Welcome to the review of the ON Cloudrunner ‘support’ trainer! Never heard of them? You’re not alone because neither had I until my great friend and competitive runner, Rosemary Terribile had bumped into me during a run sporting these new eye catching trainers that had the most interesting soles. That day she was wearing the ON Cloudracer ‘speed’ trainer.
The Cloudracer
“They’re Swiss!” she exclaimed. “They have these ‘Clouds’ on the sole”. I have to say that they looked brilliant and bouncy. This was enough for me to go home and have a look at their website http://www.on-running.com. At that stage I was spending all my time on trail routes training for the North Devon Marathon. So unlike Rosemary, who was doing a lot of speed work, I ordered the ‘Cloudrunner’ which is their ‘support’ trainer or trail trainer to you and I.
A few days later my Swiss-made ON Running Cloudrunner trainers were delivered. Taking them out of their brown box the first thing you notice are the soles – the ‘Cloud’ technology which in ON’s own words :
“When you hit the ground, the highly adaptive rubber elements cushion both vertical and horizontal forces for a soft landing. Enjoy a very light running sensation and stay away from pain and injuries. Once on the ground, the Clouds lock firm to provide a solid foundation for a natural and powerful takeoff. Simply put: On is the first running shoe that provides cushioning only when you need it. So you can have the best of both worlds: cushioned landing, barefoot takeoff. Enjoy the benefits of natural running without compromise in comfort and speed.
Cloudrunner
All very exciting stuff and so I was eager to try this trainer out. I’ve spent a lot of time in various trainers but the idea of being able to have the ‘barefoot’ feel but get the extra support and cushioning of say…Adidas Boost range trainer?… This could be a game changer. Boy oh boy was I wrong.
Before I go on, I will admit, these are my views and my experiences with this trainer meaning what might be good or bad for me may not be for you.
The first few steps in them I felt there was a little extra room around my toes than a normal UK size 9 trainer. The first part of my running route was down hill and I really did feel my toes bunching up at the front which wasn’t a pleasant feeling. On the flat I did very much notice this ‘Cloud’ technology giving me new sensations. The first of the sensations was unfortunately unsteadiness but this I initially put down to the need of getting used to them. As the weeks rolled by and I racked up the miles with them the stability/support became a real issue. It’s true, I have a tendency to pronate when I run but I felt that every step/stride I was taking with these trainers the pronation was being accentuated tenfold…and this was just on even road surfaces. Taking on trail hills these issues kept on multiplying. Going up there wasn’t much of an issue in fact the ‘Clouds’ on the sole seemed to help with grip and even gave a good little ‘bounce off/up’ so I was pleased there. However, coming back down the hill, which wasn’t very steep at all, their lack of support in the heel and the increased pronation made me feel like I was running like Phoebe out of Friends and don’t even get my started on my toes! Ouch. The extra room in these size 9’s (which is my standard size in all running trainers) was really making my toes suffer and bunch up! I found it very hard to keep good form on the flat too.
By now I had racked up over 50 miles in these trainers and I wasn’t having fun. The best result I had with them was during a 10 mile road surface run where I was making sure I concentrated to land forefoot and try to supinate more to counteract the trainer’s tendency for over-pronation. Even after this run my achilles in both feet were sore. I do have a niggling insertional achilles tendinopathy on my left foot but this was no excuse for the achilles pain in my right foot. Further more, after speaking to Rosemary at our track during one of our training evenings, she had since bought a pair of Cloudrunners as well as her Cloudracers. She mentioned to me that her achilles was hurting her since she’d been running in the Cloudrunners. It wasn’t looking good for the Cloudrunners.
Coming up to complete about 70 miles in the Cloudrunners I couldn’t take it anymore and I wanted them off my feet. I was starting to get worried that the pronation issue could lead to an injury let alone what was going on with my achilles. So that was that. Back in the box they went.
I often say that in today’s world it’s almost impossible to get a bad pair of running trainers. However, and this is my personal opinion, I think I may have found a pair to challenge that statement.
In Summary
- The ‘Cloud’ technology did seem to do what ON suggested it would do – give you that ‘barefooted’ feel whilst getting a good push off and more of a cushioned landing. However the landing wasn’t all that cushioned. I’ve felt the same level of cushioning accomplished in Asics speed trainers and that’s without the fancy ‘Clouds’ on their sole.
- Support and stability was pretty bad in my opinion. In the heel I felt unprotected on uneven surfaces which left me with no confidence in the trainer should I topple over or hit a pothole in the ground. On the flat road surfaces the trainer did nothing to help the pronator, in fact, quite the opposite. If like me, a slight pronator, you may find yourself starting to over-pronate which happened to me and resulted in a very uncomfortable ride. My achilles didn’t like the heel cage, again resulting in an uncomfortable feeling and ride in that area of my foot.
- Build quality was up to the Swiss’s impeccable standards. This is something I did find great about this trainer. Everything on the trainer was made with care and looked built to last even down to the laces.
I am sorry to say that I was very disappointed with the ON Cloudrunner. I’ll be giving them a 2/5 rating. To be honest with you, the only reason they aren’t getting 1/5 is because the ‘Clouds’ did seem to work well on the push off (as advertised) and their build quality is also good which at £125.00p you would expect. I have been asked if the ON Running ‘Cloud’ technology is a fad… I wouldn’t say so as these ‘Clouds’ do seem to do something during landing and more so during the push off.
It seems that On Running have spent so much time and effort developing this ‘Cloud’ technology that they’ve forgotten about the rest of the trainer. This should be the easy bit that I’m afraid, in my opinion, they’ve got seriously wrong. These issues could solely be associated with the ‘Cloudrunner’ model, as reports from other athletes using other ON trainers like the ‘Cloudracers’ have had good comments and results with them. I have yet to try other ON models but I do hope this is the case.
Thanks for reading.
Stay fit people.
joeyjjordan 