Advice for Trail Runners: The HOKA Men's Challenger ATR 7 in the Castlerock/Flame colourway are the ultimate door-to-trail running shoes. The protective midsole and versatile outsole performs on compact surfaces and looser terrain.
Underfoot Feel
While trail running shoes can feel firmer than road running shoes, the HOKA Challenger ATR 7 feels very cushioned. Your feet sit on top of a thick midsole of protective CMEVA foam. As a result, they'll feel soft and padded on hard ground. However, the midsole still adapts to uneven terrain. We don't recommend these for very technical terrain.
Expect excellent traction and grip on compact surfaces. The outsole takes inspiration from gravel bike tyres and features 4 mm lugs. To explain further, the outsole has tightly spaced lugs in the centre, and larger more aggressive lugs at the perimeter. In our experience, this performs well on flat wet rock, dirt trails and forest tracks. This length of lug doesn't wear down quickly on hard packed terrain.
Upper Fit
The upper of the HOKA Challenger ATR 7 feels light, breathable and supportive. HOKA's signature extended heel pull tab makes it easy to slip them on and off. If you're running long distances off-road, these HOKA trail running shoes should still feel comfortable if your feet swell.
Ideal Run Type
The HOKA Men's Challenger ATR 7 trail running shoes perform on road and trail. That's because they're highly cushioned and feature a grippy outsole. If you're running on a mixture of surfaces, including some sections of road, we highly recommend these.
For runners seeking great protection for long distance trail runs, the HOKA Challenger ATR 7 is a logical choice. This is not only down to the protective cushioning. The midsole also features a Meta-Rocker. For clarity, the curved midsole rolls your feet forward and stops the calf muscles working as hard. The wheel inspired geometry also reduces the impact of running downhill.
If you're looking for even more grip on technical terrain, we recommend the HOKA . Its Vibram rubber outsole is exceptionally grippy.
Shoe size is a personal preference and everyone's feet are different, but we want to ensure you avoid any pain or discomfort from bruised toenails, rubbing, blistering or pins and needles.
Your running shoes should have enough width to allow you to spread your toes and should have some space at the front (we recommend having a half to one thumb's width of space from the end of your longest toe to the front of your running shoes).
This usually means that your running shoe will be at least a half size bigger than your regular shoe size though this can vary from brand to brand.
Technical Features
- Approximate weight: 252 grams
- Forefoot stack height: 26 mm
- Heel stack height: 31 mm
- Drop: 5 mm
- 4 mm lugs
- Recycled poly laces
- Durabrasion rubber for enhanced durability
- Molded EVA sockliner
