ASICS Gel Sonoma 8

Product	ASICS GEL-SONOMA 8
Manufacturer	ASICS
Category	Trail Running Trainers
Price Paid	£90
ASICS UK Price	£90 at time of review
Size / Version Tested	Size 9
Purchased From	ASICS
Surface	Trail
Support	Neutral
Heel Drop	8 mm
Tested So Far	Tough Mudder Yorkshire 15K; Tough Mudder South West 15K & 5K; Born Survivor Lancashire

These actually came out of the research I did before my first Tough Mudder.

At the time, I knew remarkably little about trail running shoes. What became clear quite quickly was that the things that make a good Tough Mudder shoe are slightly different from what I normally look for in my road trainers.

Grip was obviously high on the list. Tough Mudder means wet grass, loose ground, muddy banks and uneven trails, so I wanted a proper trail outsole rather than trying to make a road shoe perform a job it was never designed to do.

I also wanted enough cushioning and support to remain comfortable over the running sections. I wasn’t looking for the most aggressive specialist OCR shoe available. I wanted something I could run in comfortably and potentially use for ordinary trail running and walking as well.

Then there was water.

The advice here was slightly counter-intuitive. For Tough Mudder, waterproof does not necessarily mean better. Once you voluntarily climb into a water obstacle, the water is coming in over the top regardless of what the upper is made from. A waterproof shoe can then potentially become very good at keeping that water inside.

So good drainage was more important to me than trying to keep my feet dry.

The standard GEL-SONOMA 8 seemed to offer the right compromise: proper trail grip, sensible cushioning, a conventional breathable upper and a price that did not require me to jump straight into the expensive end of specialist trail or OCR footwear.

On paper they looked like a sensible first trail shoe.

Four OCR events later, including one seriously muddy outing, that decision looks increasingly sound.

There was not much of a gentle breaking-in period for these.

Their first proper test was Tough Mudder Yorkshire and they have subsequently been used across four OCR events.

• Tough Mudder Yorkshire – 15K
• Tough Mudder South West – 15K
• Tough Mudder South West – 5K
• Born Survivor Lancashire
• Trail running and uneven ground
• Steep climbs and descents
• Muddy banks and obstacle approaches
• Repeated full immersion in water obstacles
• Dry and dusty trails
• Wet grass and genuinely muddy terrain
• Cleaning after every OCR event

Born Survivor was particularly useful because it finally provided the genuinely muddy conditions that had been missing from the earlier version of this review.

In other words, most of the testing has been very much at the coal face rather than on a treadmill or carefully controlled training run.

My immediate reaction after Yorkshire was essentially: these were a very good purchase.

There was none of the discomfort I had half-expected from doing more than 15 kilometres in a pair of relatively new trail shoes.

No blisters. No obvious rubbing. No hotspots developing during the run. No feeling that my feet were being battered by the harder running sections.

The cushioning also surprised me. They have a nice soft, almost spongy feel underfoot without feeling unstable, which has made them genuinely pleasant to run in rather than simply something I tolerate because I need the extra grip.

I also came away without any moments where I felt the shoe itself had contributed to me slipping or turning an ankle.

Four events later, very little has changed about that first impression. They are still comfortable, still supportive and still doing exactly what I bought them to do.

Comfort remains probably the strongest part of the GEL-SONOMA 8 for me.

I can wear them for an entire OCR event without really thinking about my feet, and that is probably exactly what you want from a pair of trainers.

Across four events I have still not had a single blister.

I have also had no twisted ankles or other injuries that I could reasonably attribute to the footwear, despite running across uneven ground, tackling obstacles and now negotiating substantially muddier terrain.

That becomes even more impressive when you consider that these are not being used in nice dry road-race conditions. My feet have repeatedly been completely submerged, followed by more running, walking and obstacles.

Once out of the water, I have found that they drain remarkably well. I obviously know that my feet are wet, but I have never had the sensation of running around with two buckets of water attached to my legs.

That reinforces one of the decisions I made when buying them: for this particular use, drainage appears much more useful than waterproofing.

The GEL-SONOMA 8 have performed extremely well across the mixture of conditions I have now encountered.

Compared with my road trainers, the extra grip is immediately obvious when the ground becomes loose or uneven. I feel considerably more confident putting my foot down on trail surfaces and tackling gradients.

Born Survivor was the first time I had taken them into genuinely muddy OCR conditions rather than predominantly firm trails combined with wet obstacles.

They coped well.

There were occasions on steep descents where I slipped, but the ground was extremely muddy and very little was providing reliable traction. I do not think it would be reasonable to expect any shoe to completely remove that problem.

What matters more to me is that I never came away thinking the trainers themselves were inadequate for the conditions.

At the same time, the outsole has not come at the expense of running comfort. Some OCR courses include firmer sections where a very aggressive specialist mud shoe might become less pleasant, but the ASICS have remained comfortable throughout.

For me, that balance remains one of their biggest strengths.

They feel like proper running shoes that happen to be designed for trails, rather than an aggressive pair of off-road shoes that I have to put up with during the running.

What Worked Well

• Excellent comfort over longer running sections.
• No blisters across four OCR events.
• No footwear-related ankle problems or injuries.
• Good grip across a wide range of trail conditions.
• Successfully handled their first genuinely muddy OCR event.
• Soft, well-cushioned feel underfoot.
• Water appears to drain quickly after immersion.
• Comfortable enough that I barely think about my footwear during an event.
• They continue to clean up extremely well afterwards.

What Could Be Better

After four events, there still is not a significant problem that I can point to and say needs fixing.

The only real limitation I have now experienced has been traction on extremely steep, heavily muddied descents.

There was some slipping at Born Survivor, but those conditions were severe enough that I am reluctant to mark the shoes down heavily for it. An aggressively lugged specialist mud shoe might potentially find more purchase, but there comes a point where mud is simply slippery.

The other limitation remains long-term testing.

Four OCR events is enough to move beyond a first impression and start making much firmer judgements, but it still does not tell me what they will look like after hundreds of kilometres, a full season of events or the demands involved in preparing for World’s Toughest Mudder.

That is essentially where the missing fifth star remains.

This was the area where I was most cautious in the original review.

With another event completed, I am becoming considerably more confident.

These trainers have now completed four OCR events, including their first properly muddy one, and have been cleaned after each outing.

They are still holding up remarkably well.

There are no obvious signs of the upper coming apart, the sole still appears healthy and nothing has happened that gives me any concern about their construction.

Born Survivor was probably their harshest test so far simply because of the amount of mud involved, but after cleaning them they have once again emerged ready for another event.

Considering the water, dirt, obstacles, repeated cleaning and general abuse involved in OCR, I am increasingly impressed with how well they are lasting.

I am therefore much happier increasing their durability score than I was when this review was first written.

There is still a long way to go before I can make genuine long-term claims, particularly with the mileage and event schedule planned on the road towards World’s Toughest Mudder, but the evidence so far is very encouraging.

After four OCR events, yes.

I tend to believe that trainers are one of those pieces of equipment where buying purely on the lowest price can be a false economy.

Comfort, support and avoiding blisters matter rather more to me than saving a few pounds, particularly when I am asking my feet to carry me around increasingly long events.

The GEL-SONOMA 8 sit in a useful middle ground. They are proper trail running shoes without moving into some of the prices charged for more specialist footwear.

They have now completed four OCR events without giving me a blister, are still comfortable and are still holding up very well.

On that evidence, I have no complaints about the value.

Based on my experience so far, I think these would particularly suit:

• Someone buying their first pair of trail running shoes.
• Tough Mudder and obstacle-course participants wanting considerably more grip than a road shoe.
• Runners who still put comfort and cushioning high on the list.
• Mixed trail and OCR conditions where outright deep-mud grip is not the only consideration.
• Anyone wanting one shoe for OCR events and more general trail use.

They may be less suitable for:

• Someone specifically looking for the most aggressive specialist fell or deep-mud racing shoe available.

When this review was originally written, the GEL-SONOMA 8 were my only proper trail running shoes, so I deliberately avoided filling this section with theoretical comparisons against footwear I had never actually worn.

That is now beginning to change.

I have purchased a pair of INOV8 Mudtalon V2, which will give me the opportunity to start making a genuine comparison between the GEL-SONOMA 8 and a more aggressively focused mud shoe.

It is important, however, that the reason for buying another pair is not because the ASICS have disappointed me.

My event schedule increasingly includes double-header weekends, so having only one pair of trail shoes is becoming impractical. A wet and muddy pair from one event may simply not be ready to go again the following morning.

There is also World’s Toughest Mudder ahead. For an event of that length, I am expecting footwear changes and backups to become part of the plan. By the time I reach WTM I may realistically want around four usable pairs available rather than relying on one shoe to do everything.

So the Mudtalon V2 is an addition to the rotation, not a replacement for the GEL-SONOMA 8.

Once I have actually used the INOV8s in comparable conditions, I will be able to add a proper real-world comparison rather than simply comparing specification sheets.