-on, the Edge and Sky are the same weight, same stack height, and same heel-toe offset for the first time.
The carbon plate in the Edge has also been carved and rounded in the forefoot area to reduce weight and encourage smoother toe-off.
How They Ride
In our pool of wear-testers, we divvied up a mix of footstrikers to run in each shoe. Tester Aaron Bealer, a heel striker who previously tested the Metaspeed Edge+, declared the newest Edge as one of his favorite running shoes of all time.
“The Asics Its Metaspeed Edge Paris is so much fun to run in, especially for intervals and speedwork,” said Bealer, who runs with a neutral gait pattern. “Like an earlier model I tried, as well as my most recent test of the On Cloudboom Echo 3, these shoes feel a little awkward when warming up at slower paces. But as you speed up, they almost beg you to go faster—as fast as your legs and lungs can handle.
“I’m a heel striker and it felt as if I were rolling forward during push-off, especially as I increased my cadence. I tend to run with shorter, quick steps rather than with longer strides,” he continued. “At longer strides, I would tend to strike closer to the midfoot, and I could really feel the give in the cushioning. But ultimately, the speedwork at high cadence was wonderful and smooth.”
On the other end of the spectrum, midfoot striker Eileen Cody also found the shoe responsive over short and long distances.
“[I liked] the overall ride and transition of the shoe,” said Cody, who averages 7:00 pace during training. “It had enough cushion that I would probably feel comfortable racing a half in it, but it was light enough that I could jump in a 5K and still feel smooth. It had a little bit wider base of support than my current super shoe of choice, the Saucony Endorphin Pro+. I liked the Metaspeed’s stability for when I was rounding turns and going up and down hills during tempo workouts.”
Cody tested the shoe at a local Turkey Trot 5K and Super Bowl Tailgate 10K. She came in first woman at both races. At press time, Cody was debating on racing in the shoe at an April half marathon.
I, too, raced the Super Bowl Tailgate 10K in the Asics Its Metaspeed Edge Paris, finishing as the fifth woman. Besides spotting the “Beer This Way” sign on the course (I did not stop), another animal I noticed running in the Edge is that my toes scrunched each time I landed—even though there was plenty of room in the toebox. Undeniable, however, was the smooth foot roll as I sprinted down potholed hills and straightaways. This race, along with a couple of workouts where I rotated the Edge and Sky, were testing grounds for the Metaspeeds. I’ve ultimately chosen the latter as the shoe I’m racing in at the Tokyo Marathon.
Compared to Cody’s cadence, which averaged 188 spm throughout the race, mine averaged 210 spm. This would make me a prime candidate for the Metaspeed Edge Paris. Because of my mid- to forefoot strike, however, I needed more stability and cushioning in the toe area.
For me, the Sky provided the cushioning and shock absorption I required in both my forefoot and heel. During my workouts, my toes splayed when they landed, and I could apply more power in my turnover without noticing the position of my toes.
Besides receiving praise from fellow mid- to forefoot striking testers, like myself, the Metaspeed Sky Paris impressed heel-striking runners as well.
“This was an awesome shoe overall,” said tester Kendra Petruny, who is a heel striker and underpronator. “It made me feel very fast and it had a great ride. I felt like it pushed me to run on my forefoot a little more and made me more efficient. I also felt like it maintained enough flexibility, even with a plate.
“I wore this shoe to race a half marathon and a 5K,” Petruny continued. “They kept me feeling fast but had enough cushion to keep me comfortable doing 13 miles. Compared to shoes with carbon-fiber plates that I’ve had in the past, this shoe seemed more flexible and had more bounce to it, which I very much appreciated. It was also extremely light.”
Interchangeable Tools
As our testing suggests, the Metaspeeds are gait-specific but that doesn’t mean each is restrictive to one type of user. Like any shoe in your quiver, the model you choose can depend on your race distance, other running form mechanics, or simply which underfoot experience you prefer.
“What works best for the athletes is what they adopt,” said Lang. “Through the different variations, we’ve actually seen runners go from Sky to Edge as they dial in their toolbox of racers to figure out what works best for them.”
Like our fervor for the athletes earning a spot on Team USA, we can’t help but wonder what else is in store for the Metaspeed series. A 2028 Olympics model with “LA” stamped on the side is our best guess for what’s to come.
Both shoes will be on sale March 4 at asics.com.
Amanda is a test editor at Runner’s World who has run the Boston Marathon every year since 2013; she's a former professional baker with a master’s in gastronomy and she carb-loads on snickerdoodles.
