By Brian Metzler

If you could build your own running shoe from scratch with a limitless supply of materials and every tool you could possibly imagine, how would you build it?

It’s an odd idea, because no one designs their own running shoes. And even as much as I like to build things, I wouldn’t even start on a project like that. I’d just sit down with Dave Dombrow and Kevin Fallon in their Portland, Oregon, workshop and watch them work their magic. As longtime running shoe industry design and development gurus, they’ve seen and done it all in various roles for some of the biggest brands in the industry, including Nike, Puma, Under Armour, and others

After having enough of the corporate gigs and wanting to delve back into their creative roots, they left to do their own thing in 2020 and, a year later, they emerged as the crafty proprietors of the Speedland running shoe brand. If you’re not familiar with Speedland, you should check out the SpeedHack series of YouTube videos they published before they were able to officially announce their new brand. While waiting for their non-compete clauses to expire, Dombrow and Fallon basically took time to tinker in the workshop and build crazy, mashed-up shoes in which they morphed different models into entirely new concoctions. One of my favorites involved taking an $825 Courser luxury athleisure shoe and pairing it with a $55 model from start-up Atreyu. Another episode was focused on turning a pair of soccer cleats into high-performance trail running shoes.

As cool as their YouTube series was, it was just a front for what would become Speedland, an innovative new brand of premium trail running shoes that is only limited by their imaginations (and perhaps how far they’re willing to dip into their personal savings accounts). Their first shoe, the SL:PDX, was a conversation piece, not only because it used a wide range of materials rarely found in one shoe – including two BOA Li2 dial closures, a Dyneema knit upper, a thick, removable Pebax foam midsole, and a Michelin rubber outsole with lugs intended to be trimmed to personal preference – but also because it carried an insane price tag of $375. Despite the sticker shock, they sold out of all 1,200 initial pairs they produced, so they knew they were onto something.

Cut to the chase, and they’ve continued to develop unique shoes with a small-batch production model. The brand recently released an updated sequel to that original shoe called the Speedland GL:PDX (with a slightly more reasonable $250 price tag), a brand new limited-edition shoe that’s a little bit more cushy than the original version that debuted three years ago. 

What’s New: The GL:PDX  retains some of the best features of the original Speedland shoe – and several Dombrow and Fallon have built in the ensuing years – but instead of two BOA multidirectional dual-dial Li2 dial closures, there is only one. Instead of the second BOA dial, there is a Velcro strap that really locks down the top of foot near the front of the ankle along with a stretchy knit interior bootie that wraps the foot. The new shoe once again has a two-part midsole – one is a thin layer of responsive foam connected to the outsole and, like the original version, a thick, removable 100% beaded HTPU external midsole, and a Michelin rubber outsole with 6.5mm lugs that can be trimmed down. 

Fit/Feel/Ride: The GL:PDX fits true to size with a medium-volume interior and a little bit of wiggle room in the toe box. The shoe has a lot of protective features made from materials that don’t seem to add weight or bulk, including a thin, flexible TPU cover over the toe bumper that keeps stubbed toes at bay. The stretchy, glove-like fit, which is made possible by the knit upper and Boa/Velcro closure, is probably the closest thing I’ve ever had to a custom-fitting shoe, and that leads to an divine step-in feel (once cinched down and dialed in) and exceptional agility out on the trails. 

One of the biggest differences is the overall stack heights of the shoe (33mm in the heel, 28mm in the forefoot), which are higher than the first shoe but not so high that it takes away from the really good proprioceptive feel for the trail. I expected the shoe to feel a bit bulky and heavy on the run, but I was surprised that it flowed almost as smoothly as a road running shoe while easily tackling the most rugged terrain features I encountered. The extra cushion of the GL:PDX helps soften the ride and keeps a lot of trail debris from poking the bottom of my feet, but it also adds some much needed responsive bounciness that the original PDX shoe lacked. Another recent Speedland shoe silhouette, the GS:RAR, has a max-cushioned midsole (with a 37mm/30mm geometry and a much wider footprint), but it’s too much for me to feel agile enough to run on the trails. 

Why It’s Great: It’s great because it’s so innovative, but that’s not why I like it the most. I really enjoy running in it because it combines an ideal mix of comfort, cushioning, traction, agility, and protection. Most of the thoughtfully quirky design elements that Dombrow and Fallon have incorporated into this shoe are tied directly to enhancing a runner’s performance on variable terrain. But it’s not that one feature makes it great. It’s the sum of the parts and the interactivity of all of the unique elements that make it so great. For example, the BOA/Velcro closure system provides exceptional control, and that contributes to the shoe’s stability, traction and agility. The updated midsole and innovative upper contribute to enhanced long-haul comfort, which, combined with the shoes’ ability to tackle technical terrain, make it a great shoe for long adventure-oriented training runs in the mountains. The performance-first design of the GL-PDX is a product of their years of experience in making shoes and not wanting to be held to restrictions because it might seem too expensive or too hard to make.

Specs

Weights: 8.8 oz (women’s 8); 10.3 oz. (men’s 9)

Heel-Toe Offset: 5mm; 33mm (heel), 28mm (forefoot) 

Why You’ll Love it: Honestly, I think this is one of my favorite trail running shoes I’ve ever run in over technical surfaces. It serves up the most secure fit I’ve ever had in a trail running shoe, so much so that each shoe feels like an extension of my feet. It has the cushy and responsive midsole of a marathon racing shoe, but that energetic midsole is tempered within the secure structure of the rest of the shoe so it never feels unwieldy. Most importantly, it offers superior grip on wet, dry, and chossy surfaces, and all of those things combined allow me to attract jagged terrain with safety and confidence and also run with a smooth, fast gait over various obstacles and trail debris.

Pro: The removable Carbitex GearFlex midsole plates (sold separately) offer a way to tune the ride of the shoe depending on the terrain you’ll be running on. But it just doesn’t make the shoe softer or stiffer, it changes the entire personality (and performance characteristics) of the shoe. If you’re running on rolling, semi-technical dirt trails, you can leave it out and enjoy a flexible and smooth-flowing (but also durable) ride akin to a Saucony Peregrine. But if you’re running over very rocky terrain, you can insert the plate (beneath the layer of removable midsole foam) and stiffen up and stabilize the ride and make it feel more like a mountain marauder like the La Sportiva Jackal II.  No other trail running shoe can be adaptable in such a distinct way, and yet, no other trail shoe has that kind of range regardless of the plate.

Con: It’s not heavy or bulky, but it’s not as light as it could be. The outsole rubber really adds weight, so that’s the tradeoff. The weight isn’t a detractor running on rugged terrain in the mountains, but for more moderate dirt and gravel surfaces, you can feel the extra girth and mass.