Skechers GOrun Razor Excess 50KM Initial Review

I've just reached the 50km mark on my Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™ and the Razor Excess is basically a fast, fun, lightweight and comfortable shoe! As far as I'm concerned, Skechers has got it extremely right with this go-to trainer and I'm not saying that cause I'm a Skechers fan boy.

I've always had an affinity for the Skechers Performance line of running shoes since the days of the original GOrun, GOrun Ride, which I've practically run in all of them and the Speed series which I've run in some models. Little trivia here, Skechers were basically the first shoe brand that had a composite carbon plate back in the day with the GOmeb Speed before it became really popular. In this day and age of the carbon plated shoes, non plated shoes seldom get the recognition it deserves but the HYPER BURST® midsole is one of the best non plated midsoles I've run in so far.

Anyway, I digress, I don't think you wanna read about me gushing about the Skechers Performance series of running shoe. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of the Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™ and my initial experience with it.

The Razor Excess™ is the newest in the Razor series of performance shoes and is basically built off the Razor 3, Razor 3+ and the Razor 3 Elite Hyper but with a lot more of that magical HYPER BURST® cushioning underfoot. Despite the "Excess" in the name, the Razor Excess™ is not as overly cushioned as it's made out to be but nor are they barren in the cushy department, there's plenty of energy return from the midsole to keep your feet happy over those long runs, daily miles or even if you're slugging it out for those faster tempo runs.

A little on the HYPER BURST®, which is created through an expanding process creating thousands of gas-filled bubbles trapped within the midsole creating a light, forgiving ride that simultaneously feels firm yet protective with very little displacement but with very noticeable cushioning underfoot. That's basically the magic of the shoe, in my opinion.

I'm one who loves the more light and minimalist range of shoes, as those who know me will attest to that, which was why I loved the Razor 3. To be honest I was a little skeptical about the Razor Excess™, what with the word Excess which adds a few millimetres of stack height, a wider midsole platform and a rockered geometry (HYPER ARC™) based from the Razor 3. But with all these enhancements, they actually kept the shoe as light as the Razor 3 and not as thick as I expected them to be. In fact the Razor Excess™ is such a fun, fast and extremely lightweight shoe that is not just ideal as a daily trainer but just as good for those tempo or speed days and right up to being a race day shoe!

The upper of the ultra-cushioned and neutral Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™ features a very breathable and airy mono mesh with not a ton of padding to get in the way of escaping heat as I could feel the wind flow through the shoes. I've read reviews that the mesh upper feels a little plastic-like (granted, it does) and do cause some support problems for some but I've had no such issues on my end. The Razor Excess™ is true to size and supports my foot nicely as the thin and flexible but not really stretchy upper had a good wrap and admirable support.

The upper also has a nice thin, race like tongue that's about 1-2mm thick which is something I really like. I love shoes with thin tongues and this one is right up my alley. What's even nicer is Skechers has added a small strip of foam in the centre of the tongue which provides just enough protection from lace bites. The ankle collar and heel has enough padding to add a sense of comfort even though the rest of this shoe feels a lot more like a race shoe, one that in my opinion feel like the most comfortable race shoe in the market (even surpassing my favourite Asics Hyperspeed) though in honesty as a daily trainer there are obviously plusher rides out there but don't get me wrong, these work just as good if not better.

The outsole of the Razor Excess™ consists of a Goodyear® rubber for improved durability and super solid traction both on wet and dry tarmac. This was something I had a chance to try, what with the non-stop rainfall we had the past couple of days. I ran them in the rain on very wet roads with loads of puddles and even a track and they handle the grip really well. So kudos to the Goodyear® rubber. I'm also suspecting the durability to be phenomenal cos even with 50km underfoot, there's not an ounce of wear. We'll see how it goes in the next 50km though.

Nothing much I can say about the midsole except that it's fantastic and lively even with the more excessive material and it will try to keep you pushing the pace, if you have the legs for it, that is. I'm on a base training plan at the moment and my pace were really set on the lower end of the spectrum and the shoe was just screaming to be unleashed but I've kept to a strict pace discipline mostly. The one time I've tried them out on speedwork at paces between 4:40 to 4:55, they were on fire! Looking forward to this Thursday's track intervals to really give them a go. The Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™ has a 26/30mm stack height  which makes it a 4mm drop shoe (my favourite kind of drop) and weighs in at just about 7oz for a US9 (I'm using a US8 so, it should be lighter though I haven't really weighed it yet).

While I would love to say there was really nothing I didn't like about the shoes but in truth, there were one or two minor stuff would have made the Razor Excess™ an all round shoe. While not a big issue, the laces were a little flimsy and had very short end pieces that made lacing the shoe kinda difficult, let's not even talk about double knotting them. While this is easily replaced with switching out the laces, I would have thought, it could have just been done as a default. The next one is something I consider a bigger issue as there really are no reflective elements at all on the shoe. What seems to be reflective dots on the outside of the toebox doesn't really reflect any light, at least not that I was visibly aware of. For someone like me who runs in the wee hours of the morning before the sun comes up, this is kinda important for me.

Aside from that I can see no wrong with the Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™. With cushioning that is in the goldilocks of cushioning that doesn't get in the way of a quick turnover and with its extremely lightweight, this is definitely set to be my go to daily trainer as well as for speedwork. And the bright flashy colourways are also right down my alley!

Skechers has always impressed me with their innovation and aside from a few models, namely the ultra cushioned ones, only cos I'm not into very cushioned shoes, their other series, especially the daily trainers and racing flats has always endeared themselves to me. I'll be blunt, it's hard to get a hold of a  lot of the newer and latest Performance series like the Skechers GOrun Speed Freek or even the GOrun Speed Elite Hyper and in all honesty may not even make an appearance here but they really do make some great and often overlooked performance shoes. Hoping Skechers Malaysia at least bring in a few of them in time.

That said, the Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™ is available in selected Skechers outlets, Skechers online, Shopee and Lazada and is retailed at RM499.00. The Skechers GOrun Razor Excess™ was kindly provided by Skechers Malaysia for review purposes but the review above is based on my own personal experience with the shoe and is in no way influenced by Skechers Malaysia whatsoever.