Alphafly 3 vs Endorphin Elite 2

The Nike Alphafly 3 is the brand's maximalist marathon racer, the carbon racing shoe built to carry you to a road PB and not much else. It pairs a full-length carbon plate with twin forefoot Air pods and a tall slab of ZoomX foam, so you get a ride that is bouncy, propulsive and unapologetically built for going long and fast. At 218g it is not the lightest super shoe on the shelf, but the energy return more than earns the few extra grams once you settle into marathon or half pace. This is a specialist. It rewards a committed forefoot or midfoot strike and a pace you can actually hold, and it feels flat and over-built if you jog it easy. If you want a slightly lighter, more nimble option for shorter races, the Nike Vaporfly 4 is the natural stablemate. For the marathon, though, the Alphafly is the one we reach for.

The Endorphin Elite 2 is Saucony's no-compromise carbon racing shoe, built for one job: chasing a personal best on race day. At 199g with a 39mm heel stack and a full-length carbon plate, it sits right at the top of the marathon shoe class alongside the Nike and adidas super-shoes. The star is the IncrediRUN foam, a soft, aggressively bouncy midsole that stores and returns energy when you load it at pace. This is not a do-everything running shoe. It feels twitchy and over-eager at easy jog pace, and the 6mm drop plus stiff plate ask for a confident forefoot or midfoot landing. Hold half-marathon to marathon effort and it comes alive. If you want the same Endorphin DNA for less money and more daily versatility, the Endorphin Pro 5 is the calmer, cheaper sibling. But for pure race-day return, the Elite 2 is one of the most propulsive carbon marathon shoes we have run in.