Brooks Men’s Hyperion Max Neutral Running Shoe - Blue Surf/Cherry/Nightlife - 11 Medium Review

I run 8 to 15 miles at a pop and found these to be really light, springy, and well built. Love em and great value on Amazon vs buying direct.

As a distance runner, Brooks are the only shoes that don't bruise my toes. The Hyperion Max are no exception. I tested the fit with Try Before You Buy a few months ago and the the size is true to their other models (I usually wear Brooks Ghost). I bought the Hyperion Max for when I run the Detroit Free Press Int'l Marathon in October. They are amazingly lightweight and fit my feet like a glove. I've been training in Ghost all summer, but they're starting to feel 'hard' when I land. These shoes are springy and ultra-comfortable on my feet. I wore them for a 6-mile run after they arrived and they performed beautifully - no foot pain and with a quick turnover. I'd like to add that they're much more florescent than they appear in the product photos. I thought they'd be more of a lime green rather than neon, but I'll get used to it!

I am a 69 y.o. 145 lb lifelong runner with a neutral gait, former fitness officer of a large Navy base now running roughly 9-minute miles. For the past 30 years, my main running shoe has been the Asics Gel Kayano, though I have run in Asics Nimbus, various Sauconies, and a few Brooks. At age 69, I've been discouraged by slowing running times and more pain, and I wanted a faster, lighter shoe than my Gel Kayanos. Gel Kayano is a great shoe. It is designed for stability and generally touted as working well for over-pronators. I am NOT an over-pronator. I have a very neutral gait, but the Gel Kayanos have worked well for me. That said, I heavily researched alternative neutral-gait running shoes to find a lighter shoe that, hopefully, would run faster and give me a feeling of more energy. You know that feeling when you lace on a pair of great shoes and feel like you can fly...well, I wanted that feeling and wasn't getting it from my 30-year stand-by Kayanos. (I replace my Kayanos about every 350 miles). The Brooks Hyperion Max looked like it would fill the bill. Here's what I found: I was mostly disappointed overall. The Brooks were definitely lighter and had more cushion than my Gel Kayanos. They were faster...about 30 seconds faster at the 2-mile mark. But here's the kicker...they felt slower...Why?...Because they required more energy. How can a lighter, faster shoe require more energy, you might ask? Because the energy of running not only goes into propelling the runner...It goes into maintaining the runner's stability and deforming the shoe. The more stability correction required and the more deformation experienced by the shoe, the more energy the runner expends per stride per mile. This shoe was very very significantly less stable than my Gel Kayanos...i.e. underwent more deformation with each stride, required more work for me to remain stable with each stride. My ankles and knees had to work much harder to maintain a linear, consistent gait. I had to work against the deformation, which made my ankles and right knee sore. I could feel it in my ankles at just a half mile and in my right leg at one mile. I did not enjoy my run. Keep in mind that every runner is different. There was nothing wrong with the quality or engineering of this shoe. It performed as designed and was nicely made. Another runner would love it, and you might think it is great. It does have fabulous cushioning...on the other hand, I found the cushioning distracting as it gave me less feel for the road. I felt like I was running on pillows. You might benefit, however, if you have plantar fasciitis. I'm a physician. I do not have plantar fasciitis, but my 69 y.o. feet are thin, and often feel bruised on the plantar surfaces at the end of a run in my Kayanos. I did not have that bruised feeling in the Brooks Hyperion Max shoes. In addition, I felt the Brooks cushioning created less stress for my buttocks and hamstrings. In the end, however, the much lower stability became the death knell for the Brooks. Best wishes for your runs.

I took a shot on finding a pair of Brooks other than the Ghost that were comfortable for my running style. I was amazed at how comfortable and springy these shoes are. They are a great daily trainer. I alternate between these and a pair of Saucony Endorphin Speeds.

Compared to all my previous Brooks running shoes these are terribly uncomfortable and they also seem to attract dirt quicker (not very scientific but true)

Very snappy, kinda squirrelly at slower speeds but begs you to go faster, where it becomes smooth and consistent. I intend to use this for tempo/strides as well as 5-10k on known smooth surfaces such as paved roads. Absolutely an incredible training, and occasionally race, shoe to have in the quiver. Especially at the price. I would not purchase this as one of my first running shoes until you have the every day trainer, recovery, trail shoes covered. Rotation is key to injury prevention however (note: NOT a doctor and this is not medical advice) and I would absolutely recommend this shoe to anyone looking for a great and fairly priced shoe to serve the purposes I laid out above.

Mine came in a bag instead of the original box. The tongue showed these were manufactured almost two years ago. They felt like bricks. Buyer beware.

This shoe is nice if you like firmer foam. It's not really a max stack height shoe. It's a nice looking shoe for sure.