Altra Olympus 4 Trail Running Shoes

Product Information

Land where you will on the Olympus 5’s looks, the newest version of the celebrated model doesn’t disappoint its legacy as one of the best trail options for ultra-distance events, including thru-hikes. So, I’m going to break one of my own thin rules and install one here with the hope that it helps service this review. Longevity: The upper mesh of these shoes did an admirable, albeit imperfect, job of resisting holes and abrasive wear over 700 rugged miles. The shoe also holds up well for longer days on the trail without breaking down, and I would definitely consider the Olympus 4.

Falling in with the norm is not so much an act of capitulation on Altra’s part, who, credit to them, have kept the design of the Olympus fairly consistent from one iteration to the next, but more so by a changing running culture. Zero drop: Along with the aforementioned Footshape, zero heel-toe drop is a signature of the Altra brand.Luckily, swapping out laces is a very easy fix, but it’s also very easy for the manufacturer to get length right. Stability is always a concern with shoes pushing into 30+ mm of stack height, and understandably so. His hunger drove him the length of the PCT in 2015, the CDT in 2019, the ECT in 2022, and scatters him to wild places worldwide. As the Olympus has evolved in the years since its debut, it looks less and less like a squarish circus prop, or something worn by finned free divers, and more and more like a common trail shoe.

That said, I’ve never met a shoe that gave me too much cushion, so naturally, I’ve been intrigued by the Olympus after enjoying so much personal success with Altra’s other trail runners.

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. Full number changes (from 1 to 2 for example) mean a massive overhaul, while the subsequent half number updates (1 to 1.