An article about ON running shoes published on the Marathon100 portal

On Cloudmonsters came as a surprise on the feet

Pictured: On Running CloudMonster

The running shoes of the Swiss company On have always looked good. Of course, beauty is a matter of taste, but On has used bold colour combinations that are not always typical of running shoes. That is probably why I have bought two pairs of Ons in recent years. For walking.

I had not previously used this manufacturer’s shoes as running shoes; I was probably influenced by a certain prejudice. The shoes look different: their soles have honeycomb-like pods (the manufacturer’s name for them is CloudTec), which are hollow inside and whose purpose is to absorb the impact generated while running. Between the pods, a fairly deep longitudinal channel runs along the sole, which is why I had thought that all kinds of small stones would surely get stuck in there.

Before the test I thought that the pods under the sole were just waiting for small stones, but you don’t always have to listen to your prejudices.

But testing the new On Cloudmonsters dealt my prejudices a heavy blow.

The Cloudmonster (literally ‘cloud monster’) is the Swiss company’s newest model, jumping on the same bandwagon that all the bigger shoe makers are already on – it is a running shoe with a high stack and good cushioning.

The Cloudmonster’s sole is 30 mm thick at the heel and 26 mm at the forefoot, and despite the shoe being large given the sole thickness, it is relatively light, a little under 300 grams (according to the manufacturer, 275 grams for men and 230 grams for women). While I was running in the Cloudmonsters, a friend asked: have you got new Hokas? The new Ons really do have a Hoka-like look – after all, the thick-sole revolution started with that very manufacturer – but the Swiss shoes are much more stable on the foot.

Traditionally, the On Cloudmonster is also a beautiful shoe.

When there is a lot of soft rubber under the sole, there is always a risk that the foot will start to “wobble” while running, moving left and right, but with the Cloudmonsters I did not get that feeling. Perhaps the channel running along the sole between the pods plays a role here, as it is stiffer and increases stability. In fact, stability is also increased by the low plastic support on the inside of the shoe, but let us add: the Cloudmonster is still a shoe designed for a neutral foot. Probably the most important factor in increasing stability is the Pebax plate characteristic of On, which runs the full length of the sole, directs the runner onto the forefoot and gives a small spring effect at toe-off.

What was my first impression? Soft! I am not exactly the heaviest-footed runner, but as I run relatively a lot, I value softness. The less impact, the lower the risk of injury, I have thought to myself. That is why in recent years I have enjoyed the fact that running shoe manufacturers have finally understood the preferences of people like me.

The Cloudmonsters are soft, but not super soft. The ride is smooth because the shoe has a so-called rocker-type toe (i.e. a toe that curves upwards), which should facilitate the toe-off.

The cushioning comes from the honeycomb-like “pods” in the sole; the sole rises under the toe, which should make toe-off easier.

To date I have covered 130-140 kilometres in the new Ons; the longest run was 50 km, and the fastest a half marathon at a pace of 4.49 min/km. Surprisingly, the shoe seemed to get softer once I had covered about 10 km in it. Most likely it was not the shoe’s behaviour that changed over those kilometres, but the behaviour of the foot in the shoe. The foot started to get tired and to value softness. The longer the run, the more you value comfort, after all.

The Cloudmonsters are not light racing shoes but relatively light shoes for (longer) runs. The longer the kilometres get, the more you value cushioning, after all. On a 50-kilometre run the cushioning worked well.

How well the Ons perform on faster runs at race pace remains untested for now, because there have not yet been any races in the calendar where I would have fired all the bullets out of the barrel.

The Cloudmonsters fit well on the foot; the uppers are relatively thin, and the cushioning padding is placed where it comes into stronger contact with your foot, i.e. inside the heel and along the upper inner edges. I would have designed the lacing with more eyelets, but I did not go as far as making extra ones in the shoe with an awl. In the end, the shoe stayed securely on the foot.

I would have liked a few more eyelets, but the shoe held nicely in place around the foot.

I covered most of the kilometres on asphalt, but I also ran on soft fitness trails and compacted gravel roads. In the end, not a single stone got stuck between the pods under the sole, although once at the end of a run I did find a small pine cone there. Fear has big eyes – in other words, my prejudices did not actually come true.

What can be said about the Cloudmonsters in summary? It is a soft, comfortable and relatively light everyday running shoe that also works well on longer runs. Beautiful? Yes, of course it is beautiful too. But that was already to be expected.

All photos: On running

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