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The Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure is one of the lightest and most exciting racing shoes we’ve ever tested, with its stripped-back and relatively low-stack design making it perfect for 5K and 10K events in particular.
It’s certainly one of the best carbon plate running shoes for 5K to the half marathon, and a good option for the marathon too if you prefer a more grounded feel to your racer. We still have a few favourite shoes ahead of it for longer events, including the Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo and Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3, but the Pure is as good as any super-shoe for short races.
Design & Key Stats
- Price: £260/$300
- Weight: 140g/5oz (UK 8.5/US 9)
- Drop: 3.5mm
- Stack: 34mm heel, 30.5mm forefoot
- Upper: Monofilament Woven Upper
- Midsole: Mizuno Enerzy XP PEBA midsole with full-length carbon plate
- Outsole: G3 rubber on forefoot and heel
Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure review
How’s The Fit
Nick. Tom and Kieran tested the Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure for our review and found it fairly snug. Tom suggests going half a size up, while Nick and Kieran suggest sticking to your normal running shoe size, but expect a fairly locked-in feel around the forefoot.
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The Run Test: Likes
The Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure is an extremely exciting and fun shoe. It’s obviously very lightweight, and that really comes across on the run, with a very easy and fast pickup and a nimble feel when pushing to all-out paces, but also when cruising along at slower race paces.
It’s billed more as a short-distance shoe because of the relatively low stack height, but it didn’t feel too stripped back or minimal on the run. If you want to go long in the Hyperwarp Pure, it could definitely handle a half marathon for most runners, and a marathon for those who like a slighter shoe, with the midsole foam having enough softness for longer efforts.
The foam in the midsole is bouncy even if you don’t get the full sink in and spring effect of some shoes with higher stack and softer materials, and the turnover from heel to toe is very fast. Even as a heel-striker Nick found the ride fast and fluid, despite the low drop of the Hyperwarp Pure.
We found that it actually felt a bit softer and bouncier than the Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite, which has a higher stack but uses a mix of foams in the midsole. The full PEBA setup in the Pure makes it the bouncier, faster shoe, in our experience.
We also found that the shoe gripped well in wet conditions on both slippery roads and greasy tracks, and the outsole is more substantial than you expect on such a lightweight shoe.
The Run Test: Dislikes
Some runners will simply prefer to have more foam underfoot than that provided by the Hyperwarp Pure, which is fair enough. There is also the Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite, which is still very light but has a higher stack, though we didn’t find the Elite quite as exciting a performer as the Pure.
Even if you don’t mind the lower stack, you might also prefer a springier ride than you get from the Pure, which you can find in very light shoes likes of the Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo and Asics Metaspeed Ray, or a more aggressively rockered ride like that of the Puma Fast-R Elite 3.
The Pure is also an expensive option even within the carbon shoe market, which makes it harder to take a risk on if you’re not sure about it. That said, Mizuno has a better record than most brands for reducing its super-shoes, so you might find deals popping up on the Pure soon enough.
Verdict And Alternatives
The Hyperwarp Pure is the best racing shoe we’ve seen from Mizuno yet and one of the most exciting new arrivals of 2026 so far. It’s extremely light but still packs enough cushioning to protect the legs during races, especially up to half marathon length.
We preferred the ride feel of the shoe to the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2, another extremely light shoe that has more foam underfoot, and the Pure can challenge the Asics Metaspeed Ray for speed too, though the softer, springier ride of the higher-stack Ray might suit most runners better for long events in particular.
The Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite is a more cushioned option that’s also a bit cheaper, but even though the Elite has also felt good during our testing, it doesn’t stand out in the crowded carbon shoe market like the Pure does. The Pure is one of a kind, and some runners who crave the connected, nimble feel of old school racers but in a bouncier, more protective shoe will find it in the Pure.
As runners who mostly focus on longer events, we’d still opt for our current favourite carbon super-shoes like the Asics Metaspeed Sky/Edge Tokyo and Puma Fast-R 3 over the Pure, but if you lean more towards shorter events it’s certainly one of the best options out there.