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The Li-Ning Red Hare 9 Ultra is a high performance training shoe that has built a strong word of mouth following among runners. It’s also one of the most popular shoes from a growing selection of Chinese brands. With so much hype around it, we half expected it to be a bit overrated, but after 80km we can say it isn’t, and it’s now one of our favourite shoes of the year so far.
It’s a max stack super trainer, so it goes up against shoes like the Asics Megablast and the Asics Superblast 3, but what really sets it apart is the price. We paid under £100 from AliExpress, while shoes like the Megablast are coming in at over twice that.
Read on to find out how it compares with the best running shoes out at the moment.
Design & Key Stats
- Price: From around £90 (UK) / $130 (US)
- Weight: 232g / 8.2oz (men’s UK 8)
- Drop: 8mm (46mm/38mm)
- Midsole: Three layers. A soft race foam on top, the Super Boom capsule in the middle, and a firmer beaded pea foam base
- Upper: Boom fibre
- Outsole: Full length rubber waffle
Li-Ning Red Hare 9 Ultra Review
How’s The Fit?
We tested a size 42.5, which converts to a UK 8 on AliExpress’s size chart and is our normal running shoe size. Some reviews suggest going up half a size, but we didn’t find that necessary, as we had a good thumb’s width of room at the front and haven’t had any issues across 80km of testing.
The one thing to flag is the width. It felt a little narrow when we first put it on, so we had to loosen the laces further than we normally do, but once we’d adjusted them it felt absolutely fine. The padding is comfortable without being excessive and the tongue is very thin, so we’d stick with your usual size based on the conversion.
The Run Test: Likes
On paper, this is close to the perfect shoe for consistent pace running, whether that’s marathon pace sessions, long runs or steady efforts. In practice it lives up to that. It’s soft and bouncy with plenty of energy return, so you just bound along, and it makes high mileage weeks feel a lot more fun than they would feel in a less fun shoe.
We’ve used it for easy runs, a parkrun, a track session and a 32km long run with progressive elements, and it was great on everything apart from being slightly limited on the track, which we’ll come to below. For marathon pace and easy running in particular, it’s an enjoyable shoe to be in.
The outsole is another win. The full length rubber coverage grips well and is holding up nicely, which is a relief given how often outsoles wear through on shoes at this level.
The Run Test: Dislikes
The midsole isn’t the quickest or most responsive, and it reaches its limit on the track doing short reps like 400s. Next to something like the Asics Megablast or the Saucony Endorphin Speed 5, it doesn’t pick up the pace as quickly, and it’s better when you’re holding a steady rhythm than when you’re starting and stopping. That won’t matter for most runners, but for harder interval work you’d be better off with something lighter and snappier, or a race shoe.
Stability is middling. It’s not the most unstable shoe, but it’s not the most stable either, and at times it feels tall and a little wobbly. That didn’t get worse as fatigue set in on the 32km run, though, as the mix of foams does a decent job of keeping the soft midsole in check and gives a balanced, moderate level of stability for a shoe with this much stack. If you need a properly stable shoe, this probably isn’t the best choice.
Verdict And Alternatives
This is one of the best shoes to come out for a long time. We’ve tested a few Chinese shoes recently and been impressed by several of them, but this is the one that stood out. It’s fun, it holds a consistent pace nicely and it’s versatile for the money. For anything from easy running up to marathon pace, it’s excellent.
The obvious comparison is the Asics Megablast. The quality is very similar, and for longer, steadier running we’d often pick the Red Hare 9 Ultra for its comfort, although the Megablast is a bit more versatile if you want to pick up the speed. Given that you can buy two Red Hare 9 Ultras for the price of one Megablast, though, this is a steal.
It’s also similar in spirit to the Asics Superblast 3, but we found the Red Hare 9 Ultra delivers that long, smooth, bouncy ride better, with more energy return and a more enjoyable feel on long runs.