When I signed up last fall to run the 100km at Sulphur Springs, I started looking for a fast and comfortable trail racing shoe and it was around the time that preliminary reviews popped up online for the Brooks Cascadia Elite.
I was in process of trying on both the Brooks Caldera 8 and Cascadia 19 when the topic of the Cascadia Elite came up in store. It seemed as though they would see wide release at the beginning of March, and perfectly timed for a spring race or two. I walked away with the Caldera that day (as I like the wide and steady base for winter running) but my order for a pair of Elites was noted.
Design: The design of the Brooks Cascadia Elite is a little different from most trail racing shoes, with a boot-like, soft-fabric upper acting as a gaiter to help keep out rocks, sticks and debris. In practice, I found it was also great at keeping splashes of water and mud from getting into the shoe, though the upper is not waterproof. The rest of the upper is formed with Matryx, which is an extremely light and thin Kevlar weave that holds its shape and remains breathable. It boasts a 40mm heel, with a 6mm drop, using super squishy DNA Gold Pebax in the midsole (much like the Hyperion Elite road racer) and paired with a Pebax propulsion plate. Traction comes by way of a Vibram Megagrip Elite outsole, with 3.5mm lugs. Furthermore, Brooks advertises it at 9.4oz / 266.5g.
Fit: I stayed with my normal men’s size 11, though had some second guesses on this before my 50km tune-up race, as the fit is definitely race focused and holds the foot much more securely than a few other Brooks trail and road shoes I’ve used.
Feel: This shoe had little by way of comparison to any other trail shoes in my training rotation in regards to overall feel (Brooks Caldera, Saucony Endorphin Edge, TNF Vectiv Enduris 4, Norda 001) and aligned much more closely with a few of my road shoes. The Vibram outsole is noisy on pavement but gave up zero slip on gravel, peastone, grass, leaves, rock and mud. The propulsion plate acts as a stabilizer to help balance energy return from the DNA Gold and really feels good at race-pace, so-much-so that I got away from myself and pushed the pace during every open flat in the Caledon Crusher 50km. The shoe really does hold up and performs. Though I only had a few short runs before the race, I had absolutely no issue with my feet during or after the race. No hot spots, no pressure or abnormal wear. My feet were happy running in these, even on the punishing downhill sprints without any smashing of my toes into the toe box.
Extra: Bonus points for the ribbed laces, as they have fantastic grip (though I changed out mine for bright yellow ones for some flair).
Negatives: While I am absolutely a fan of the styling of these, I do not like off-white as a colour base. It really is subjective, but I don’t like it for a trail shoe, let alone for a road shoe. It’s just not my colour (or shade).
The lugs seem a little shorter and perhaps less aggressive than expected but with the speed on tap here under light and moderate terrain, they are perfect for everything I will attempt as a southern Ontario runner.
My only performance concern is that the shoes definitely come alive at race pace (as any super shoe should), so you have to temper the urge to run faster than you had intended, if it is truly a distance event planned.
Overall: I have had a few people already ask how these felt and I would gladly recommend them based on my usage thus far. I had also considered running my pending 100km in a pair of Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra 2 that I received as a gift however, with how I felt after running the 50km, I will be sticking with the Brooks Cascadia Elite
Going Forward: While I raced anything trail-related last season in my Saucony Endorphin Edge, these will now be my go-to for off-road races, long runs with gravel or fire roads segments, as they are a joy to run in. I’m happy to see how durable they are long term and if they hold up to many more high-speed adventures.
Finally, here are some post-race pics of them broken in (what trail shoes are supposed to look like 😁):
