Nike Pegasus 36 Trail Review

I’m primarily a road runner, working towards a sub 3 hours marathon.

However when Nike asked me to review the Nike Pegasus 36 Trail shoe, it was a great opportunity to take my running from the roads to the trails.

Beyond times, running should be fun so it’s important to try different types of running, I recently took part in the Half Marathon Des Sables Peru (4 day stage race) and that was an amazing adventure.

If you don’t run on the trails, I’d advise you to try it for the following reasons:

It’s more fun than running on the road & it’s not so hard on your body;
Your out in nature, and it’s good for your physical and mental health;
The different surfaces, work different muscles and make you stronger.

Nike Pegasus 36 Trail shoe: This is a comfortable neutral shoe. It has a snug fit but makes allowances for the expansion and contraction of your feet due to body and environmental temperatures, through the wider toe box. And there’s extra stretch in the laces using Nike’s flywire cables system, which are the elasticated loops that connect the laces to the upper.

It’s has a breathable, perforated mesh upper. Coupled with a cushioned interior, especially at the rear of the shoe it feels like it keeps your foot secure as you go over technical trails, whilst having wiggle room for your toes.

The tongue fits securely with minimal movement, acting as a barrier to stop debris entering your shoes. It felt comfortable with no chafing.

To keep the shoe light it has a plastic coated toe cap to keep durability of the shoe and to stop water from shallow puddles entering the shoes.

The lightweight midsole is flexible towards the forefoot, which is great for a trail shoe due to the varied ground conditions underfoot. This extra mobility allows your muscles, ligaments, joints etc. to move in a natural way.

I noted the wider toe box previously, but this has another great purpose for the outer. The wider forefoot gives the runner more surface area to spread their weight across the ground beneath. This makes it feel more comfortable which in turn makes it feel fast and easy to move in.

Underneath the shoe on the outsole it has a flex groove down the centre that helps maintain a flexible but stable ride on uneven surfaces. I found the grip of the shoes was great on different surfaces from grass, dirt or rocky trails.

This is a lightweight trail shoe weighing 9.17oz (260g) for a size US (M) 9. It has a light upper and the whilst the midsole isn’t sizeable, it manages to add a lot of cushioning which is deceptive due to the slim visual size of it.