2025 Favourite Daily Trail Shoe Introduction
It is that time of year again when we round up our favourites of the year. The miles have been run, the fun has been had and the decisions have been made. Here, our trail team rounds up their 2025 daily trail shoe favourites. For these articles, the testers are given free reign to decide on the shoe they want to celebrate. They have had the opportunity to run a lot of miles in a selection of shoes. You have probably read the reviews, now it is time to say which is the cream that rose to the top.
You can find our Favourite Trail Race Shoes here.
Raoul’s 2025 Favourite Daily Trail Shoe – La Sportiva Prodigio Pro
La Sportiva is a love language in Catalunya. Core to the bone, true as the independence flag and as fast on the trail as the boar that plague the farmers here. To run in La Sportiva makes you a mountain athlete, not a runner. I bought these because people who had them could not shut up about them and I had to know. I had to have them. To compare them to the Norda 005, which I also bought. Which would be the plate-free trail shoe of the year?
Sure, both could be ‘trail supershoes’ but I like running in shoes that inspire me every day. The Prodigio Pro has me painting them in mountain landscapes even when running fairly mundane recovery trails. Everything just works and I trust them implicitly. Moreover, this shoe performs in tight spaces and open trails, flats and hair-raising descents. Even the toe bumper had me thanking it after big hits.
If I had to choose just 1 trail shoe to own in 2025, it would be these, which is why they are my daily shoes of 2025.
Esther’s 2025 Favourite Daily Trail Shoe – Brooks Cascadia 19
I didn’t expect to write my love letter to a Cascadia. Never. Not after all these years of predictable, uneventful running. Sure, avid fans kept buying because the Cascadia was what they always went for. Good value. Comfortable. Stable. That’s trail code for not thrilling, by the way.
Then she arrived.
This year, the Cascadia 19 showed up in neon yellow. Loud and confident. With a brand-new DNA Loft v3 midsole that felt suspiciously lively underfoot. And an outsole so sure of itself on technical terrain that I had to check the box twice. Was this really a Cascadia?
That foam and outsole pairing did not just update the line. It revolutionized it entirely. Suddenly, you were fun. Protective without feeling dull. Stable without feeling so darn serious. You even made me curious about your siblings. Shoes I had ignored without guilt. The Catamount 4. The Caldera 8. One by one, they impressed me. Can we all have what was in the water at Brooks this year?
I know what the faithful will say. Do not mess with the Cascadia. It’s meant to be predictable, durable and plush. But you didn’t lose that. If anything, you became truer to yourself. The comfort is still there, only better. More slipper-like. No rubbing on steep descents. No hot spots on long runs.
Yes, you could shed a little weight. But that solid, plush feel is in your very DNA. You are the bread-and-butter trail shoe. The do-it-all workhorse. The one that eats hundreds of daily miles and shows up again tomorrow. But can we speak about the price? Honestly, it’s almost rude how much shoe you get for the money. I am trying to wear you down and move on. You refuse.
This year, you came alive like the Nutcracker doll stepping off the shelf. You invited lighter movement. Then you ask to dance across rock, root and ridge. You remind us that stability does not have to mean seriousness. And also that protection does not have to dull the joy of moving fast through wild places.I did not expect to fall for you, Cascadia 19.
But here we are.
Andy’s 2025 Favourite Daily Trail Shoe – KIPRUN Race Ultra 2
Sometimes you walk into a room and there’s something waiting for you on the bed, tempting, dark and alluring. When I arrived in Chamonix this year, I found just such a thing. Smiling up at me from a fluffy white towel was the KIPRUN Race Ultra 2. From the voluptuous cushion to the slinky, black upper which hugged the foot tightly, it was an instant attraction.
We hit it off right away, taking in the mountain scenery for days on end in comfort and relaxation. The cushion was firm enough to push but soft enough to soak up the shocks of the trail. Now, while I may be cheating a little here by picking the Race Ultra 2 as a daily shoe, the price does push it that way. At just £120 and packing some surefire stamina which will take you all the way, it has the versatility to be used as a daily shoe as well as a race day special.
During my time in Chamonix and beyond, it has proven to be a wonderful companion. The midsole offers both bounce and protection while the outsole gives a great grip on any surface. There are a few rough edges, your laces could give a little more hold. Your upper may be a little on the long side. But, you are a little gem!
