Magic Speed 5

The Magic Speed 5 is the training partner to the ASICS Metaspeed racers. I took it straight to a 400 m track for an interval session after a 2 km warm-up, and ran eight laps. ASICS cut the weight to about 200 g in my UK 8, down from 240–250 g in the Magic Speed 4. It feels feather-light on the foot. The stack is 37 mm at the heel and 30 mm at the forefoot, a 7 mm drop. The midsole is FF Leap on top of an FF Blast Plus carrier, with a full-length carbon fibre plate. I could feel the plate giving stability, and the shoe felt stable throughout. The propulsion was not explosive, though. At around 5:00/km it felt firmer, stable and responsive. I think you get its full potential at 3:30–4:00/km. For hardcore interval workouts it is right, but beginners wanting extra bounce won't find it here. I would put it between good and excellent. The engineered mesh upper is similar to the Metaspeed's and a bit softer than most racing uppers. It is breathable and gave me a proper snug fit. To save weight they made it narrow. On my right foot I felt something pressing on the arch, perhaps because of the tight racing cut. The ASICSGrip outsole grip was superb. It is aggressive. A half marathon would be hard for me, because you have to run fast to survive in it. It suits interval sessions, speed work and 5k to 10k efforts more than slow running. It costs ₹15,000 in India, and for the last few months I have seen it at around ₹12,000. At the same price I would highly recommend the Puma Deviate Nitro over it, and the Saucony Endorphin Speed for best value.