By Brian Metzler

When Tracksmith burst onto the scene in 2014, it was a newfangled running apparel brand with an intent to push a disruptive, high-quality aesthetic vibe as much as it was about selling T-shirts, shorts, and singlets. It not only succeeded in developing upscale, performance-oriented running clothes with a distinctive look, but it also sparked a running culture revolution rooted in authenticity that would blaze a path for numerous other start-up apparel brands to follow.

Almost a decade later, when Tracksmith announced that it was launching its Eliot Runner training shoe in 2023, it again came as a bit of a disruptive shock. Why would a fashion-forward apparel brand suddenly get into footwear? Simply put, it was always a running company, not merely an apparel brand, Matt Taylor, the brand’s co-founder, CEO and primary visionary told me. It made perfect sense from that point of view. That shoe, like its apparel, is the consummate blend of style, quality, running culture, and performance. No surprise that other small apparel brands have followed suit or tried to keep up by leaning on footwear partners for collabs.

The just-launched Eliot Racer ($280) is the next step in the evolution for Tracksmith. It’s a premium carbon-plated super shoe that’s been designed and built for runners committed to earnest training. That’s not an elitist shout out only to fast runners, it’s a call to action for any runner who is relentless about pursuing excellence and personally meaningful goals. It’s innovative, stylish and durable, but it’s also comfortable, low to the ground and very energetic.

What’s New: This is a brand new shoe that combines a unique visual aesthetic with a novel, performance-enhancing construction. Most notably, it has a drop-in ATPU midsole that eliminates the need for a removable thin sockliner that is typically glued to the interior of the shoe. The soft free-floating midsole sits on top of the curvy carbon plate and the layer of hyper-responsive Pebax foam in the lower chassis, ultimately allowing for more seamless compression of the top layer  that maximizes cushioning and energy return of the bottom layer. It has a lightweight engineered woven mesh upper that helps provide a secure fit and optimizes breathability, and a microsuede heel collar and tongue lining that serves up opulent comfort and stay-in-place security.

Fit/Feel/Ride: The Tracksmith Eliot Racer fits true to size with a medium-volume interior and enough room in the forefoot for toes to wiggle and splay. The step-in feel is more sparse than it is plush, but the free-form heel and gusseted tongue come together for a reliably secure fit. 

The ride is semi-soft and smooth, producing a rolling sensation from heel-strike to forefoot with a distinctive snappy sensation just before toe-off. It’s not soft and bouncy out on the run, but instead more semi-firm and very lively. It feels light and airy and the exceptional feel-for-the-ground (especially in the forefoot) serves up a high level of stride-controlling proprioception. The faster I ran, the snappier and more energetic it felt.

Why It’s Great: The unique two-part midsole construction is very responsive. It’s slightly lower to the ground than most maximally cushioned shoes – and I personally appreciate that because it allows me to be more reactive and in control of my stride – but it doesn’t have the obvious bounciness of other models in the upper echelon of super shoes. Is it comparable to Nike, Adidas, and ASICS models that have landed on the podium of major marathons? It’s impossible to know, but I’m highly confident that it can be a good speed trainer or race-day shoe for a runner aiming for a 2:30 marathon or someone training for a 3:30 marathon.

For what it’s worth, the independent Goleta, California-based Heeluxe shoe lab put the shoe through mechanical testing and found the Pebax midsole to have greater than 70% energy return, while the ATPU platform tested out to greater than 80%. Plus, Tracksmith athletes have run under 2:20 in prototypes of the shoe, and perhaps more relevant to the bigger shoe-buying audience, the 46-year-old Taylor, ran a 2:43:18 at last spring’s Boston Marathon wearing a pair.

My take is that it’s a great multi-hyphenate shoe that can certainly be a race-day tool for just about any distance, but it’s actually a more versatile speed trainer. It’s ideal for tempo runs, long intervals, mile repeats, strides, and spontaneous pace-varying fartlek workouts, but I also liked it for progressively paced moderately long and long runs where I started out slow and came back faster. 

Specs

Price: $280

Weight: 6.1 oz. (women’s size 8), 7.7 oz. (men’s size 9)

Heel-Toe Offset: 7.5mm; 38mm (heel), 30.5mm (forefoot)

Why You’ll Love It: I love it because it’s one of those rare shoes that makes you feel like you’re going to run faster than you expect every time you head out for a run. I found myself drawn to the distinguished look and feel of the shoe (and the lightweight makeup and quality craftsmanship) as I was lacing it up. Can the look of a shoe improve your performance in it? Yes, definitely. It’s not so much that if you look good, you’ll run well. It’s more that if you own the authentic vibe that it oozes, you’ll be reminded of that every time you head out for a hard/speedy workout in this shoe. Dressing for what you aspire to is the first step in becoming that which you envision. 

Pro: There’s quite a bit of outsole rubber on the bottom of this shoe, more than most super shoes that are designed with segments of rubber. It doesn’t seem to make this shoe any heavier (the rubber is relatively thin), but I think it adds some stability and it might enhance the long-term durability.

Con: The new shoe, like a lot of Tracksmith’s running apparel, ranks at the higher end of the price range for race-day super shoe models, but that’s directly related to the high-quality and high-value products it strives to produce. If you don’t want to spend $280 on a shoe, you can find some good alternatives for $50 cheaper. But if you want a premium, lively shoe with a look and vibe to match, the Eliot Racer is a very worthy investment.