The Adidas Boston 12 is a plated training shoe designed to excel at both speed and endurance. It's one of our favorite shoes for marathon training due to how the midsole holds up over long miles—it's structured and supportive enough for cranking out 20 milers, while remaining just soft and peppy enough for us to throw down some serious speed. Plus, this guy has the famed Continental tire rubber outsole that lasts forever and grips the wet tarmac better than any other compound used in the category (save for the excellent PumaGrip on the Deviate Nitro 2). This is a top pick for long runs, as a speed shoe for bigger runners and as a durable marathon training tank. Some runners have found the upper finnicky (pick up some Lock Laces to resolve that) and the ride a bit firm, but we've found both of these issues to resolve themselves once we got 50+ miles on the shoe. This is one of the cases where time rewards the runner—it's worth the break-in period required.

Category

Speed trainer

Release Date

June 2023

Plated?

Yes

Type of Plate

Carbon fiber rods

Foam

Lightstrike 2.0, Lightstrike Pro

Foam Compound

EVA, Supercritical TPEE

Ride

Responsive, Bouncy, Smooth

Heel Stack (mm)

37.0

Forefoot Stack (mm)

30.5

Drop (mm)

7

Weight (mens size 9)

9.5

Support

Neutral

Fit

True to size