Altra Olympus 3.0 Review

I started running in Altra shoes about a four years ago.  I wrote several reviews during my ”Week of Altra,” last year.  To say I am a fan of the Foot Shaped Toe Box and Zero Heel Drop is an understatement.  Altra ventured into the world of running apparel within the past few years and strives to make running gear that will improve your running experience.  Altra seems to just keep getting better from their clothing, to jackets, to shoes.

I’ve written reviews for several Altra shoes in the past.  Click the links to read my past reviews:

Instinct 2

Paradigm

Instinct 3

Lone Peak 2.5

The One 2.5

Instinct 4.0

Olympus 2.0

Escalante

Instinct Everyday

Lone Peak 3.5

Paradigm 3.0

Wasatch Jacket

The Olympus 2.0 is a max cushioned trail shoe that I reviewed last year.  It’s perfect for running longer distances on the trail where your feet need a little more cushion and support.  They have a stack height of 36mm, which is a lot, but doesn’t feel unstable in any way.  I was impressed with the  Olympus 2.0 for the most part.  They had a decent amount of cushion and had grip for days.  There were a few areas where I saw room for improvement.  The upper let way too much debris in and created some issues for my feet on a few runs.  Also, I like a shoe that is more flexible and because of the stack height and design of the midsole/outsole, the Olympus 2.0 was not very flexible.  I heard that the newest Olympus had been completely revamped and I couldn’t wait to check it out.

	Olympus 2.0	Olympus 3.0
Weight	11.0 ounces	10.7 ounces
Stack Height	36 mm	33 mm
Outsole Material	Vibram® MegaGrip	Vibram® MegaGrip
Midsole Material	A-Bound/EVA	A-Bound/dual-layer EVA
Upper Material	Mesh	Abrasion Resistant Mesh
Heel Drop	Zero	Zero
Gaiter Trap	Heel Velcro only	4-point gaiter attachment

The Olympus 3.0 was redesigned to provide more support, stability, and traction than its predecessors.  Like the Olympus 2.0 the newest Olympus has a midsole made with both EVA and A-Bound™ materials.  They changed the EVA top layer to a dual-layer EVA to help take some of the impact from the trail while the A-Bound™ bottom layer to adds a spring to each step.  The Olympus 3.0 did feel like it was more cushioned compared to the previous model.  There were able to increase the plushness while not making the shoe feel sloppy.  All of this was done at 10.7 ounces, which is 0.3 ounces lighter than the Olympus 2.0. 

Like the Olympus 2.0, the outsole is made of durable rubber with strategic sections of Vibram® MegaGrip.  This is a super-grippy material that really helps on technical and rocky trails as well as in the mud.  The Vibram® MegaGrip is center gray area on the picture below.  The teal area of the outsole is the durable rubber.  The tread is awesome!  It has both forward and reverse facing lugs.  The lugs will help give you grip when running up a hill and traction while running down hills. 

I have used this shoe in wet conditions as well as on dry technical trails.  I have used it in shorter fast trail runs as well as at the Skyline 50k last weekend.   I had an absolute blast in this shoe for over 30 miles.  There was plenty of cushion to protect my fragile feet.  I have been running with Plantar Fasciitis for over a year now and it’s often painful to run for longer than 10 miles.  While the pain didn’t disappear with the Olympus 3.0, it was much more bearable than with most of my other trail shoes. 

The redesigned upper material is made up of abrasion resistant mesh, which flexes with your feet, but does a great job of holding your feet down so you don’t slide around and blacken your toe nails.   It’s also due in part to the overlays and the lacing system, which works really well together.  The upper is breathable and drains well if you have any creek crossings.  The tongue is thick enough to prevent the laces from biting into the top of your feet, but not too thick to make your feet overheat.

Like other Altra shoes the Olympus 3.0 puts your foot in its natural position with its zero heel drop (that’s how you would walk if you didn’t have shoes on).  The FootShape™ toebox allows your toes to spread out and will eliminate issues of compressing your feet/toes like many shoes out there. 

One of my favorite features of this shoe is the Gaiter Trap.  It is a piece of Velcro on the back of the heel that you can attach your gaiters too.  It’s also on Altra’s other trail shoes (including the Superior, Lone Peak, and Timp) and it makes securing your gaiters much easier.  What Altra has done recently is included side gaiter traps so you can use Altra’s 4-point gaiters.  I absolutely love this feature as most shoes don’t have attachments on the sides for the gaiters.  The 4-point gaiter system really does a great job of keeping debris out. 

Pros:

Very comfortable

Zero heel drop

Wide toe box.

Great grip with the Vibram® Megagrip outsole

4-Point Gaiter Trap

Plenty of cushion Dual Layer EVA and A-Bound

Lightweight at 10.7 ounces

Altra’s Social Media Links:

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Altra Blog

Google+

I have been looking for a shoe that had enough cushion and support to handle those long, tough days on the trail.  I am training for my first 100 miler (the Rio Del Lago 100 Miler in November) and the Olympus 3.0 will be one of the shoes I use, not only in training, but during the race.   The Olympus 3.0 has great grip thanks to the multi-directional lugs and Vibram® MegaGrip outsole.  It really gives you confidence on the trails, no matter the conditions.  You can get the Olympus 3.0 for $150 on the Altra website.

Note:  I received this product in exchange for a review.  The review is my personal opinion of the product and I was not required to give a particular opinion of it.  I am not a doctor, so please use all of the products that I review at your own risk.