The ASICS Noosa Tri 16 is an energetic training shoe with a fun fall vibe as Dios de Los Muertos approaches.

Just in time for late October, ASICS has launched a special makeup edition of its Noosa Tri 16 shoe. I’ve long been a big fan of the sugar skulls iconography associated with Dios de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a traditional post-Halloween Mexican holiday that pays respects to friends and family members who have died. But just as important, I’m also a longtime fan of ASICS Noosa Tri shoes.

Years ago, ASICS marketed the Noosa shoe to triathletes. Why? Well, Noosa, Australia, a beach resort town on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, is where a lot of top triathletes have trained for decades. Plus, it was a lightweight shoe that had (and still has) many key characteristics of an old-school racing flat (like the erstwhile ASICS DS Trainer and DS Racer)—it’s light, nimble, low-to-the-ground, very breathable, and easy-on pull tabs.

Although nowadays triathletes wear marathon racing super shoes, ASICS has kept a nod to its triathlon heritage in this shoe’s nomenclature and continued using splashy, colorful graphics. The ASICS Noosa Tri 16 remains a lightweight performance training shoe that’s ideal for speed workouts, tempo runs, simulated race efforts, and fast-paced intervals. And, while it comes in numerous wild color motifs, this special edition has a fun fall vibe as Dios de Los Muertos approaches on November 1-2.

What’s New: The ASICS Noosa Tri 16 was actually released in 2024, but this special edition just dropped this month. It features a full-length layer of lightweight and responsive FF Blast Plus foam in the midsole, a revised engineered mesh upper, and a new ASICSGrip rubber outsole.

Fit/Feel/Ride: The Noosa Tri 16 fits true to size with a narrow/medium interior volume and only a little bit of wiggle room in the toe box. (It’s only available in one width and there isn’t a lot of room for after-market replacement insoles.) The step-in feel is sparse, snug, and firm and is accentuated by a thin, gusseted tongue and moderate cushioning around the reinforced heel.

The ride is what makes this shoe special, even if you don’t have any familiarity with racing flats or performance trainers of years gone by. Immediately after lacing these shoes up, you feel the shoe’s energetic, low-to-the-ground vibe that encourages and accommodates faster-paced, quick-cadence running. It feels firm and snappy, not at all soft and bouncy. (The ASICS Sonicblast is a shoe that sits in the middle with equal parts softness and equal parts snappiness.)

ASICS Noosa Tri 16 Specs

Price: $135 for both the standard color editions and the Dios de Los Muertos model
Approximate Weights: 6.4 oz. (women’s size 8); 7.5 oz. (men’s size 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 5mm; men: 34.5mm (heel); 29.5mm (forefoot); women: 33.5mm (heel); 28.5mm (forefoot)

Why It’s Great: The ASICS Noosa Tri 16 is great because it serves up an exceptional proprioceptive feel for the ground. And when it comes to running fast, that connective feeling with the surface under your feet allows you to be in control of your stride, run with agility, strike the ground at the midfoot or forefoot, and enage in good, upright running form. That’s the opposite feeling of most high-stack maximally cushioned shoes (especially carbon-plated racing shoes), which allow for and accommodate heavy heel-striking gaits that can lead to inefficient running.

Why You’ll Love it: To be honest, I love this shoe because it’s a nice departure from max-cushioned shoes. It’s not that I don’t like a lot of well-cushioned shoes, but more that it’s nice to have a break and also engage in a different type of stride sensation. While it feels a bit flat at slower training paces, it feels snappy and responsive at quicker paces. That’s a sensation I like when I’m running intervals like mile or 1K repeats and shorter tempo runs or even an 8 x 800 track workout.

Why You Might Not Like It: The Noosa Tri 16 might feel a bit too firm and unforgiving for medium-length runs and long runs, especially if you’re used to shoes with softer, bouncier superfoams. I loved it for 3- to 7-mile runs, but it started to feel too firm in the final miles of a 10-mile run.

Pro: Not all running shoes look like running shoes anymore. Let’s face it, they’ve become the everyday shoe of choice for many of us as we move through life, do errands, go to the movies, or head to the airport to start a trip. Running shoes have become a part of mainstream culture and more and more models are showing up with fun vibes and lifestyle aesthetics. The beauty of this Noosa Tri 16 Day of the Dead special makeup shoe is that it’s a high-performance trainer first and foremost.

Con: The ASICS Noosa Tri 16 is not as energetic as modern racing super shoes or super trainers. The FF Blast Plus midsole is snappy, but if you’re used to racing in top-tier racing shoes with softer, bouncier midsoles, you might feel like this shoe lacks a propulsive vibe.