British adventurer Russ Cook – better known as the ‘Hardest Geezer’ – completed the epic challenge of running the entire length of Africa last weekend. The 27-year-old left South Africa on April 22 2023 with the goal of running across the continent from South to North. On Sunday 9 April 2024, he concluded “Project Africa” in Tunisia, after running more than 16,000km.
The question is – what on earth do you wear to run the equivalent of 386 marathons? Well, it's no surprise that Cook rotated between a few different running shoes during his challenge. And as a Hoka ambassador, the brand provided the Worthing-born athlete with Hoka shoes for his mind-boggling venture. These included the Bondi, Arahi and Speedgoat 5.
Speedgoat 5
The Speedgoat is Hoka’s flagship trail running shoe, having garnered a devoted following as a dependable, robust and comfortable performer. It's tested well with RW editors over the years and on the run, Hoka’s trademark cushioned ride comes to the fore on rough roads and hard packed trails – reliably soft, with enough bounce to keep your legs feeling lively. On more demanding terrain, the Vibram outsole can handle most surfaces so we can assume Cook used these during more technical sections of his challenge.
An element of the shoe that really made a difference on those longer test runs is the shoe’s late-stage Meta-Rocker profile, which eases you onwards, making the Speedgoat a good option for any trail distance, and superb over marathons and ultras (clearly).
Bondi 8
Hoka's softest trainer, these very cushioned running shoes are the epitome of the maximalist trend and are designed to maximise comfort on easy runs and recovery sessions. Featuring more than generous amounts of cushy foam, they’re not the lightest shoes on the market (although the Hoka Bondi 8’s are lighter than the 7’s) and with a heel stack of 39 mm, there’s no hiding away from the bulk of this shoe, however our testers found the Bondi 8 to feel springy to run in and offer optimum comfort.
Arahi
Unlike the Speedgoat and Bondi, both being neutral shoes, the Arahi falls into the 'stability shoe' category; designed for overpronators searching for support when running. This comes from what Hoka call it's stable compression-moulded EVA midsole foam and signature J-frame midsole support – essentially a firmer section of foam in the midfoot, which hooks around the back of the shoe in the shape of a J, from the medial (instep) to the lateral side. The result of this is a fairly firm and rigid ride that testers found lacked the springiness found in some cushioned daily shoes, but said the trade off for getting a more secure, assured, stable ride, was worth it (so we can see why this featured in Cook's rotation).
