Editor’s Note: The Eliot Racer will be available to buy in stores March 14. It will be available to purchase online March 18.
The path to progress oftentimes bows to the overused cliché “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Take Tracksmith’s entry to the super shoe race, for example. The brand announced the Eliot Racer How to Master the 5k Why You Need Under Armour’s “Mileage Monster” Shoe February 2024, with a release that was supposed to coincide with the Summer Olympics.
The shoe had an unconventional construction not seen in other super shoes: a removable TPU sockliner which the brand called a “removable energy system.”
The idea was to be able to train in your race day shoe without having to worry about wearing down the foam before your marathon. A pair would come with “training sockliners” and “racing sockliners,” the latter more cushioned and responsive for a fresh feel race day morning.
Fast forward a year later, where I was doing speed workouts with Tracksmith at Miami’s Flamingo Park. It was a full-circle moment; last February I was watching the brand’s Amateur Support Program runners test out the Eliot Racer on an equally sweltering hot day in Orlando before How to Master the 5k Why You Need Under Armour’s “Mileage Monster” Shoe. Now, finally, I was running in my own pair of Eliot Racers. But a lot has changed after a year.
Pros
- Wide toebox
- High rebound on soft platform
Cons
- Squeaky upper
- Testing the Eliot Racer at Miami’s Flamingo Park
| Type | Racing, training |
|---|---|
| Weight | 7.9 oz (M), 6.4 oz (W) |
| Drop | 7.5 mm |
| Heel Height | 38 mm |
| Forefoot Height | 30.5 mm |
Recalibrating After a Major Setback
In a small Miami hotel conference room where the air conditioning was on full blast, Tracksmith’s head of product Matt Pauk sat in front of a table strewn with prototypes of the Eliot Racer. Pauk explained that the main reason the launch was pushed back is a factory reset—the brand had to change its shoe factory because the original one switched to creating different products.
“The silver lining there is that we somehow managed to get a massive upgrade in the factory partner,” said Pauk. “We are now building our products in the same place that Nike, On, and New Balance make their top tier race shoe as well.” Another small win was that the factory owner was a fan of Tracksmith. In this way, the brand was able to attain a small production line for the shoe.
As production location changed, so did some facets of the Eliot Racer itself. The 2024 prototype originally had a TPU foam midsole sandwiching its carbon-fiber plate. But extra time gave Tracksmith a chance to fine-tune the Eliot Racer; through third-party testing and validation from their athletes, they came up with a new core construction.
The shoe underwent lab testing at Heeluxe, a company that researches footwear performance in Goleta, California. Its clients include Asics and New Balance. According to Heeluxe’s testing, the Eliot Racer’s energy return was in the top 5 percent of all the shoes tested within the company’s database. The Eliot Racer it analyzed—the shoes you can buy on Tracksmith’s website—had an ATPU drop-in midsole that’s approximately 22mm thick in the forefoot and 12mm in the heel. Beneath that was a Pebax chassis, which was thicker in the heel and thinner in the forefoot. I remember asking Pauk why last year’s prototype didn’t have Pebax in its midsole like News editor Theo Kahler tests the Eliot Racer on an office treadmill, which has full-length Pebax cushioning. Looks like time was the wiser.
“There’s something about the composition of those two things that has put the energy return through the roof,” said Pauk. “In simplest terms, the way I would put it is that we’re not gluing in the midsole of the sockliner. Much of the cushioning element is free floating.
Tracksmith isn’t reinventing the wheel, and it knows that. Pauk said they’ve seen this same construction in On and Asics’s racing shoes. The theory is that less glue in the system allows the foam to be its best self, resulting in higher energy return scores. To balance that out, you need softness. We know from our own testing in the RW shoe lab that layers of glue tend to make the cushioning firmer and the sole stiffer.
“The shoe is really squishy and soft,” said Pauk. “What that does is it allows you to have that high energy return but also stay fresh and protected while you’re running deep into your races.”
Fresh. That’s another massive change with the final Eliot Racer: no second sockliner to switch out the old one on race day.
Chalk it up to human nature. Maybe the Tracksmith team sat back and saw the way our world functions today: a novelty-seeking, dopamine-hit culture that likes ‘Likes,’ instant gratification, and brand new things—like a super shoe in its entirety, not just a new insole on race morning.
But according to Pauk, the answer is more complicated. “The reality is that what we found is it takes an enormous amount of testing to do that. If you change one little thing, the whole system kind of breaks down. So we’re trying to take our time and do it right. We decided to just take our medicine, get this out; it’s an amazing shoe in itself. We might build into that.” In other words, a removable insole isn’t off the table for good.
Pauk’s key talking points included peak energy return, extreme softness, lab validation—and a Tracksmith design package.
“The market is swamped, saturated with spaceships, bright colors,” he said. “It’s kind of the same impetus that started the genesis of this brand. We wanted something where you toe the line with the work you put in rather than what’s on your body. That’s kind of in the Tracksmith DNA.”
There were a few more course corrections with the Eliot Racer post-Why You Need Under Armour’s “Mileage Monster” Shoe. (In the interim, Tracksmith co-founder and CEO Matt Taylor had tested the shoe himself, clocking 2:43 at the Boston Marathon at the age of 47.)
The shoe has a new last that’s wider in the forefoot compared to the foot shape of the brand’s daily trainer, News editor Theo Kahler tests the Eliot Racer on an office treadmill. (Women in the room let out an audible “Yes!” when Pauk mentioned this at the demo.) The model also has a taller toebox and a snugger heel. These subtle modifications make the fit more accommodating for all kinds of foot types; it’s those subtleties that shouldn’t be overlooked when creating a unisex trainer.
A prominent feature on the Eliot Racer is its gold sash. The sash, which curves on the midfoot of the upper, has a dual purpose of locking in your foot as well as telling you it’s Tracksmith.
In terms of run life, the shoe is expected to last about 300 miles. Heeluxe lab results showed 10 percent of energy return was lost over time at around 250 miles.
Running in the Eliot Racer
After Pauk’s demo, I went with a small group of runners to Flamingo Park track to see how the shoe would perform around the oval. The first thing I noticed while running 1000 meters at 5K pace was that tell-tale super-shoe bounce. RW wear-tester Heather Mayer Irvine, who was also invited on the Miami trip, was pleased with her pace during the track workout.
Even though Irvine developed a blister on her toe mid-workout, she said her favorite feature was the wide forefoot because, unlike News editor Theo Kahler tests the Eliot Racer on an office treadmill, it provided room for her bunion. I appreciated the wider fit, as well; News editor Theo Kahler tests the Eliot Racer on an office treadmill was still tight when I sized up. The Eliot Racer’s worst offense, however: Irvine’s right shoelace came untied midrace during the Miami 5K, which we all ran days later.
Before the race, I saw this was a common issue for other runners at the track. As I made my rounds, I’d see someone in my party drop off to retie their shoes. Ironically, Pauk addressed how prototypes had lacing issues during his talk earlier that morning. The resolution was to add grippy silicone on one side of the laces so they’d stay tied. Its effect is questionable. I too had to stop to re-knot my laces weeks later during a long run.
One good thing about defiant laces is that they can be easily remedied by replacing them with new ones. In terms of comfort, RW shoe testers liked the Racer’s micro-suede heel collar and tongue. The shoe also scored points for its quintessential Tracksmith look. (Post-5K, a few fellow racers gawked at our shoes and asked us what brand they’re from.) RW testers and staff gave props to the upper’s style and functionality.
“The upper fit is sweet,” said Runner-in-Chief Jeff Dengate. “I really like the translucent, sturdy material. The midfoot overlays are a little thick and the stitching is noticeable, but it didn’t cause any problems. The heel wrap pulled securely around the back of my foot and kept me locked down to the insole, just as I want from such a stiff shoe.”
A surprising drawback with the multilayered upper was the noise it makes. Think of a 40s cartoon character tip-toeing in squeaky shoes. That’s what the Eliot Racer sounds like.
“The squeaking...oh my goodness,” said shoe tester, Alex Price. “This has to be the loudest shoe I have ever run in.”
Price, a midfoot striker whose average training pace is 6:45, logged key running sessions to test the Eliot Racer’s performance. One of them was a Canova/fartlek workout (600 meters with 1000 float).
“The 600s were at 4:40/mile pace and the floats right around 5:30 pace,”said Price. “My first impression was great. The shoe felt fast and light underfoot. It was responsive and late in the workout felt like I was getting the energy return and support I needed. The ride was solid and the shoe kept my legs turning over.”
On the track, I also enjoyed the Eliot Racer’s lightweight and speedy ride. On the road, however, it was a different story. During a long run, I didn’t feel the same rocker propulsion you get from some other super shoes. Thick forefoot cushioning buffered my downhills, providing a spongy feel instead of a high rebound pop.
On paper, the Eliot Racer checks off all the super shoe features: a carbon-fiber plate, thick stack height (38mm), Pebax foam. On foot, I felt its potential but, for my turnover and mechanics, maybe it just wasn’t the perfect fit.
Tester Shane Houghton, who ran a 69-minute half marathon in November, also commented on the Eliot Racer’s geometry and compared it to other super shoes.
“This shoe did not have a lot of edge to it,” he said. “They don’t have an aggressive ride—constantly rocking you onto your toes and propelling you forward—which I have found to be a common trait in super shoes. These seem almost like super trainers but even some super trainers still feel aggressive. Overall, their ride felt a little clunky and more like a trainer.” Houghton has also recently tested the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4 and Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro 3.
Despite the Eliot Racer’s “clunkiness,” Houghton’s favorite feature was its foam.
“I thought that the cushioning was the best aspect of the Eliot racers,” he said. “They felt pretty spongy, where I could feel my feet sink into the shoes on every step. I never experienced other racing shoes like these, they almost felt like a firm memory foam. These were fun to do easy runs in because they had the cushioning of a trainer and the snappiness of a racing shoe.”
News editor Theo Kahler also liked the shoe’s cushioning. “I thought the foam was pretty comfortable. It definitely excels at faster paces. I feel like once I got below 6:30 pace, it felt the best. On my 18-mile long run, I was a little nervous about wearing a brand new shoe, but I hardly noticed it during my run (that’s a good thing). Well, except for the squeaking on my right foot. But the foam is forgiving on your legs and doesn’t beat them up too much. I’m not sure I would choose it for a marathon, but I think it holds up well for distances around the half marathon.”
There’s no doubt the shoe has range, which is what Pauk’s team intended for the Racer. At the Miami 5K, one of our party, Abby Levene, finished first woman coming in at 17:50 wearing the shoe.
“It’s suitable for 5K, 10K, all the way up to marathons,” Pauk said. “The construction’s designed with that versatility in mind, and because of that—that range and distance—it’s also a really suitable training tool.
“We understand that everybody’s going to have a different reaction to a certain shoe, a cushioning profile fit. But when it works, it really works in a wide gamut for the runner.”
Take deputy health and fitness editor Mallory Creveling, for example, who liked the overall package (minus the squeaking).
“When I first saw these, I was like, dang, these are pretty! I love Tracksmith’s preppy look and enjoy that these fall into that category,” she said. “I liked the rebound on these. That was definitely my favorite thing, even if it wasn’t quite as good as other racing shoes. Also, the toebox is quite roomy, so my forefeet/toes felt comfortable. I also love that the laces have like a sticky material on them that I assume helps keep them tied better.” Unlike other runners, Creveling didn’t have to retie her laces during testing.
The Eliot Racer is a strong effort for an apparel brand’s second shoe; a bold one at that for being a super shoe. Obviously, the Hare needs to smooth out some kinks for its next go-around. But the shoe has a nice ride once you get it properly knotted. And Creveling’s right: It does look dang pretty.
The Eliot Racer is currently on sale at Tracksmith’s Boston, NYC, and London stores. It will be available online March 18. You can provide your email and phone number for notifications on the Tracksmith website.
Amanda Furrer, Runner’s World test editor, studied journalism at NYU and writing at Emerson College. She has reviewed gear and covered other topics in the running space for almost 10 years. Since 2013, she has consecutively run the Boston Marathon. She also has a master’s degree in gastronomy from Boston University and was formerly a professional baker for two years before hanging up her apron.
