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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyovs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 3

Metaspeed Sky Tokyo

£200

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Endorphin Elite 3

£300

Typical street price · RRP £270

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo if…

  • Money matters: it is selling around £200 against £300, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

Choose the Endorphin Elite 3 if…

Nothing here separates it from the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo in your favour. On this data the other shoe answers every case at least as well, so buy this one only if you already know it fits you better.

What does this
mean for you?

Every figure below is recalculated from your race and your current time. The gap between two shoes is not fixed — it grows with how long you are on your feet.

Over marathon from 3:45:00

Time back
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo: 186s–266sEndorphin Elite 3: 172s–253s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo: £0.22Endorphin Elite 3: £0.37

Ranges, not promises. Both figures are against a standard trainer, and the honest answer for most runners is that the difference between two shoes of this class is smaller than the difference a month of decent training makes.

Every number.

0102030405039.534.5
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£200■
Endorphin Elite 3£300

What the shoe is actually selling for across the shops we read, not its RRP.

RRP
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£250
Endorphin Elite 3£270

List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.

Cost per race
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£51■
Endorphin Elite 3£79

Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£0.22■
Endorphin Elite 3£0.37

The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo186s–266s■
Endorphin Elite 3172s–253s

Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.

Economy gain
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo3.5–4.7%■
Endorphin Elite 33.3–4.5%
Built for
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo10K · Half · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 310K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
Metaspeed Sky TokyoFor stride-length runners — the Sky is built to let your stride open up rather than turn over faster. Arguably the best all-round marathon shoe currently made.
Endorphin Elite 3The softest ride at this level by some distance, and the third generation finally made it serious rather than just fun. A genuine top-tier option.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo183 g■
Endorphin Elite 3190 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo39.5 mm
Endorphin Elite 339.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo34.5 mm
Endorphin Elite 331.5 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo5 mm
Endorphin Elite 38 mm
Foam
Metaspeed Sky TokyoFF Leap over FF Turbo+
Endorphin Elite 3IncrediRUN (twin layer)
Plate
Metaspeed Sky Tokyocarbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed Sky TokyoYes (39.5 mm)
Endorphin Elite 3Yes (39.5 mm)

World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.

Fit
Metaspeed Sky Tokyostandard
Endorphin Elite 3standard
Stability
Metaspeed Sky Tokyobalanced
Endorphin Elite 3balanced

Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.

Race life
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo~250 km■
Endorphin Elite 3~240 km

How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.

Data confidence
Metaspeed Sky Tokyoverified
Endorphin Elite 3verified

■ marks the better figure where one is genuinely better. Fit, foam, drop and stability carry no mark — they depend on your foot and your stride, not on which shoe is superior.

In your size.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£199.90at Startfitness — £50.10 under RRP

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Cheapest in stock£299.90at Startfitness — RRP is £270

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.