You don’t have to have ventured very far on the trails in recent years to have noticed a . Whether you’re spectating at an or riding the city bus, it’s impossible not to notice the oversized soles going on on the feet of almost everyone from novice joggers to elite runners. Call it a pendulum swing from the minimalist craze of in the early 2010s if you want to, but we all know that the main driver behind this shift is probably a single brand: Hoka.
The running shoe (and now ) brand materialized in 2010 with the release of the Hoka One One Mafate trail running shoe that featured a thick midsole and rocker geometry. The Mafate probably looked a little out of place next to other popular that year, like the Brooks Cascadia 15, Merrell CTR Cruise and Salomon XT Wings, but those that were scoffing at its plush sole back then had no idea what they were in for. Over the next decade, Hoka’s shoes got even bigger and bouncier and by 2020 the brand was considered mainstream.
In the last two years, its shoes have been on the feet of some of the world’s best trail runners as they’ve set records in toughest races – and this year’s Western States 100, Ludovic Pommeret in the Hard Rock 100 in 2024 and , winner of this year’s , who all blew us away with their performances in prototypes of the . Not only is Hoka not going anywhere, but it seems it's only just finding its stride, so we decided to find out a little more about where this brand came from, and what makes it unique.