Altra: One 2.5 Women's Road Shoe

Running shoes are Bart's area of expertise. He loves all aspects of what goes into them. I can find him reading for hours on end about shoes, shoe experiments, trials and errors, specifications, materials, soles, heel to toe drop, changes made from one generation to the next. You name the shoe, he can tell you all about it. It's his engineers mind happy at work. So with that, I typically never even think about running shoes. I'll come home from work and find a new pair waiting for me to put on, and if they fit, off we go for a run. 

So when Scott Harward sent me an email asking ME to pick one of Altra's running shoes to test out and write a review on, I thought, oh, ya'll just asked the wrong person, but after giving it some more consideration, I decided I would agree. I replied to Scott, that I would rather not pick the shoe, instead, I wanted to be surprised; "trail shoe or road shoe, you pick it, size 10". 

The Altra shoe Scott picked for me to test is the One 2.5 road shoe. So far I've run about 75 miles in these shoes with the longest distance run being 11 miles. They are very comfortable, light, cushioned and flexible. There was never a "break in" time for these shoes. They felt great from the moment I put them on my feet. 

My size 10 foot is on the narrow side measuring an "A" width. However, I typically still have problems with most running shoes, because of the shape of the toe box, putting pressure on my right medial toe joint. The Altra shoes are designed with a "FootShape" toe box which is wide enough to allow my toes plenty of room to spread out without feeling any pressure on my toe joint. 

Another problem I usually have is if a shoe fits the front of my foot, I struggle with it slipping in the heel. This hasn't been a problem at all for me in this shoe.

Since this is a road shoe, I did most of my running on roads with a little cross country type terrain mixed in as seen in the  picture below. The shoes were great on both. 

I was a little concerned that the soles of the shoes might not grip well in wet conditions because the soles are so soft and cushioned. I really wanted to run in them during the rain to see how well the traction was. Well, just like the rest of the region, we got blasted with a weeks worth of rain, so not only did I get the chance to run in them in the rain, the storms had blown leaves and pine needles everywhere to boot. After several runs in the rain, I am happy to say, I did not have any problems with my feet slipping at all. The soles were great. They grip incredibly well in wet slick conditions. Also, the shoes drained and dried great. I never felt like I had that slushy, wet, saturated shoe feeling during the run.

Seriously, the streets were covered with leaves and pine needles...

And, while I'm really loving my new Altra's, there is something about them since day one, that kept reminding me of something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was nagging at me every single time I looked at them. Something drawing me back to my childhood. What was it? It was driving me crazy! The color. I knew it had something to do with the color. And then it dawned on me ...Cotton Candy.

I am so happy I was given the opportunity to test out the One 2.5 Altra running shoe. For me, these are a great pair of road shoes. When these babies start to wear out, which by the looks of them may be a long time from now as they show no signs of wear yet, I will be purchasing another pair. 

Technical Specs

• Weight: 5.2 oz.
• Cushioning: Light
• Ideal Uses: Running, Racing, Speed Work, Training, Walking
• Designed to Improve: Running Form, Toe Splay, Stability, Comfort
• Platform: Fully Cushioned Zero Drop™ Platform, FootShape™ Toe Box
• Stack Height: 23 mm
• Midsole: Dual Layer EVA with A-Bound™ Top Layer, InnerFlex™ Technology
• Outsole: FootPod™ Technology
• Insole: 5 mm Contour Footbed
• Upper: Quick-Dry Air Mesh

Happy Running!

Eve