If you’ve ever stepped foot in a running store, you’ve likely come across Asics running shoes. Asics has been at the forefront of innovative running and sportswear shoes dating all the way back to the brand’s inception. Today, the brand continues to be a leader in the footwear industry, particularly when it comes to uptempo super trainers and plush everyday running shoes.
Asics is built around the mission of creating “a sound body and sound mind”, and every new model and shoe iteration the brand creates is centered around reaching this goal. And when it comes to designing shoes that help the brand stay on top, Global Senior Product Manager Paul Lang plays a key role.
On a warm winter Saturday morning, we caught up with Paul Lang as he dropped by Marathon Sports Boston for some product wear testing, a crucial aspect of the success of new Asics and products and models.
In between his sessions with the local running community, our team couldn’t wait to chat with Paul about Asics running shoes and the design process, and get the scoop on the all-new super trainer update, the fan-favorite Asics Superblast 3.
Marathon Sports: Could you start by giving us a little background and overview of the Superblast 3 and some of the updates in the new model?
Paul Lang: The Superblast is kind of the shoe that started the super trainer craze, if you will. There was the idea of bringing premium foams from the race world, but optimizing them for everyday training.
Initially, we thought that the shoe was going to be a cool experience shoe, but as running’s changed, we’ve had so many more people come to the sport, and experience has become more valued as part of the fitting process. The shoe’s really exploded and has become one of our core everyday trainers on the high end of premium experience.
We wanted to bring some innovation to version 3. We’ve introduced a new foam. We’ve introduced a completely new upper structure. And because of this, we are going to produce about 15% more bounce. We’ve gotten lighter weight by almost 10 grams, but we’ve still got that control, protection, and familiarity that runners loved in the Superblast.
How did you decide what to pull from the two to the three, what to leave behind, and how to iterate on a shoe that people love so much?
We got really excited when the first new Metaspeed series of racing shoes came out. We saw FF Leap, this new super racing foam, and thought “okay, how can we optimize this into an everyday training shoe”?
And so, through some really thorough testing and ideation, we were able to build a chassis that optimizes that foam on the top layer, while still maintaining a bottom layer that gives a sense of security, control, and confidence on the long run.
What’s the breakdown here? We’ve got the FF Leap, that super foam, across the top layer, and FF Blast Plus on the bottom layer. They’re gonna work together with an enhanced version of the bounce pod, so we get just a little bit more compression and then bounce.
The idea on Superblast 3 was to reduce the weight, increase the bounce, but maintain that control that Superblast is known for. Typically, with a shoe with this much energy, it’s not something that can go the full distance as an everyday trainer. But I think the unique, special sauce nature of Superblast was the combination of those things. You know that in mile one, and mile 20, the shoe is going to feel the same way.
With new shoes and new models, people can sometimes be afraid of the next shoe being completely different. How do you take that into account when designing a new shoe?
Superblast was initially built on a unisex sizing scale. The reason for this was it was intended to be a training companion of the Metaspeed series. So because Metaspeed is unisex, we had done the same thing initially.
We test through the entire process, both men and women. We’ve had really good feedback in terms of the size and scale of the shoe. So we’ve kept it the same way. We built it from a 3.5 men’s all the way to a 15 men’s – that’s adding a 14 and 15 for the large footers. We heard you loud and clear. And so we’re pretty confident based off of the feedback of our testers that the sizing scale really works for runners of all gender, size, and speed.
So you’ve mentioned the Metaspeed, but you’ve also got the entire Blast line, along with legacy shoes like the Nimbus and Cumulus. What type of runner do you see using the Superblast, and where do you see it fitting into their routine and training cycle? And how do you see these shoes fitting together?
You know, the first Superblast was such a special shoe. The team really wanted to be able to push the franchise forward and make this a shoe that wasn’t just a niche experience, but a shoe that has a wide enough net that all consumers could run in it.
We kind of break our product into three silos. We’ve got our plush silo, our energy silo, and our race silo. Our everyday energy is Novablast. Almost a plated version of the Novablast, is going to be the Sonicblast. That’s got a Pebax plate for everyday training and a little bit of faster speeds.
For long run energy, we’ve got Super Blast. So this is going to be that premium racing foam but with a little bit of control. Cushion and confidence that lasts from mile 1 to 20. And then Megablast is going to be that idea of unbridled bounce.
So, really just exploring how far energy can go. A little bit lighter weight, a little bit more speed oriented. If someone wants a more traditional plush experience, we’ve got shoes like Nimbus and Cumulus that are going to be that soft confidence, and then, obviously, when it comes to race day, we’ve got Metaspeeds (Edge, Sky, and Ray) depending on your running style or preference for weight.
Looking at the shoe, it’s colorful. It’s flashy. But you also have the white and black pair. Can you go into the influence of color and design? How do you balance fit and comfort with runners who want to show up on race day looking their best?
We are a performance running company, so, you know, our DNA is to build the best performing shoe that we can. That’s our most important thing, that we deliver on what it needs to from a function standpoint. But obviously, the aesthetics are a big part of that as well.
For a shoe like Superblast, we’ve got this really cool design inspiration. Our designer was kind of living in a celestial, interstellar space around the Blast series. And so this came from the idea of the temporal fold. Moving so fast that the space-time continuum is going to collapse on itself, and that’s when you start to see, through the chaos, this kind of element of speed and exciting disruption.
It’s super unique, but I also like that you can radio dial it down. We’ve got an option in black and white. We’ll have another option in coral as well. So depending on how you’re feeling, you can kind of match the color of your emotions to the color of your run.
There’s one part that I really love, and that’s the story on the back of the shoe. We called this our love letter to the SB runner.
We spent a ton of time interacting with runners that have run in the Superblast 1 and 2 and the journey that they go through. And what we found is, as they unbox Superblast, the shoe typically takes them from the road, to the finish line, and that can be an actual race or accomplishment, and then to the sense of elation or celebration. And we’ve documented that right on the back of the shoe as a special little love letter.
Paul, thank you so much for your time. The Superblast 3 is available now! Stop by Marathon Sports to try them on and get fit for your next running shoes.
Try out the Superblast 3 today and discover if you’ll have more energy to move both body and mind.
Shop the Superblast 3 Now!
