Best Altra Running Shoes + What Makes Them Unique

Maybe you remember the barefoot running boom. Maybe you’ve just had a slew of injuries and you need something new. Or maybe your friend has been going on and on with their Altra running shoe reviews. And now you’re ready to find out why this brand has become so popular?

I first pulled on a pair of Altra running shoes when they came on the market in 2009.  YIKES, I’ve been writing and testing gear a really long time!

That first run wasn’t love for me, but it was for many of my friends who continued running in them the last decade. However, they have changed over time and now I’ve got some new thoughts.

In fact, now you’ll see a number of Altra shoes floating round my house and in the running shoe rotation.

What Makes Altra Running Shoes Different?

Altra is the only running footwear company to feature the cushioned Zero Drop™ platform and FootShape™ toe box technologies.

Prior to Altra, the majority of running shoes featured narrow toe boxes and a heel-to-forefoot drop of 10 to 12 millimetres. Altra designed shoes with the same stack height under the heel as it does under the toes.

This zero-drop concept offers a level platform underfoot, encouraging a stride that is naturally balanced. In fact, the zero-drop idea was actually coined and popularized by the founders of Altra.

And, just as important, every Altra shoe has a large, foot-shaped toe box and a wider forefoot. This allows a runner’s toes to relax, spread out, and move naturally, while the big toe stays in a straight position for maximum stability and power.

When Altras first came out in 2011, ‘barefoot’ shoes were all the rage. They had wide toe boxes and no heel lift, but Altras were different because they had a thick layer of cushioning underfoot. This gave them a unique ride that helped the brand stay in business long after minimalism died out.

So, in short, Altra running shoes have three key features that set them apart from other brands:

• Zero drop
• Wide toe box
• Gender specific

Reminder: These are NOT a minimalist shoes. Minimal shoes have no cushion and are designed for your foot to really feel the ground, they are mostly protection.

7 Best Altra Running Shoes

Since I’ve been running in the low profile Saucony Kinvara for almost 10 years, I’m already a super fan of low profile shoes.

Barefoot running didn’t work for me because I felt without any cushion my feet simply hurt or my joints didn’t feel right.

So Altra is that nice middle ground of both!

I tested out a few different Altras on short runs and the first thing I noticed was that I didn’t have any calf soreness which often occurs when people transition to a more minimal shoe.

Best Altra Cushioned Stability Shoe – Altra Provision

The Altra Provision is a great stability shoe that is lightweight and lets you run in a natural way. It has Altra’s well-known EGO midsole, which provides lightweight cushioning for soft landings and explosive takeoffs.

For those with flexible arches or who tend to overpronate, this is the ideal shoe. Altra designed the Provision with GuideRail technology, which provides medial support when you need it

The Altra Provision is a lightweight and supportive running shoe that will keep you stable throughout your run.

We know I’m not a big stability shoe person and yet these don’t feel like a stability shoe at all. I think it’s because they have a good amount of cushion and aren’t stiff.

I’ve taken these out for quite a few miles now and surprised myself by finding my calves didn’t scream. I think a good sign that I’ve been rotating through a large variety of heel stacks.

This is one that I’d recommend if you’ve been considering a stability shoe, but aren’t going to let up on all the hip, glue and core work that will make sure you aren’t relying on the shoe.

• Weight:10.1 oz. Men’s, 8.3 oz. Women’s
• Heel drop: Zero drop model
• Available in 7 colors
• Not available in wide
• Available from altrarunning.com for $140

Best Altra Minimal Neutral Shoe – Altra Escalante 4

The 4s follow the Original FootShape fit, and the glove-like fit extends to the midfoot and heel. The EGO^TM foam and InnerFlex^TM midsole feel fresh, vibrant, flexible, and bouncy.

Although it doesn’t feel heavy, we wouldn’t complain if Altra could make the shoe even lighter, and it seems fans chattering online agree.

The change in upper fabric makes the shoe appear narrower and shrinks the volume of the toe box in exchange for a more snug fit.

The consensus is that the 4s are much softer, flexible, and responsive than the 3s. Like all the shoes in the lineup, the 4s are snappy and worth a spin.

• Weight: 9.5 oz Men’s, 7.5 oz Women’s
• Stack Height: 24 mm
• Heel Drop: 0 mm
• 13 colors in Womens and 14 in men
• Not available in wide.
• Available on Altra.com for $130
• Read our full review of the Altra Escalante 4 here >>

Best Altra Trail Running Shoe – Altra Lone Peak

The Altra Lone Peak has an EGO midsole that gives you the right amount of cushioning for the trails while still letting you feel the ground. It’s one that many Boulder, CO runners really love.

The MaxTrac outsole provides plenty of grip and traction as you run over uneven and slippery terrain.

Plus, Altra’s signature features were designed specifically for trail running. The zero-drop cushioning improves ground feel when running over roots and rocks, and the FootShape toe box allows your toes to splay for better balance on uneven terrain.

It’s a great pick for the trail with balanced cushioning, excellent grip on loose rock and mud, and a super comfortable fit for wide feet!

This is one of the few models they’ve made it up to version 9, which says a lot. It means runners are repeatedly asking for the shoe and love it (otherwise they stop making it!).

Somehow the shoe manages to be breathable and quick drying, while still having the structure you need for the trails and the sturdiness provided from the outsole and rock plate to keep your feet happy on more technical trails.

• Weight: 11.15 oz Men’s, 9.3 oz Women’s
• Heel drop: 0mm
• Stack Height: 25mm
• 7 colors
• Available in wide for some colors
• Available on altrarunning.com for $140
• Read our full review of the Altra Lone Peak 9 here >>

Best Road Running Shoe – Altra Experience Flow 3

If you’re not ready to fully commit to a zero-drop running shoe, the Altra Experience Flow 3 is the perfect in-between.

Unlike most of their shoes, the Experience line has a 4 mm heel drop. If you’re curious about zero-drop shoes, we’re recommending this as a great option to ease your way down.

The feel underfoot as a nice blend of comfort and protection. It’s not firm like most Altra shoes, but not super plush like a pair of New Balance or Hokas.

Altra updated the midsole with the all-new EGO P35 foam. It’s super lightweight with just the right amount of cushion so that your feet feel just as good at the end of a run as they do at the beginning.

The Altra Experience Flow 3 is a great daily trainer, but also feels fabulous as a walking shoe and for standing around.

• Heel toe drop: 4 mm
• Weight: 7.5 oz women’s,  9 oz men’s
• Stack:  32mm
• Available in 6 colors
• Not Available in Wide
• Available from Altra.com for $145
• Read our full review of the Altra Experience Flow 3 here >>

Best Altra Everyday Running Shoe – Altra Torin 8

Technically the Altra Paradigm designed with Kara Goucher is their max cushion shoe at 30mm stack height, but it’s also a stability model. And I wanted to make sure to give you another neutral shoe for long runs.

The 8 has a great padded tongue and heel collar. I can see why this is their most popular model. It absolutely has a great amount of cushion and overall just feels nice. If you’ve been thinking about dabbling with Zero Drop, I’d start here.

The cushion felt very similar to the Paradigm, maybe just slightly less.

• Weight: 10.15 oz men’s, 8.4 oz women’s
• Heel drop: zero drop
• Stack height: 30 mm
• 7 colors
• Wide only available in black/white
• Available at Altra Running and retail stores for $150
• Read our full review of the Altra Torin 8 here >>
  

Best Road to Trail Shoes – Altra Experience Wild 3

The Altra Experience Wild 3 is the second generation of a comfortable, versatile trail shoe that serves as a good transition for runners interested in a zero drop model without taking the full plunge.

It’s comfortable and protective of your feet while still offering the Altra-classic foot-shape toe box.

Something we really value in a trail shoe is the grippiness of the treads- the Altra Experience Wild 3 really delivered in this regard.

You can feel the “stickiness” of the shoes on rock and sand, and when we tested these on a very steep downhill, we felt confident on the run.

You will find lugs on the bottom of these to help with traction but they’re not going to be super noticeable if you’re running a mix of roads and trails.

This is a really versatile model that should suit a lot of different runners, from those jogging on fire roads to those really going for it in the ultra space.

• Weight: 11.1 oz Men’s, 9.1oz Women’s
• Stack Height: 32 mm
• Heel Drop: 4 mm
• 5 Colors
• Not available in wide
• Available on Altrarunning.com for $150
• Read our full review of the Altra Experience Wild 3 here >>

Best Altra Hiking and Walking Shoes – Altra Olympus

Once you decide you like Zero drop shoes, you’re going to want them for everything you do.  And it’s important NOT TO WALK in your running shoes.

Weird, I know. But if you’re taking long walks that’s actually a different stride and wear pattern than running. So get yourself walking shoes. Look at me giving you reasons to buy more shoes.

I wasn’t a big fan of these for running. While I usually don’t mind a big stack height, for some reason my ankles or legs hurt after any running in these. But not so with walking!

• Weight: 10.2 oz women’s, 13.25 oz men’s
• Heel drop: Zero drop model
• Available in 5 colors
• Not available in wide
• Available now  from altrarunning.com for $175
• Read our full Altra Olympus 6 Review >>

Altra Shoes – Alternative Design in Running Shoes

ALTER + ULTRArunning = Altra.

The name “Altra” was chosen by the company’s founders to reflect their commitment to offering ‘an alternative way of thinking about the design of running shoes.’

The name came to be from a crazy path of a young marathon runner named Golden Harper. He grew up running and finished his first marathon while setting a world best record at age 12!

Later, he started altering regular shoes to create a zero drop with cushion…it slowly became a bit of a black market thing.

People would literally buy a shoe from the running store owned by his family and then ask him to rip it up and remake it as zero drop footwear!

Suddenly, he realized they were doing this for nearly a 1,000 people. Maybe making a shoe would just be easier.

And yes all of this happened before the barefoot craze that was popularized by Born To Run and one of my running idols Scott Jurek.

What’s the big deal about this shoe compared to things like Vibrams?

“this shoe delivers many of the benefits of barefoot running with the comfort, cushioning and support that distance runners love.”

This was the predominate shoe used by Ultramarathon runners (until Hoka One One came on the scene, now it’s split), which makes me think it’s got to be great for those of us doing the measly little marathon in comparison right??

What Does Zero Drop Mean and Why Does it Matter?

Zero drop means that the stack height of the sole is the same under the heel as it is under the ball of the foot.

As mentioned earlier, before Altra, most running shoes added extra padding to the heels to help protect runners and prevent injuries. Consequently, 8 to 12 mm of drop from heel to toe or more was common in many running shoes back then.

This means that when standing ‘flat footed’ in the shoes, the heels were actually 8 to12 mm higher than the toes.

The brand Altra is well-known for its commitment to a zero heel-to-toe drop in all of its footwear, regardless of the amount of cushioning in the sole. And so, every shoe in Altra’s lineup is designed with a zero drop that puts the heel and forefoot at the same level.

They designed this to help with optimal alignment, cultivate better form, and encourage a low-impact landing.

Here are some more benefits of zero-drop shoes:

• More natural running gait
• Improved ankle mobility
• Better posture
• Improved balance

Why Would You Want a Foot Shaped Toebox?

Another feature shared by all Altra running shoes is that the toe box is designed with the natural shape of the foot in mind. In fact, only one other brand is heavily on this trend which is Topo.

Checkout this head to head of Altra vs Topo >>

It may sound a little odd when you first hear that they make a foot shaped shoe, but once you see it things begin to click. I don’t know about you, but my toes aren’t shaped like the image on the left.

The most significant advantage of a foot-shaped toe box is that it allows your toes to splay, or spread out, while running.

This natural toe splay helps runners gain more stability, build stronger foot muscles, and maintain a straight great toe, which increases the power produced with each stride.

This design allows your toes to spread out, which provides you with the ability to get more power from each stride.

Additionally, we know that having our toes squeezed in can be not only uncomfortable, but extremely problematic for things like running with bunions or runner’s toe.

And so, the goal of Altra’s foot-shaped toe box is to make a shoe that is as close to the human foot as possible. This allows the shoe to bend and flex in the same way that the foot bends and flexes while running.

It also encourages good running biomechanics, which improves performance and lowers the risk of getting injured while running.

In fact, this is such an important feature that I went in search of other brands who do the same. Here are the top wide toe box running shoes.

Why We Need Gender Specific Running Shoes?

Finally, all Altra running shoes for women are designed with FIT4HER™ technology.

Women’s feet are typically shaped differently than men’s feet, so Altra designs its women’s shoes with a narrower heel, longer arch, and unique metatarsal spacing to better accommodate women’s feet. This means they are narrower through the midfoot and heel.

Having been inside places like the New Balance technology area, I know that MOST company’s makes a male and female last to produce each shoe model. (A last is the mold that is used to form shoes.)

But, like I mentioned above, Altra has taken it even further with their last, making changes that truly account for the differences in a woman’s foot:

• Narrower heal
• Longer arch
• Different upper for our foot shape — ever notice how women often get pain on the top of our foot and then need to do some fancy trickery with our laces to relieve pressure?? Yup it’s because shoes aren’t made for that.

The one person I might say that Altra Running Shoes are not idea for would be someone with flat feet. Flat feet running shoes really need to help support the arch to prevent overpronation. While some Altra’s have support, none are quite as built up. However, if you love them and run with flat feet, checkout insoles.

Note the above pictures are not to discredit any brand, but to help provide an example of how these are different.

Looking for more running shoe reviews? We’ve got them on our running gear reviews page!

• Benefits and drawbacks of Zero drop shoes
• Comparing Hoka Models
• Comparing ALTRA to Hoka Running Shoes
• How to properly fit a running shoe
• When to replace running shoes

This is one of the keys to running shoes for me, there are a lot of great options out there, but we all have something that feels slightly better for us and you’ve got to test to figure it out!

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