Doors have closed on The Running Event 2025, the latest mass gathering for the running industry in San Antonio rather than its usual Austin home. What was shown at the trade show will resonate in 2026 and beyond, however, and Footwear News was on the scene to report the key product trends in running shoes.

Below, you’ll find four signs of where running shoes are headed in the future. You can also find a list of the top running shoes shown at TRE at the link.

Trail and gravel are getting more attention

While presenting a new slate of trail shoes headlined by the Agravic Speed-Ultra 2, Adidas Terrex global senior product director Tom Louage said the company expects the category to represent 20 to 25 percent of the running market by 2030, up from its 15 percent mark today.

Perhaps the best indication of the trail’s potential was the prominence of Vibram, a frequent site in booths in addition to the one it called its own. The buzziest newer brands also skew heavily toward trail, including Mount to Coast, Nnormal and Norda. And then there’s Satisfy, known best for its premium apparel and which has chosen off-road for its debut footwear silhouette, The Rocker.

Splitting the line between road and trail is gravel, which could also be considered a stand-in for door-to-trail. Craft has a new model for that category, the Shipa Gravel Pro, and Salomon is also paying special attention to the surface with several offerings including the AeroGlide 4 Gravel.

“The concept of a door-to-trail shoe isn’t new, but no one is really leaning into marketing it differently,” Erin Cooper, Salomon senior marketing manager of Performance Sportstyle, said. “We have a ton of momentum in the sportstyle space, and you can’t go anywhere without seeing the XT-6. Gravel, our imagery and the way we market it, is edgy. It’s a little bit different and allows us to show up in a different way than the trail space, where I know I need to see someone on a ridge line.”

Max Cushioning shows no sign of dying down

Brooks’ Glycerin Flex was one of the biggest reveals of TRE and it seeks to remedy what many see as one of the shortcomings of increased cushioning: a lack of road feel. It doesn’t do so by pivoting back to the more minimal midsoles that defined running earlier in the century, but instead puts a series of pronounced grooves into a slab of foam no less thick than expected these days.

A full retreat from max-cushioning is nowhere in sight. Craft is delivering its tallest stack height with the 50mm Atmospar, and Saucony will come in just 4mm lower with its Paramount Max. Brooks’ second Glycerin Max shoe will hold steady at 46mm, while Asics has made efforts to make its Gel-Nimbus 28 appear less bulky without eating into its 43.5mm high point.

Perhaps the best surprise from TRE was the R.A.D. UFO, the first running shoe from the CrossFit-centered brand. It feels even more cushioned than its 42mm stack height suggests and offers an underfoot sensation unlike anything else this reporter has tried.

Numerous brands cited cushioning as their consumers’ number-one demand, and it’s clear that they’ll keep delivering with beefed-up silhouettes until that changes.

Superfoams are becoming more accessible

Supercritical foams are one of two defining elements of a super shoe — the other being a plate — but they’re no longer confined to super shoes.

Now well into their lifespan, high-end foams are making their way down into more affordable shoes for more frequent use. Saucony previewed the Endorphin Azurra, a brand-new speedy trainer with a full-length PwrRun PB midsole priced at just $150.

Adidas’ Evo SL has been one of the biggest hits of 2025 and delivers its Lightstrike Pro foam at the same $150 price point, and a new all-terrain build highlighted at the show is just one of several different variants in the pipeline.

Hoka will come in even cheaper with its Mach 7 at $145, and while they can’t be called cheap, more trail shoes are emerging just as loaded as their road counterparts. Even Nike’s Structure Plus, a new entry for the stability-focused franchise, will deliver ZoomX cushioning within a ReactX carrier for $175 — still a higher price but well below the $250 range of super shoes.

There’s power in the quiver

Few words were thrown around more on the trade show floor than “quiver.”

The suggestion of a rotation of shoes for different types of runs isn’t just a cynical idea to sell more shoes. Those doing serious training are likely cycling through recovery, interval, tempo and long runs on a weekly basis, and the increased specialization of models means there’s a specific shoe catered best to each type of run.

Studies have also shown that rotating shoes helps prevent injuries and balance muscle development because of the differences in force distribution and muscle activation between one shoe and another.

Most brands trotted out a robust lineup of sneakers on the TRE floor, and the subject of the quiver was also brought up in FN’s panel “Beyond the Super Shoe.”

“There’s certain days where you really want to feel protected and a hug for your foot. And then there’s days where you want to feel nimble and fast,” said Ted Fitzpatrick, Saucony vice president of Product Management and Merchandising. “So if you want more than one, we have those solutions. Or if you’re just looking for one, there’s enough to choose from within the segment.”