What Are The Best Tough Mudder Shoes?

To be successful in OCR races like Tough Mudder, it starts from the ground up. To power yourself over obstacles, you need a strong base, and to have a strong base, you want to make sure you have the best shoes for obstacle races. Tough Mudder has some of the most epic conditions because there are some many obstacles that involve water. The last thing you want is to have your shoes holding you back. For that reason, we came up with our list of the five best tough mudder shoes, complete with links and our review of what makes them the best mud run shoes on the market. Because everyone’s preference is different (some like more traction, other like more comfort), we listed our top five brands and link to a few of their best shoes for you to choose from.

Winner: Inov-8

Inov-8 might be the most popular shoes you see at races like Tough Mudder, and for good reason — they perform. Inov-8 has tons of shoes to choose from for men and women, and their lineup features minimalist shoes, shoes with plenty of structure, and shoes that perform well in wet or dry conditions. Our favorite is probably their X-Talon line, which are made for both men and women. The X-Talon 200 and X-Talon 212 are the go-to shoes we wear most when it comes to Tough Mudder.

Runner-Up: IceBug

IceBug is a popular shoe line in OCR that has a limited lineup of shoes for both men and women. Their IceBug Zeal shoe in particular was one of the best performers in cold weather, due to it’s serious grip. Something a little lighter and better for summer races might be the IceBug Mist for both men and women. It’s upper is made almost entirely of mesh which will drain and dry quickly, but it will still grip the ground when you need it to.

Third Place: Reebok

Reebok is the brand behind Spartan Race, and the best shoes for Spartan Race is a very similar list to the best shoes for Tough Mudder (see our review here). Our favorite Reebok shoe for Spartan Race that would be a great option for Tough Mudder as well is the Reebok All-Terrain Super OR. While they might not hold up as well over time, they have the best drainage of any shoe we’ve ever worn, which might be more important in Tough Mudder vs Spartan Race. We also love the design of the Reebok line.

#4: Salomon

Salomon offers one of the biggest selection of mud run shoes for both men and women. Some of our favorites are the Salomon Speedcross 3 and Salomon Snowcross CS, which are about the most serious looking shoe you’ve ever seen on the course. Across the board, Salomon shoes have great fit, and because they are a huge ultrarunning and trail running company, their products are built to last and hold up in any condition.

#5 ON Running

ON is relatively new to the game, but they have a fantastic lineup of running shoes, and their ON Cloudventure is a great trail shoe that is great for races like Tough Mudder. While it doesn’t have as good of drainage as some of the other, more well-known brands, they are very comfortable and will definitely have people asking about what kind of shoes you’re wearing. The Cloudventure features a protective toe cap, 11 Cloudtec Pods that offer some of the best protection from uneven terrain, and breathable upper that offers decent, but not great, protection from water.

Learn more about the CloudAventure in this video:

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