Newton Running; Distance, Motion, & MV2

These are my personal views on these shoes by Newton. I have been using them since Dis 2009 until now. Please note that I am not a professional reviewer.

Milo Cross-country Race, Jan 2012. My last race with my trustee Newton Distance Racer.

Newton Distancia a.k.a. Neutral Distance Racer
The first running shoe that I bought my self was Newton Distancia in 31 December 2009 (I was sponsored before that; by my parents) & it was a GOOD one. After I ran my first Half Marathon in 1:59:xx Hours at Energizer Night Race 2009 in Nike Free Trainer 5.0, I decided to commit myself in running to fill my time since I just quit playing rugby. 

The first step is buying myself a new running shoe myself because I have been using the Nike Free for more than 2 years in just about any activity; from running, hitting the gym, MTB-ing, etc. Since Newton shoes are worn by 5 Ironman Champions; Craig Alexander, Michelle Jones, Natascha Badmann, Heather Fuhr, and Paula Newby-Fraser, I buy my self one too - I want to join them. Mine was sized 8 UK and they were amazingly light and comfortable. I can even wear them sockless - but I do wear socks because in tropical Malaysian climate, they will get stinky pretty quick from sweat and heat. Since that was my only running shoe, nearly everyday either for running or going to the gym. They held on pretty good although online review states otherwise. I didn't weigh or measure mine but online states they weigh 7.8oz / 221g for size 9 and have a 2mm hell-to-toe drop (25mm-23mm).

My very own lime colored Newton Distancia.

And so, life goes on:

- Half Marathon at Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2010 @ 1:51:xx Hours
*this is my third running event, Malakoff Penang 6km Run being the first. & slashed a good 8 minutes with the timing of 1:51:xx Hours - the Newton helps but I do train more than I do before
- Marathon at Penang Bridge International Marathon 2010 @ 4:27:17 Hours
*my FIRST Marathon. Thunderstorm midway!!
- Malakoff Powerman 2010 @ 4:03:xx Hours
*my first Powerman; 11km run - 64km bike - 10km run
- & a few others... 
They manage to stay in good shape for about a year & 4 months. It was when I started training for my 100km Ultra-Marathon when it started to show signs of wear. I trained for an average of 80-100km weekly mileage and about 2 months before the race, I manage to damage my sole. I can still use them though!
*I couldn't run much Jan to mid-February due to Illiotibial Band Syndrome but slowly increasing my mileage after that.

This makes the Action-Reaction technology less effective. *Newton 3rd law of motion "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

Newton Action-Reaction technology - simply land (mid-foot, where the lugs is), lever (bands react by pushing the lugs which in turn aids toe-off), and lift.

How new shoes looks like. *This is 2009 model. new ones see here.

Mine looks like this. *my laces never came of when I tie them like this.

How the my soles look like after nearly a year and 4 months.

I simply re-glue them back and send them to be stitched. After that, I mainly use them in races and trained using Newton Motion that I bought in April to used in my 100km Ultra-Marathon. The top most picture is the last time I use them in a race. I gave them to a friend of mine in March 2012 after my Kapas-Marang 6.4km Swimathon. I wore them for slightly more than 2 years. Are they durable? I'd vote yes.

Newton Motion a.k.a. Neutral Performance Trainer
After I bought these, I continued training as usual and put a few hundred kilometers in them before the 100km race. No breaking-in period and/or issues at all. This maybe because I have been running 'the natural way' after using the racers for more than a year.

Since I'm not a professional reviewer, I took these online:
- Weight: 9oz / 255g for size 9 (mine was in size 8 UK)
- Heel-to-Toe drop: 3mm (26mm-23mm)

During my 100km Ultra-Marathon. One shoe all the way. No problemo!

Anyway, I never wore them sock-less unlike the Distancia. But since it is almost the same I don't think that there will be any problem to run sock-less. They are; and felt slightly heavier but still fine to be used in shorter distance races or during tempo and interval training.

Malakoff University Duathlon 2011 - I got 2nd place Men Open!!

I use this shoe in most of my best races in 2011. To name a few:
- Sundown 100km Ultra-Marathon 2011 @ 13:42:28 Hours
*my official 1st Ultra-Marathon. I raced (& won) the 12Hour Navigation in November 2011 -It was 64km!
-  Malakoff University Duathlon 2011 2nd series at University Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia - 2nd place Mens Open
- Malakoff Powerman 2011 @ 3:51:26 Hours
*my Powerman PR; 11km run - 64km bike - 10km run

I recently use this shoe to run my PR for Half Marathon in Putrajaya Night Marathon with the time of 1:41:17 Hours - I can do better believe me, I started to have ear blockage and stomach ache mid-race that never fully recover until the end of the race.

Malakoff Powerman 2011; during 1st 11km running leg, just before T1. Still looking good!

Malakoff Powerman 2011; near the finishing, during 10km 2nd running leg. Looks slow.. Duuh..

They're still in good shape until now!! (April 2011 - current). Durability: Yeah!


Newton MV2 - Racing Flat

Newton MV2 in action @ Arsenal Run (nicknamed Arsenal Run because Arsenal Malaysia Fan Club is one of the main sponsor), August 2012.

I bought these in February 2012. After I became familiar with the weight of Newton Motion Trainers, MV2 feels like feather on my feet - they are nearly half the weight of my Newton Motion Trainer. In fact, this shoe is one of the lightest flats out there.The cushioning was minimal but I could still sense the Action-Reaction technology being present. I couldn't deny the reduced weight and race fitting of the shoe slightly helps me to go faster.


Again, I took these online since I don't measure and weigh my shoe:
- Weight: 5.9oz / 167g size 9 (mine is size 71/2 UK)
- Heel-to-Toe drop: 0 mm (16.5mm-16.5mm)
*with heel pad/riser: 3mm (19.5mm-16.5mm)

Chilling out in Newtons.

In August, I ran my fastest race and even achieved my sub-40 minutes for 10 km run in these:

- (5/8/12) IEM 3.2km Engineers Run 2012- 10:46mins @ 3:22min/km avg. pace
- (19/8/12) 6.4km Arsenal Run- 24:54mins @ 3:54min/km avg. pace.
- (23/8/12) 4.8km SriDamansara Timetrial- 17:31mins @ 3:39min/km avg. pace.
- (26/8/12) Larian Petronas Menara Condong 10.2km- 40:34mins @ 3:58 min/km avg. pace.
* 39:58 minutes @ 10km.



The downside is, this time I spend around 2 weeks to break-in the shoe - these were not an issue for both of my previous Newtons. I even had blisters in the first few weeks wearing them. I also tried to wear them sock-less but the inner was a bit on the rough side. So I wore them with sock and I basically fly.

The MV2 were also not that durable compared to my Newton Distance Racer & Newton Motion Performance Trainer. After buying them in February, I began to use this shoe in nearly all races and in 70% of my training. 8 months after that, my flats began to show signs of wear.

The fabric is torn on both sides of the shoe on both shoes.

Close up of the area. At least now I can show that there is 3 layers of fabric to protect my feet. The inner, mid layer (thin and have fine pores to prevent small rocks to enter shoe), and the outer layer (seems to have very good ventilation characteristics).

Both side of shoe is torn.

Signs of wear. The outer side (pinky finger side) of the sole having the most wear sign.

From the pattern of wear, I can conclude that area marked red was the part where I land my feet and wear signs on the tip is from toe-off motion as shown below. *Some area of the sole seems like it never touches ground.

BHP 11km Orange Run 2012.

I would say the designers at Newton designs the MV2 purely for racing purpose. They are undeniably light, fast & responsive, but durability is below par. Anyway, if given a deep pocket or mega-sale, I will definitely get my hands on another Newton MV2 specifically for race day use!!

***
The only major complain I hear regarding Newton shoes is that they are not that durable. That is not my case, I think Newton is definitely worth the money and they are durable enough to be used as daily trainers or race day shoes - except for the MV2; they are meant for race only.