#### My personal review on Altra Lonepeak 3.5

*The shoe named after the mountain peak.

*Zero drop and wide toe box ?

No need to look somewhere but Altra. Altra – the shoe brand that encourages and promotes the idea of zero drop shoes to encourage natural form of running, wide to box to let the foot splay which minimize impact and correcting form to avoid injuries. We are used to traditional shoes since we were young that is why altra advice to have enough transitioning process to avoid injuries.

**Transition**
I am using altra shoes for more than 3 years now. I started with the Superior model which I normally use for shorter distances and then I also use lonepeaks starting when I joined ultramarathon races. I experienced the transitioning process for a few weeks because I came from 8 mm drop shoes before. I felt pain on my calves and shin when running with zero drop but I eventually became used to it. That is why it is important to start by walking or running short distances and gradually increase your mileage when you are used to it especially when it comes to Altra.

**Looks and Upper materials**
Altra lonepeak 3.5 is the latest shoe in lonepeaks family. The looks is almost the same from its previous model lonepeak 3.0 . In my point of view, 3.5 looks bulkier. The colorway is more like the DC movies, with its dark or grayish tones, than lonepeak 3.0. I also noticed 4 small drainages in the front part which is a good improvement to allow fast drying when the shoe gets wet and also cooling the feet inside. The lonepeak 3.5 also has 4 point trail gaiter now for added protection on the debris, sand and small stones from getting inside your shoes.

**The Outsole**
When it comes to grip and outsole, I can say that lonepeak 3.5 is one of the best. The hexagonal and different shapes provide very good traction when running downhill and uphill. With Maxtrac technology, you can also be sure that the outsole is durable enough to tackle even the roughest trails.

**The Weight and midsole**
I can say that it is lighter than it looks. The shoe weighs 295 grams for men’s in size 9 US and 247 grams for women’s of the same shoe size. The midsole has A-bound material for shocks absorption and it has also a stone guard to protect the feet from pointed rocks and objects on the trails. It has an insole for additional comfort as well. The heel height and forefoot height is 25 mm. This stack height is the sweet spot for me especially for ultra-races.

**Performance**
I used these shoes for recons, training and ultra-races. To fully test the performance of lonepeak 3.5, I used it during the beach bunch trail challenge 2018 for 100km all the way. The race is a combination of road, forest trail, muddy hills, park and sandy beach.
With that kind of terrain I can say that I really tested the shoes to its full potential. During the road part, as expected, the shoes didn’t really perform that well, but upon setting my foot on the trails, that is the time that I took the advantage of the shoes. I jogged the uphill and ran the downhill without slipping at all. Thanks to maxtrac for the very dependable grip. During the early part of the race it also rained and the shoes got wet, but because of its drainage, the water drained fast. I finished the race without changing shoes, without blisters and no injuries.

**Cons**
There is no perfect shoe and there is always something to improve. What I have observed is that the insole or foot bed tends to bend or curl inside whenever it gets wet, especially running downhill. This is also what I experienced with the previous models. What I did is I put some tape under the insole to avoid this from happening. No issues if the trail is dry.

For the sizing, I felt that it is smaller compared to lonepeaks 2.5 and 3.0. I am usually size 9.5 us and have more than enough space. With lonepeak 3.5, I recommend to fit it first before ordering your usual size or maybe add a half size to your usual shoe size.

**Overall**
The lonepeak 3.5 is perfect for mountain trail ultramarathon races and even training runs, especially on pure trails. I would love to have a new pair of this shoes and keep using it during my races and even on training. #embracethespace #zerolimits

*Note: I have a total mileage of more than 200 km in the lonepeak 3.5 before I write this review.
For more shoe reviews and race report please subscribe or follow me.
[@Racecationtv](https://lbry.tv/$/invite/@Racecationtv:e)