7 Best Half Marathon Running Shoes in 2024

How we test running shoes

We test running shoes on our test runs and in our lab. During the test runs, we take notes of everything, from comfort and energy return to outsole durability and breathability. We then cut the shoes in half and test them in our lab. We end up with more than 20 points that usually confirm our experience with the shoe. The best thing about lab tests is that we get to quantitatively describe the shoe. 

All these data points allow us to compare the running shoes and better understand each one's performance.

In this guide, we talk about running shoes for half marathons. Specifically, shoes for running the actual half marathon, as in, racing! This means that the shoes covered here belong to the category of tempo shoes or competition shoes. If you’re looking for a daily trainer (to train for a marathon), consider reading our guide Best daily running shoes. 

5 things to look for in half-marathon running shoes

Running a half marathon means you have to run for at least 60-90mins (depending on your form), maybe even 2 hours. That means that the shoes you’re running in have to be: 

1. Comfortable so that you don’t end up with blisters or other injuries. Discomfort is out of the picture!
2. Responsive so that they actually propel you forward instead of making your feet work more and causing premature fatigue. Premium foams are much better than standard foams at this!
3. Breathable, especially if you’re running a half marathon in hot weather. 
4. Cushioned so that they are able to absorb all the impact. We recommend at least 30mm in the heel. 
5. Light so that they don’t weigh you down! We recommend looking for shoes that weigh less than 270g or 9.5oz. 

There are other features you might be curious about and we will cover them all below. 

4 tips for the best comfort 

Here’s what we recommend checking when buying half-marathon shoes to ensure they are as comfortable as possible: 

1. Perfect lockdown. Your feet should not be sliding within the shoe (from left to right, or back-forward), and your heel must not be slipping. 
2. You should be able to tighten the laces as needed but without feeling a lace bite. If a tongue is too thin and tightening the laces causes discomfort on your instep, consider thicker socks or different shoes. 
3. There should be no hot spots. Make sure to check for pressure points. The toebox should also not press your toes from the top, as this can create black toenails (to start with). 
4. There should be enough room for your toes. While the tight and aggressive toebox design is bearable for short distances (in track and field), for 21 kilometers your toes should not be cramped. If it means looking for a wider toebox, so be it! 

Toebox height test 

Tongues of different thicknesses: thin (left) which might cause a lace bite vs. very thick (right)

Wide toebox in half-marathon running shoes

Feet come in different sizes and shapes. Toes especially. 

Because of this, it can be tricky to nail the toebox in running shoes. Whatever the shape of toes you have, it’s important to allow your toes to sit in the toebox naturally, with no cramping. Maybe you need more room around the ball of the foot (where the toebox is the widest), or maybe you need more space at the big toe? 

Fortunately, we measure both widths in our lab. This allows us to understand the general width of the toebox and also how much it tapers (how pointy the toebox is). 

Depending on where you need more room in the toebox, we list both options, prioritizing the numbers where the toebox is the widest and at the big toe: 

Pep, response, bounce! Premium foams at their best 

The main difference between daily trainers and race (and tempo) shoes lies in responsiveness. And the key to responsiveness is found in the foam. We have 2 types of foams, standard and premium. 

Given the features listed in the table above, it’s easy to understand why we recommend half-marathon running shoes with premium foams. 

If you’re in doubt whether the foam present in your running shoes is standard or premium, we recommend consulting these lists of foams with their major pros and cons: 

Overview of premium foams 

Overview of standard foams

Soft and stable platforms in half-marathon running shoes 

Premium foams are often soft and sometimes made more stable with carbon-fiber plates. However, narrow platforms can make them unstable anyway, especially for heel strikers. 

Noticeable lateral instability

Very soft and unstable foam (for heel strikers)

When it comes to softness, we measure it after cutting the shoes in half. This allows us to take the proper measurements as doing it on a whole shoe by sticking the durometer needle on the outside leads to inaccurate measurements. 

If you prefer a softer ride, look for lower durometer readings. For a firmer ride, best to look for higher durometer readings! 

If you prioritize stability, especially when cornering or covering slightly uneven terrain, it’s best to check the width of the platform. 

The wider the midsole, the more stable the ride!

Warm vs. breathable running shoes for half marathons 

If you’re planning for a race in (very) cold weather, you should look for less breathable shoes as they trap the heat. More breathable running shoes are great for sweaty feet and hot weather. 

When assessing the breathability, we assign a 1-5 rating: 1 is not breathable and 5 is the most breathable. We also look at the uppers under the microscope. 

Very breathable running shoes often feature large ventilation holes or mesh uppers with a looser construction. Shoes that are not breathable have tightly packed threads that don’t allow the air to circulate. Sometimes they feature 2 layers, where the second one is often the waterproof membrane. 

We don't see 1/5 and 2/5 often in half-marathon running shoes because running shoes for races have to be breathable and lightweight, so the upper is often very thin. The worst breathability ratings (1/5) that would imply the running shoes are great for cold weather are often found in daily trainers, especially the waterproof ones.

Minimal stack height for half marathons 

We recommend looking for shoes with at least 25mm at the heel. We do this with average runners in mind. 

Note: If, however, you’re an experienced runner with tons of miles covered in minimalist shoes under your belt, then you might enjoy running a half marathon in minimalist or even barefoot running shoes. 

Running 21km on hard surfaces (asphalt, concrete) requires a lot of effort, and the impact forces generated at each landing need some absorption. Midsole does that job well, but there has to be enough of it. In our experience, enough is at least 25mm. 

Of course, if you’re a forefoot striker, you will look for good cushioning at the forefoot. Given that the heel drop can’t be negative (we did measure a few negative ones but only slightly below zero), that means that the forefoot height will also be at least 25 mm. 

Weight of running shoes for half marathons 

Heavier shoes make us run slower. We recommend looking for shoes that weigh 270g (9.5 oz) or less. 

Of course, the lighter the shoe, the better. But, cutting the weight means you have to sacrifice some features of the shoes. Brands often remove the padding on the tongue and around the heel, or they make it much thinner. 

Brands also cut out the midsole, which, on one hand, helps with flexibility but, on the other, reduces the weight. 

Some shoes have thinner outsoles which also improves the weight but makes the durability of the outsole worse because there’s less material to go through before reaching the midsole. 

Shoe choices based on the foot strike

By now, you most likely know whether you’re a forefoot striker, a midfoot striker, or a heel striker. If not, please read our Ultimate guide on foot strike to find out and learn more about the foot strike. 

Basically, you should look for cushioning where you need it = where you land. If you’re a forefoot/midfoot striker, you need a good amount of foam at the front and having chunky heels makes no sense as they simply add more weight that you should happily ditch. 

However, the biggest takeaway here should be the rubber placement at the bottom. Some shoes have it only at the forefoot, meaning they are prioritizing forefoot strikers. Other shoes have it along the whole surface, so they can be used by all runners, regardless of their foot strike. 

If you’re a heel striker and you decide to run in a shoe that has no rubber at the heel, you might experience: 

1. Serious instability when the foam is very soft and there’s nothing at the bottom giving it some structure
2. Slipping on wet surfaces because the exposed midsole offers no grip, it just slides 
3. Extreme premature wear because the durability of the exposed midsole is incomparable to the durability of the outsole. 

Should you choose carbon-plated shoes? 

Depends on many things:

1. Will you be able to make the best out of them? Many carbon-plated running shoes work best for fit runners (not too skinny, not overweight) who land on the forefoot/midfoot. 
2. Are you a fast runner? Race shoes with a carbon-fiber plate shine at fast paces! Some carbon-plated shoes are unstable and uncomfortable at slow paces, especially when walking.
3. Can you afford them? The average price of a carbon-plated shoe is $217, while the average price of a non-plated shoe is $129. 

It’s also worth noting that these shoes are stiffer than average thanks to the plate and they work wonders when combined with a premium foam. See us play around with them! On average, we needed 58N to bend carbon-plated shoes to 90 degrees, while we needed only 24N to bend non-plated shoes on average.

Rocker: who it’s (not) good for

Many (new) shoes on the market today are rockered, some quite aggressively. It’s best to understand who rockered shoes are best for, so that you don’t end up buying something you don’t actually need. 

Rocker basically represents a curved bottom of the shoe which looks a lot like a rocking chair. The idea behind this design is simple: just like a rocking chair, the rocker is there to make transitions from the heel to the toes easier and faster. 

Motion of a rockered and non-rockered shoe 

Many heel strikers enjoy a rocker because a curved heel imitates the shape of our heel, it’s not edgy like some running shoes, but quite curved. This lowers the impact at the (heel) landing and is appreciated by many runners. 

We wrote a lot more about the rocker technology in our guide All you need to know about rockered running shoes.