Tester Mike squeezes in one last race before the end of the year to put the Diadora Gara Carbon, one of the surprise carbon shoe launches of the year, to the race test at the RunThrough Chase the Moon 5k Race at Battersea Park.
Along with taking the Gara Carbon for a spin, Mike was also giving the the new Sony LinkBuds Open a first runout to see what Sony’s latest open-ear earbuds have to offer. Plus, it was an opportunity to put the Coros Pace Pro and the Pace 3 to the GPS accuracy test.
Find out how Mike got on and how the all of that kit fared below. Thanks to RunThrough for providing the entry for this race.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
01:00 – How was the race and course and the Race Test
05:13 – Other kit race tested
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Hey this is Mike for the rers and it is The day after my final race of 2024 the Run through batter SE Park 5K where There was also a 10k race taking place Now we know this race and rout pretty Well we've done previous race tests There and this was really my opportunity To do one last race test and a shoe that I've been desperate to racing but just Haven't had the opportunity to do that And that shoe that I'm talking about is This shoe the deodora gar carbon Definitely one of the surprise shoe Launches of 2024 now what I'm going to do is take You through how I've got in in that race How the deodor gar carbon fed and then Talk about some other kit that I was Also testing for that little run out Around Battery Park now thanks to run Through for providing the entry to the Race and as always an imly organized Race to take part in so let's get into It [Music] So a little bit about the route and the Race itself now as mentioned this is one That we know pretty well and I think if You race and run around London you Probably know the route very well now as I was doing the 5K variant of this race I had to do two laps of the course now This was a run through chase the moon Event so it's an evening race like other
Events at the evening at this time of The year lighting particularly in Parts Can be a little bit challenging but I Would say overall it was very good for This race and it hasn't always been the Case some races this is what I've done These chase the moon events where some Of these sections of the course you know Probably need or could do a little bit More lighting but for this one it was Very good now the course itself is very Flat and quick there's a reason why you Know a lot of people go and do the B SE Par parkr which is recently being Introduced and it is a fast 5k 10k race To do now apart from a few turns they're Really kind of kind of straight so you Can really kind of kick on and hit your You know your quickest Pace here now in Terms of how I did I ran 2053 I think There was a lot of quick 5K runners in That race and you not my quickest this Year my quickest was back in April when I did the aex and 5K race out in Paris But very happy with that time means There's still some some kind of running Kind of speed in those legs kind of Where I need to be at this time of the Year so yeah you know it's a course that I've liked I know it's a one and yeah it Felt pretty good and my legs felt pretty Good and that race not my quickest but Definitely happy with the time so into The shoe testing now in terms of my kind
Of shorter distance running with the gar Carbon I have done some kind of kind of Quicker Park kind of outings with it and It kind of FedEd very well from that Point of view now this was a good flat Kind of quick course to kind of see what It was really made of and I feel like it Really held up from that point of view I Think what I like about the gar carbon Particularly at this distance is that it Is a light shoe you know when you look At it against some other carbon Racing Shoes but has a little bit more heft to Them it definitely feels more geared Towards longer distances the gar carbon A little bit like the metas speed Sky Paris a little bit like the pum dev8 Nitro Elite 3 has a very good weight for Shorter distance running now in terms of That feel of running at my 5K Pace in This shoot it feels very good to do it's Very Lively when you look at how that Midsole feel just kind of squeezing into It it's very squishy and squash but it Doesn't feel like you know you're Sinking into it too much there you've Got that c plate and I think the Placement of the C plate works very well There and the riding it is very Comfortable I would say first and Foremost but there's an aggression there As well too there's some propulsive Feeling there as well that's kind of What you want and you know I do feel
Like you know it holds that well over or Did hold that well over that distance And never felt like it lost that and it Never felt uncomfortable it never felt Too you know unstable for me uh in that Race and I feel like there's there's Real qualities I really like about the Gar carbon and I feel particularly at That shorter distance I think the key Things I probably don't absolutely love About this shoe I think more so I Probably want to see tweak because I do Think the upper could be worked out a Little bit more I think it could the Profile for it could sit a little bit Closer I think there's it's clearly a Balance to try and make it room and Spacious for longer distances but also Giving you that kind of racing profile Fit and I do think it kind of gets that Balance right but I think maybe it still Could refine things on that front Because I think everything else kind of Works there for me you know I I feel Like it's you know a really nice fast Lightweight shoot to run in I feel like The ride really you know feels like it's Built for racing and that's kind of was My experience and has been my experience In previous testing in this shoe as well So for me while it wasn't my quickest 5K Race time it definitely felt well you Know at home at that 5K race Pace or Near to my you know kind of best 5K race
Pace and really enjoy running it in and Racing in it in that race so yeah for me You know definitely a shoe that I do Feel that can work those shorter Distances a one that I felt was a good Match for that [Music] Race so some quick thoughts on some Other kit that I was testing so the Other big thing that was you know the First time I was testing were these Headphones and these are the new Sony Link buds open now we've tested the Previous link buds before and the Are you know open ear kind of truly Wirless airbuds that are about keeping Your listening safe and you know still Keeping you tune your surroundings now We did really like the Sony link buds I Think for me you know once I got the fit To work for me I think the sound Performan is really good but you know We've seen a lot happen in that space You know since the link buds have come Out you know we've got the bows Ultra Open you know the shocks open fit and Open Fit air and there's definitely Other options out there outside of the Sony link buds and the key difference For me with the link buds open is that You've still got that kind of ringed Kind of donut shaped design but you've Now got an air hook to improve that fit And I always found that if you didn't
Get that fit absolutely fine with the Previous link buds then you know there Was a tendency that it could feel unsafe Or unsecure and may have a tendency to Fall out I think that's definitely been A different case for me that first test Now I did have some initial concerned Whether they were going to stay put as I Got going but actually no issues Whatsoever in terms of the fit the Sound Performance is actually really good for Me now I was playing around with the U The Sound Performance as I was traveling To the race and you know you have a Companion app and I do think you need to Use that companion app well there's a Lot going on in that companion app but There's an EQ um or presets um for eqs There that I do think are worth digging Into to get the most rewarding sound From the Sony link buds open because out Of the box they don't sound you know Particularly you know better than some Of those other um airbuds that I've Spoken about but once I did do that and As I said the fit was very good for me In that race I'd be interested to see How they' fair over longer distances Whether that you know Comfort is there Over longer distances as well but for me From a fit point of view and the sound Quality and battery life performance it All looked very good for me from the Sun Link buds open so in terms of other
Things I was testing it was more a case Of additional testing with the chus pace Pro and the chus pace 3 now we've got a Comparison video with those two watches Coming up on the channel but this is my Opportunity to do or use them for a Racing scenario and what I found is from A GPS point of view the carus pace Pro Actually performed better for me it was Closer to that 5K distance and what that Meant was things like pacing was a Little bit more accurate I think battery Life generally was pretty good the drop Off I'd expect to see is a little bit More drop off on the carspace pro simply Because it's got that Amal display and That's kind of what I'd expect to see Pretty short distance race so I wouldn't Expect to see a massive drop but there Was maybe a little bit more on the Pace Pro really it was a kind of additional GPS test for me and the pace Pro came Out on top so yeah generally some very Good testing uh from that race the did Orara carbon still you know a shoe That's really kind of left a really good Impression for me this year in my Running and now racing a good kind of First run with the Sony link buds open And more good testing with the chus pace Pro against the caros pace 3 okay so They have it a 5K race test with the Deor gar alongside a first run with the Sony link buds open and some additional
Testing with the cars Pace Pro versus The pace 3 now if you got any questions About any of that kit that I've talked About in this video do let us know in The comments as always like And Subscribe hit that little bell to find Out about latest videos and yeah we'll See you the next run test this video [Music]
