Hi people, welcome to The Run Testers. Mike and Kieran put the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 through the rigours of the Barcelona Half Marathon in race mode a few weeks back but there’s only one way to truly find out if Brook’s latest carbon racer is marathon ready. And that’s to run a marathon in them.
So Kieran laced up the Hyperion Elite 4and hit the streets of London for a solo marathon to find out how they hold up. No timing mats, no aid stations, just the shoes and the 26.2 miles. Hit play to see how he got on.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
0:00 – Intro
0:54 – Thoughts after 15km
3:22 – Thoughts with 10km to go
5:13 – Verdict
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Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 (Sportsshoes.com):
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Hi people welcome to the Run testers and In this video I'm on a solo mission to Marathon test the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 now Mike and I put this shoe through The riggers of the Barcelona half Marathon in race mode but I figure There's only one way to truly find out If Brooks's latest carbon racer is Marathon ready and that is to run a Marathon in them so I'm going to lace Them up right now well I've already done That I'm out I'm going to hit the Streets of London anyway for a solo Marathon to find out no timing Ms no Aid Stations it's going to just be just me And the shoes and the 26.2 miles so Let's go get into into [Music] It so then 15K is down in about an hour And 20 minutes uh we are now moving Through West London right here by the River temps I've what to say about the Shoes so far well first thing is Comfort When you first put them on come out and Riding they feel pretty natural on the Foot straightway very easy to get moving In there's nice and area in the toe box We've sort of found that during the Barcelona half those got a really sort Of heavily perforated uppers really sort Of thin holy uppers make for a really Nice Airy breathable feel on the foot There's plenty of room for the toes to Wiggle and all of that feels great after
About five or six miles with these I Actually started to feel a little bit Rubbing on both heels at the backs for The top of the heel collar so I had to Stop and adjust the laces lock them down A bit tighter and that seems to have Gone away now but yeah that's one thing To watch out I didn't feel too much Slipping but they just started to rub a Little Bit now when it comes to the ride I Think there are plus and minuses here One big plus I think is the overall Comfort Under Foot your foot feels well Cradled they feel well protected there's No harshness coming up through this shoe So you can clip along quite happily as I Am now sort of really is there's a nice Bit of roll to them from The Rocker ring The midsole compressor comes back about The right amount of time you know They're not sinky there is a bit of Energy there but that's where the kind Of perhaps the first sort of negative Comes in these don't really feel quite As energetic as some of the other carbon Races that you can get now they are very Much more kind of mild in that sense and For that reason I yeah I mean we sort of Talked about in the barel half when I Was up S of kind of really smashing out On the foref foot doing a lot of the Hard work the shoes felt good they felt Poppy but maybe not as kind of
Aggressive as some of the other shoes And that's the same deal here you know You can sort of say perhaps this is a Bit more of an accessible sort of carbon Racer it might even just sort of drop Back into that bracket I've almost like A super trainer but obviously you're Paying quite a lot of money for that Yeah overall kind of third way through The marathon I like the fact that feel Feet feel well protected I would like a Little more Energy [Music] So 10K to go we've done 32 in an hour 2 Hours and 56 and uh into the last 6 Miles now basically this the story of The shoes is pretty much the same in Those last I guess that kind of middle Chunk of 14ks where I felt a bit leggy felt a bit Tired obviously ran quite a fast 10K 3 Days ago so probably not the ideal time To come out and be doing a marathon test Of a shoe but anyway what I wanted from These shoes is a little bit of energy a Little bit of pop a little bit of give Back for legs that are moving okay but They are tired I'm just not getting as Much of it as I'd like I do think that These shoes these Brooks hyper in Elite 4 require you to be up and mov moving Fast to get the most energy out and You've got to be on your for foot you've
Got to be you know using that ground Contact time to get the energy back they Are not going to do all the work for you They are wonderfully accomodating though For the pace that I've been running at The moment they've been doing absolutely Sparkling job there is a little bit of Wobble not the most stable shoes overall But they've Co well with some offroads That I've done and here I would like a Little bit more though it's the same Sort of Story the heel rubbing has cut Of Eed off mainly and uh yeah I'm just Now really relying on the softness of The cushioning that you know there's no Harshness here it's just nice and Comfortable and again I think if you're Looking at a marathon where you're Hedging your bets about how it's going To go and you're not sure about going For one of those carbon races that Really requires you to be running with Good form this one is going to be a Little bit more of a safety net uh but Anyway my arm makes like hell so I'm Going to go my last 6 miles [Music] Black [Music] 26 so it's the morning after the solo Marathon test of the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 I ended up getting the distance Covered in around 3 hours 50 minutes and The last 6 miles of those were to be
Honest a little bit of a struggle but When are they ever not so I've now raced 125 Half in the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 And I've done this Marathon distance Slightly slower than where my proper Marathon pace would be right now but Thing is I love doing these tests Putting the shoes to those kind of Mileages because you get to know a shoe So much better when you've been in it on Fresh legs and at the ass end of a Marathon legs and it's fair to say that Overall I think I preferred the Elite 4 For the half marathon test where I was Moving with a bit more all out intent up On my kind of forefoot really driving I Felt it gave me more then and it felt Like a shoe that the kind of the more You give to it the more it gives back if That makes sense now my summary of the Marathon test is that this shoe is like A Workhorse rather than a racehorse it Offers really good impact protection it Keeps your feet feeling cradled and Fresh overall into those sort of last Mil no harshness but I didn't get the Same energy as you'd find from the likes Of you know the alpha flies the adios Pro the primex strong or even you know Things like the New Balance SC Elite V4 Now I like the fact that it does feel Sort of more minimal and Airy and Somehow more precise and compact than Some of those sort of shoes that feel a
Bit bigger but the DNA flash V2 midso Just doesn't quite have the energy of Those sort of knes or adies those kind Of top races now that might not be a bad Thing for some runs if you want a Marathon shoe that's less aggressive and More accessible then this one could be It but if I had to sum it up I'd say the Ride is more like a topend sort of super Trainer a daily trainer than a really Punchy Marathon racer though the upper Are sort of all designed like a strip Back racer which might not be great for All your daily training miles so I don't Think this would be my Marathon shoe of Choice and I think for the price it's a Hard one to recommend shoes like the Sakon Endorphin speed 4 might be a Better bet for overall which you can Take from training through to racing and If you're after a carbon race shoe There's a long list of compelling Rivals At this price or close to it Hoka rocket X2 the adios Pro 3 vaporfly next perent 2 if you can get an older generation the New Balance SC Elite V3 is another older Generation shoe that's good aex metas Speed Sky Plus to name a few so there You have it that was my slightly offthe Cuff midweek Marathon test of the Brooks Hyperian Elite 4 hope you found it Useful please hit like if you did share It with some other Runners who you think Might be considering these shoes or
Interested to know that' be really Helpful for us also hit subscribe if you Haven't already that way you'll be able To hear about other videos when they Land on the channel if you want to know How the hyper in Elite 4 performed over The Half Marathon distance Mike and I Ran that and I'm popping a video up on The channel right now otherwise as ever Thanks for watching we hope to see you Again soon on the Run testers happy Running people good luck if you're Training for a marathon out there go and Get it