The Asics Novablast 5 is the perfect running shoe for your New Year fitness plans

New Year’s resolutions are often fleeting. It’s not that we mean to give up on them. They come from a good place, but life isn’t always best set to the rhythms of the Gregorian calendar. Despite that, many of us start January with renewed ambition to hit a new goal, or potentially the goal we set ourselves the previous January and slowly forgot about.

I didn’t start 2024 with the New Year’s resolution to run a half marathon but I did end up doing that in October. I enjoyed the training and the day itself, and that helped me through the process.

But after the big endorphin high of sprinting over the finish line, my running routine faded away without a big event to look forward to. That’s why I’ve started 2025 with the resolution to get back on the road and put in the kilometres to keep fit and keep my mind clear.

This has been with the aid of new running shoes that I’m testing out. Asics asked me if I wanted to try the new , a sequel of a shoe that the running community has been eagerly awaiting after the success of the first four versions. I jumped at the chance and have had the purple kicks strapped to my feet for a couple of months to see if they live up to their billing as “a uniquely comfortable and energised running experience”.

Asics’s press release is, perhaps rightly, aspirational. But it’s unclear exactly what the Novablast 5 promises when it talks of “the Japanese principle of kaizen, continuous improvement” and “ its signature geometric midsole appearance”.

is designed to be a bouncy everyday road running shoe for joggers who want to be able to lace up a dependable pair for most short- to mid-length distances. It uses Asics’s FF BLAST MAX technology, which is the branding of the foam used for its chunky sole. The zig-zag pattern is meant to look like a trampoline, hinting at the physical energy the Novablast is said to give back to you as you pound the pavement.

Foam shoes like this claim to give you a bit of extra bounce rather than harder shoes where you feel like you’re putting in all of the work. In my weeks with the Novablast 5, they do feel like they put a little extra spring in my step, but not as much as I’d have hoped from the marketing. The heel does give a bit of return, and the mid-sole is springy, but these won’t propel marathon runners to their personal best time.

That’s why these are in the sweet spot if you run short distances several times per week or want to thrash out the occasional competitive 10km or half marathon at a push. The show has a universal fit (UK 10.5 for me) thanks to a particularly wide upper to accommodate all foot widths. It’s a neutral shoe, so over-pronators or those with high arches might not find the support they need.

Lacing up, I find the mesh bunches up quite a lot which is a tad annoying but my heel is firmly rooted in the shoe with no slipping around. I prefer a closer fit to the top of my toes. Heel pull tabs and a thin but stable tongue helps with mid-foot fit to make these very comfortable indeed. Grip is decent on the heel but these are not for trail running. A brief off-road section of a park in the rain nearly had me sliding into muddy disaster.

I wore another pair of Asics, the Gel Nimbus 26, for my half marathon and though they’re a bit heavier they offer more support for longer runs. But my time with the Novablast 5 has cemented them as my daily go-to shoe. The lightweight build and comfort over distances of around an hour make these running shoes the perfect choice for your New Year running resolution – keep them in good nick and they should get you where you need to go.

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