Merrell Agility Peak 5 - 2000 Mile Review

After posting my first impressions of these over a year ago, the Agility Peaks have become my staple do-anything trail running shoes, serving me well on anything from a 5k park run right up to my first 100 miler.

Since August 2023 I've covered 2,179 miles (3,507 km) across 6 pairs, and wanted to do a follow up on how well they've held up, issues I've found and thoughts for the future.

If you're looking for a breakdown of the specs please see my earlier review here

Context

At the time I was looking for a shoe that would help me tackle that 100 mile mark, something with a good level of cushioning, grip for the mountainous sections & all day comfort.

They'd need to be shoes capable of lots of training miles in the Brecon Beacons/Black Mountains, mid week sessions round the local woods and suitable for the other trail races I had in 2024.

I'm also a bit of a minimalist, wherever possible I like a jack-of-all trades that holds up well, my ideal is 1 trail running shoe that can do a bit of everything. For years it was the Altra Lone Peaks, but their sub-standard grip, lower cushioning and lack of propulsion led me to look elsewhere.

Fit & Feel

Firstly, if you go for these I'd opt for your normal walking shoe size: they fit long and if you size up like you would in other brands you'll be left with an especially sloppy feel.

You get plenty of space inside the shoe, with a medium width toe box with a good length to it. That does mean however that they are tougher to lock down, I use a heel lock which helps a lot, and tend to wear thicker socks to reduce movement in the shoe.

I've found without the thicker socks and heel lock the outside of my big toe rubs the medial wall of the shoe (I over-pronate quite heavily so it's always my hot spot), it is fully solved with these Bridgedale socks however, which fill the shoe well.

They run with a 6mm drop which is just about my sweet spot, and the midsole cushioning is on the maximalist end of things which helps for both road stretches and reducing muscle fatigue in general.

They have a half rock plate under the mid and forefoot that stops sharp rocks pushing up, helpful again to reduce fatigue, at the expense of reduced ground feel.

The laces across the top are well placed and haven't caused me any pain points over my tendons. They also come with a band to tuck excess laces away once tied.

A note on the insoles: they suck! I don't know why but for me they seem to slowly move backwards towards the heel over time, getting bunched up. On the EDDUM I got to one checkpoint and half the insole was poking out my shoe! The first thing I do with a new pair now is superglue them to the midsole, which solves the problem.

My wish list for the next version fit wise is:

• Fix the insoles
• An upper that locks down a little better
• Just a tad more width to the toe box, closer to the MTL Long Skys

Performance

Starting with the grip, it's 5mm of Vibram Megagrip, which is consistently recognised as best in class grip for most surfaces. Over rocky, slippy, rooty and muddy terrain it does a stellar job, and the outsole holds up well over time, not wearing away prematurely.

Having quite a wide base you get some good stability underfoot from the shoe. I will note though that, like other high stack maximalist shoes, you do get more risk of rolling over ankle fatigue being further from the ground. You have reduced ground feel and flexibility so for really technical running over short distances something like the MTL Long Sky is a better pick. It's all compromise though, and I found the Long Skys too fatiguing over longer distances.

Let's talk speed! The shoes come with a rocker up towards the toes which, combined with the drop and midsole foam, make for a fast feeling shoe that can push well on hard packed surfaces and roads. I put winning the inaugural Hateful 8 Ultra down to being able to speed up on the road stretches, despite being in some pretty aggressively trail focused shoes.

That sense of propulsion also helped loads during the latter stages of ultras, the shoes feeling like they kept me plodding away, encouraging me forward despite being so tired.

Value & Durability

The longest I've got out of a pair has been 526 miles (846 km). The issue they have is, for me at least, the upper always tears in the same place along when your toes bend on the medial side. As the upper is a mesh and not ripstop, that tear propagates quickly if left unchecked.

That pair I eked more life out of I did so by using Pair Ups to patch the upper before it got worse.

I usually get 600km out of a pair before this failure point. It's a bit of a shame as the rest of the shoe (midsole cushion, outsole tread) is still good at this point, and hopefully Merrell with fix this in future iterations.

Still, for £140, I think they last well enough and represent good value for money. Considering the amount of shoe you get for the price you'd be hard pressed to find cheaper.

Future Usage

Going into 2025 these remain my go to trail running shoes. I've got the Wild Horse 200 coming up, along with the Pegasus Slam (6 ultras between 30 and 50 miles, one a month), and I intend for these to be on my feet for every one of those events.

The only thing I can see coming up that may replace them are the Merrell MTL Adapt Matryx, which from early previews look like a more racing focused version of the Agility Peak, with improvements to the durability using the kevlar lined Matryx upper, whilst sporting similar grip and stack height. The only downside is they don't launch until ~May 2025, very close to the start of the Wild Horse with little time to train in them 😱