Sole Runner T1 Allrounder

Sole Runner T1 Allrounder

I first heard about this shoe in a Toe Salad review. This was in the fall of 2011, when I was experimenting in running in just the liners of my VivoBarefoot Ultras (one of my favorite shoes and am really glad they are sold without the liners as the Pure now!). I really enjoyed the feel of having the absolute minimum covering on my feet, just enough to keep the Tokyo grime off, but otherwise having about as close a ground feel to barefoot as possible. Of course those liners were meant to be run in inside the Ultras, and I quickly wore holes in them, but this left me wishing I had a shoe like that. When I saw the review of the Sole Runners, I had a feeling they were exactly what I had in mind.

Laci laces up for the first time.

I contacted the company in Germany to ask about sizing, and decided I would also ask if they would be interested in sending me a pair for free if I would blog about them a bit. While they didn't offer to send free shoes, they did offer to ship them for free to Japan if I agreed to write a review. It was a generous offer, but I held off on buying them for a while.

A couple of months later, I got an email from the company telling me they had found a Japanese distributor, and I requested that they forward him my contact info in case he wanted someone to test them in Japan. I was quite surprised to get an email from the Japanese distributor soon after. He invited me to a trade show where they were going to display the shoes, and I told him that while I couldn't make that, I would be happy to test them and tell some Namban Rengo running club friends about them if he wanted. He ended up sending me not one pair, but five of the T1 Allrounder, and all in the sizes I had requested for myself and friends. I have to say one of the coolest parts of getting them was the 'Made in Europe' tag on them, a welcome change...

Chris shows off a dance move. 

Jay preaching the good word.

I had originally requested the FX Trainer model, as that was what I had read in the review, so was a bit disappointed when the T1 Allrounder came, as it is a hightop, and I had never run in a hightop, and definitely prefer lowtop running shoes aesthetically. I was worried about them bothering my ankles as well, but the first day I got them I put them through a 6X1000m workout at a pretty hard pace, and they were fine. They run big, and were really roomy for my average width feet, but neither of those things were an issue either.


I have been using them as my primary running shoe for about a month now, have run mainly on roads on them, as that is where I do all of my running, and my longest run in them so far has been 26k.

What I like:

• Super light, flexible, simple. You don't get a more minimal shoe than this without it being a sandal/huarache. (T1 Allrounder=163g, VB Ultra (no liner)=112g
• Rugged and solid design that seems durable, but too early to tell yet. 
• Smart wraparound rubber sole that keeps your feet pretty dry in wet conditions (mesh uppers, so certainly not waterproof).
• Great lacing system that makes them quick to tie up or loosen up and take off. They also come with two different sets of laces (black and red)!

Sole Runner power, activate!

What I like less:

• Not crazy about the hightop design, although it is not uncomfortable, and does keep shit from getting in the shoe well.
• The fit is not snug, although it may be if you have wide feet; I do not. (The VB Ultra 43 is slightly small for me, I got the 43 in the Allrounder, but probably could have gotten away with the 42). 
• The sole is super thin, which is great if you want a very minimal shoe. I will do a lot of training in these, but my feet could not handle the pounding in an actual race. It also makes for cold feet when walking on cold ground, easily remedied with warm socks, of course.  
• The sole will not provide any traction in mud or snow.

Overall I see this shoe as great for those with a lot of experience running barefoot or in truly minimal shoes like myself. Versatile (haven't tried them for slacklining, but sure they would be perfect!), light, functional. Fine for casual wear, although others may not consider them very stylish. 

I hope that I will have the chance to try one of Sole Runner's low top models as well, but until then will be doing most of my training in the T1 Allrounders. 

'Hey, where'd you get those shoes?!'