As a casual runner, I have never thought running shoes are worth investing in as I assumed premium shoes are beyond my price range and are mostly reserved for professional runners. Boy was I wrong! Skechers now offers premium running shoes in their Gorun range at an affordable price. Now’s your chance to pamper your feet and go out there to run, in your Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper.

Huh, Skechers does running shoes?

I have come to love Skechers. It used to be a brand that only did casual walking shoes that look a bit better than Crocs and are certainly much softer. When Skechers ventured into the running shoes market, it immediately faced stiff competition in terms of durability: its soft, bouncing, walking in the clouds soles were just not durable enough. There’s a reason why professional running shoes are so expensive: they have to withstand all terrains and all weather conditions.

So what did Skechers do? They innovate.

Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper is the eight generation of their running shoes. This new version has been completely redesigned, restructured and reimagined. The results are so good, that you’d almost think that every single pair of running shoes now look like Skechers. To let you in on their secret of success, below are some of the features of GOrun Ride 8 Hyper which you should probably took note of:

The HyperBurst Foam

The reason why they added the new Hyper at the end of Skechers GOrun Ride 8 is the new Hyperburst foam.

Skechers invented the super bouncy and light HyperBurst midsole by exposing EVA to liquified carbon dioxide, until it contains tiny irregular pockets of air. The material instantly becomes very springy, very light and much more durable than the regular EVA.

But what makes GOrun Ride 8 Hyper different from other Skechers running shoes with the HyperBurst Foam, such as the Razor 3, is the extra cushioning in your shoes. So compared with other HyperBurst running shoes, which feel somewhat firm, the GOrun Ride 8 Hyper feels softer, more flexible and more energetic. In fact, it is the softest of them all.

However, there is a catch. You won’t feel this softness, which seems to only be activated and responsive when you pick up speed. A light jog somehow doesn’t make you feel the difference of this new HyperBurst Foam. The heel-toe offset is 6mm for men’s shoes (33mm under the heel and around 27mm in the forefoot), the shoes encourages a midfoot strike for a quicker pace. At the heel however, the shoes do not provide as much bounciness in its cushioning.

The shoes’ preference for a midfoot strike is also evident in its design. The curve in the sole unit, known as the M-Strike, really promotes a midfoot strike and transition to your toe-off.

The Goodyear Rubber Outsole

After the CO2-infused HyperBurst Foam, Skechers made a great decision in tying up with tyre company Goodyear to create this amazing outsole.

Given the durability issue of EVA, the outsole needs to be seriously reinforced, and that was where Skechers came into direct competition with more traditional running shoes brands.
The grip is one challenge, where the outsole needs to give sufficient protection to the runner so that he can run in all terrains, and whether it is wet or dry.
The other challenge is that of wearability. Rubber outsoles wear out over time, and sturdier outsoles will inevitably add weight to the shoes. How to create durable outsole with amazing grip, yet maintains the weight of the shoes below a certain threshold?

Well, the Goodyear Rubber Outsole of the Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper does precisely that.

Here in Belgium where it rains abundantly, I have tried running in my GOrun Ride 8 Hyper in wet, muddy terrains. There were times where I thought I would fall, but to my surprise, I didn’t. There are however other commentators who thought the shoes let them down on wet, concrete surfaces. I presume those were smoothened concrete, which shouldn’t be run on anyway on rainy or snowy days.

The Knit Upper

With GOrun Ride 8 Hyper, Skechers has returned running shoes’ upper to the good’ol traditional designs. In previous generations, they have experimented with different lace and tongue designs – those completely failed because the wearer ether cannot adjust the tightness or the fit just doesn’t cut it.

The knit surface makes sure your feet can still breathe, and my socks did not get overly wet when running in the rain. The tongue stayed asymmetrical and very much in place. I don’t know about you, but the tongue is such an overlooked crucial design for any decent running shoes. That support for the top of your feet is so vital in the fit and during a run, I cannot imagine how this could ever be taken away.

The fit was fine for me, although some users thought it was a bit tight in the forefoot. I like it snug and sturdy, but also stretchy. This is why the knit fabric is a great idea, provided that it can last for years to come.

I also appreciate the classic Skechers pull-ring for virtually all their products. It makes putting on shoes much easier!

Conclusions

So here are my conclusions for the Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper, as a menswear blogger and a casual runner.

The Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper looks great. You want a pair of running shoes that contain bright colours for safety purposes, but you won’t want something completely fluorescent, which would be a fashion disaster. Mine is in dark blue with hints of bright green. But there are altogether five colour schemes for you to choose from.

The GOrun Ride 8 Hyper is ideal for the daily trainer. Its durabilily (to be proven over time, of course) makes it viable even for marathon runners. The fact that it is the trainer shoes of Edward Cheserek already says a lot.

What is it good for? From the preference for midfoot strike and design of the Hyperburst Foam, the Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper is more suitable for fast-paced runs, not really for slow jogs as you won’t be able to benefit from its ‘stepping on clouds’ feeling that way.

Skechers GOrun Ride 8 Hyper is light. I wear EU size 42 and they weigh a mere 247g.