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You might have noticed that On Running shoes are everywhere. Understandably, people are wearing the Swiss brand’s shoes to the gym, to the track and to the mountains. But they also seem to be everywhere else, too. Jeff in accounts wears them to the office on dress-down Fridays, that woman you always see on the train in the morning is wearing them for the commute, even the groovy liberal arts professor at university has assimilated Ons into their bookish wardrobe. Not long ago, the same could have been said for Allbirds, but they’ve flown the coop. Everyone’s on On, and the Cloudmonster is the best of the bunch.
Running shoes have been getting bigger, lumpier and generally more ridiculous over the past few years (did it begin with Nike’s Roshe Run? We’ll check) and now the soles of most good runners reach to at least two inches in thickness, if not more. On has been in operation for just over a decade, and contrary to trend, its shoes have generally been defined by lower-profile shapes and multivarious panels – being modular, rather than monolithic – with soles formed of a series of hollow ‘clouds’ that compress and spring back on every landing. But back in the spring, the brand unveiled its first proper chunky runner, the Cloudmonster, so-called for its bulbous design.
Frost | Surf
Acai | Aloe
Thanks to it featuring On’s biggest ever ‘clouds’, the Cloudmonster offers an unbelievably lightweight, soft and cushioned ride, but the energy return is brilliant, too, making them ideal perfect for mid-to-long runs where you want to sit in and relax, but turn on the pace when you need to. I was amazed by the comfort and performance straight out of the box, and have clocked up a fair few miles over the past couple of months. Usually, a soft upper like this means your feet slide around (as I found with New Balance’s Fresh Foam 1080), but you can really lock into the Cloudmonster – they feel like a spongey, speedy extension of your foot. I’ve worn them on the treadmill at the gym a couple of times, which was great, but they’re not so good if you move to free weights, or anything where you need stationary balance. These are proper runners, designed for comfort and fun on the flat.
