Altra Olympus 4 Trail Running Shoes

Product Information

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. The plush cushion of the sole makes the Olympus 4.0 less responsive than one would hope. Some of the energy return is eaten up in the sponginess, but of course, this isn't really a shoe for taking to the races. Comfort for days! The fit is spot on true-to-size, with a perfectly adequate toebo...sorry, I couldn’t even write it without breaking. It’s an Altra toebox. It’s huge.

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 Additionally, Lone Peak 4.5 looks quite pretty ( this Gray/Orange color of Lone Peak 4.5 is really liked by many - including me).

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While this is great for more technical trails, this may be a bit less desirable for more runnable trails that you may come across. Durability doesn’t seem to be an issue thus far. There are ten “lugs” in the exposed midsole section (I put in quotes because they don’t really do much besides look the part) and thus far they are wearing down some - but every other part of the shoe seems just fine. Inov8’s massive trail shoe has some sizing issues, but the Graphene infused outsole brings something special to the trail. While its toebox isn’t quite as massively wide as the Olympus, there’s still lots of room for toe splay, and the midsole has a much more dynamic ride than the Olympus. 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.

In fact, comparing one of these trail running shoes to Timp's, rather than to each other, would make more sense, but never mind... Cushion

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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.

The ergonomic foot-shaped design is a trademark of Altra. Employing the natural contours of the human foot, Altra achieves a style that is both comfortable and functional. The toes have ample room to splay. The wide platform makes for a stable running platform on sometimes unstable ground.In summary, with everything else being equal and average, i f the event distance is more than, say, 75 miles (120 km); then the Olympus is likely to be a better choice over the Lone Peak's because of its extra cushion. 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. And it’s not just me. Once a rare sight in a sea of Lone Peaks, the Olympus has quietly collected an increasing share of the thru-hiker footwear pie. In reality, my curiosity has never been great enough to vault past the lofty price tag of the Olympus, and my interest has remained purely academic. Until now. Dun dun dun.