Altra Olympus 4 Trail Running Shoes

Product Information

The shoe also drained well, which is always an important thing to consider when water crossings are part of the equation. Like the Lone Peak, the Olympus is designed with Altra’s “Original” fit, which happens to be their roomiest. Of course, everybody’s feet are different, so calling this a good thing would be absolutely ridiculous. However, generally, I think that more space is conducive to foot wellbeing over long distances as they swell and spread throughout the day, weeks, and months. If you like the fit of Lone Peak’s, then the Olympus will probably work for you too. Comfort

Feeling sentimental toward a shoe sounds like a symptom of some deeper-rooted issue bubbling up to the level of consciousness, but I can’t help having an emotional attachment to Altra’s Olympus line (what an absurd thing to write!). We break up the narratives of our lives into befores and afters, divisions made by watershed events like marriage, childbirth, graduations, etc. For me, thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2018 served as one of those great timeshifts, an incalculable event that shed the familiar skin of everything I had experienced before it. Many of the 100-something days it took me to complete the PCT were spent gazing down at my feet casted in a pair of the Olympus 3.5, a silhouette forever impressed into my memory from that fateful summer. Thankfully, the shoe isn’t terribly heavy, which was a pleasant surprise to me given the amount of cushion and the sturdy heel cup/toe cap that the Olympus 4.0 brings to the table. Coming in at 11.6oz (328g) the Altra Olympus 4.0 is not much heavier than other maximalist shoes like the Hoka Speedgoat 4 (10.8oz/306g). I run in both and can barely feel the difference. The Olympus 4.0 feels light on the foot, and never once did it feel clunky, even though it would fall into the plush or maximal category of shoes. Tongue stays in place and keeps your shoe debris-free I wanted to make this clear before we get to compare these two products because cushioning would be my single most important criteria when deciding between them - although joint health shouldn't be counted as a criteria. Innerflex grooves in the midsole give more flexibility for a better running experience. Though it is indeed big, the Olympus rolls very smoothly through each stride at low-to-moderate paces.

So, in traction department, it's safe to say Olympus 4.0 = Lone Peak 4.5 > Olympus 3.5 for most of the cases. Conclusion Having run in earlier models of the Olympus I would chalk this up as one of its greatest improvements. The sidewall and toe box aeration holes are strategically placed and work to keep this shoe cool and airy. The fact that Altra didn’t just overstuff the heel collar and upper lowers the amount of insulation that might otherwise overheat your foot. Jeff: If the Olympus 4 is a sign of what’s to come, Altra is trending up - way up. I’ve liked and ran in almost every version of the Olympus, but it’s always been a bit unwieldy. As Altra’s biggest trail shoe you shouldn’t expect it to be super nimble or agile, but the level of protection didn’t seem to be on par with just how big and bulky they were. That changes now. When I saw early shots of the Olympus 4 I was sure they were mislabeled and meant the Timp, Lone Peak, or maybe some altogether new model - there was no way an Olympus could look that svelte. Clearly, I was wrong. But don’t think that Altra ruined the shoe by making it a big departure from the lines’ previous design. This is still an Olympus in all the ways you want, but now it doesn’t look like it serves an orthopedic function, and the midsole cushioning is much more resilient.

Great all-day underfoot protection is not the only thing you’re getting with the Olympus. All-day comfort is coming from the topside too. An engineered mesh upper provides a soft feel and great breathability. The Olympus 4 has a new thin gusseted tongue that provides a noticeably better fit and another comfortable touch. The upper is engineered mesh with a few strategically placed overlays for reinforcement, with minimal foothold reinforcement. The heel and toebox are where you’ll find most of the reinforcement, with the heel massively built up over last year. Jeff is the token slow runner of the RTR lineup as such his viewpoints on shoe and gear can differ from those who routinely finish marathons in three hours or less. Jeff runs 40 miles per week, both roads and desert trails in Phoenix, Arizona. He has a PR's of 4:07 marathon and 5K at 23:39. In December he raced his first 50 mile trail ultra .The reinforced lace cage and flat laces do an excellent job securing the foot. I felt stable on downhills and cornering. OK so the cushion is great, the ride is great. Shoelaces? A length that is perfectly acceptable! Outsole? The always-reliable, super grippy Vibram MegaGrip. Now on to the womp womp part. Sho Altra Olympus 4 – Men Shop Altra Olympus 4 – Women The Bad Altra’s Olympus 5 is a subtle renewal of the previous shoe - so subtle it wouldn’t have surprised me if it got Altra’s _.5 treatment instead of a new number. The midsole and outsole are effectively unchanged, while the upper got a little more structure, and the laces shrank by about 8”. The fit is spot on lengthwise, and the width is ample from heel to toe. The toebox is classic Altra, meaning very wide and roomy, with a slightly reinforced toe bumper. It isn’t overly protective, like a shoe designed for extremely technical use and it is so high off the ground anyways there is plenty of height between toes and the ground, but the Olympus isn’t that shoe anyway. Some may chalk up the Olympus 5’s updates as purely cosmetic, like an underhanded attempt to lure customers into upgrading their shoes for the sake of staying up to date with the newest-looking model. I’m sure many shoe companies are guilty of this ploy, it’s not exactly an original grift after all, but I think Altra is innocent in this case. The Olympus 5’s restructured upper, specifically its sturdier heel collar, gusseted tongue, and gentle engineered mesh, demonstrate the brand’s willingness to smooth out the remaining wrinkles left in the highly-regarded Olympus 4.

In Altra's trail running line, Lone Peak's are the closest you get to a typical trail running shoe and hence a safer choice than the Olympus and is probably a better option for beginner folks.With the all-new Olympus 5, Altra faces the paradox any successful footwear maker is eventually faced with: always and forever compelled to produce the “new,” how does a brand update / reinvent a winning model — in this case the Olympus 4 — to a degree that doesn’t completely ruin its design but does enough to warrant its update in the first place? The ideal answer: with tact. My pair of Olympus 4s joined me at the peak of my AT strength and didn’t miss a beat when I asked them to carry me 116 miles during our first four days together through Maryland and into Pennsylvania. Coming from a pair of Timp 3’s, my legs and feet were already used to the Altra ride. However, I definitely noticed the extra spring in my step and holding power on surfaces of all types. Naturally, I ended up with a few new blisters, but those callused over, leaving me with just my rapidly diminishing skepticism that the extra cash was worth it. Footshape: Making shoes that actually fit the anatomical shape of a human foot is what Altra is all about. This is most obviously noticed with the wide toe box, which allows the toes to spread and behave naturally.