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Since 2017, Brooks’ Hyperion line has been turning heads in the performance running market. Now, the Hyperion product development team has outdone themselves by rolling out the Hyperion Elite 4 series that is lighter, springier, and faster.
Welcome to a new era in footwear.
Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 Shoes
The latest iteration of the Hyperion Series, which is being released in time for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (where Brooks athletes will compete using Hyperion’s cutting-edge technology to secure a spot on Team USA), are athlete-tested. The Hyperion Elite 4 is designed “for supernatural speed to win road races from 5Ks to marathons,” the brand noted.
The testers included Erika Kemp and CJ Albertson. Kemp is a two-time U.S. champ and 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier who specializes in marathons and road running. Albertson holds the world record for the indoor marathon and the 50K.
Brooks said its athletes contributed two key insights that revolutionized the development of the Hyperion Elite 4. First, they wanted shoes designed to make them feel superior, amplified, elevated while also making them feel natural, fluid, and comfortable. Brooks said these contradicting needs of “super” and “natural” became the Brooks Racing team’s ethos: “Redefining supernatural speed that wins races.”
Albertson also wanted a running shoe designed to keep him on the attack. So, Brooks used a nitrogen-infused DNA FLASH v2 cushioning, which is lighter weight, super soft, and more responsive. “The formulation ensures the cushioning is durable while staying lightweight and peppy for fast turnover to power you – and CJ – to reach your goals,” Brooks told FN.
But the innovations don’t stop there. The composite plate in the Hyperion Elite 4 was created using a manufacturing process and methodology by Arris that reduces waste and uses less material overall while allowing Brooks to size-customize the plate to the size of the shoe. “This means we can decrease the weight of the plate while optimizing its bending stiffness to the relative size of the runner,” Brooks noted.
The Hyperion Elite 4 also has a performance fit dimension. It has updated upper materials and a construction designed for runners to lock their foot down to get to business racing without worrying about poor breathability, hot spots, or excess foot movement.
The Hyperion Series busted the myth that cushion couldn’t mean fast. Before the 2021 Olympics, speed meant minimalistic. Brooks Hyperion developers introduced a new combination of responsive DNA FLASH v2 cushioning and propulsive plates that could smash records and win races, rethinking what the fastest footwear looks and feels like.
Regarding the tuned propulsion plate, Arris’ manufacturing process and methodology is designed to reduces waste and use less material overall while allowing Brooks to “size-customize the plate to the size of the shoe, meaning we can decrease the weight of the plate while optimizing its bending stiffness to the relative size of the runner,” Brooks said.
While the Hyperion product development team balanced strategic choices into this series of racing footwear to maximize their speed, comfort, and performance, from a design aesthetic, the Hyperion Elite 4 are also stunning to look at.
The color palette includes coral pink and hyper yellows, which Brooks said were intentionally chosen to speak to the idea of supernatural, as well as matching with the brand’s apparel kits. Brooks said with the construction of the Hyperion Elite 4, “each compound, geometry, plate, traction, and breathability were completely reworked to design a series of racing footwear that is unique to the market and customized to the heightened needs of professional racers.”
