Nike unveils the Kiger 10 and Wildhorse 10 trail shoes for 2025 release
Take a look at the podiums of any major road marathon and you’ll spot the same cluster of brands dominating the space. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, almost all of the top 10 women laced up in Nike, Adidas or Asics, with a similar pattern on the men’s side.
But when it comes to trail running shoes, there doesn’t seem to be a clear front runner just yet. Last weekend’s UTMB proved just that, with Nike Trail and Adidas Terrex joined by a host of other brands in the top finishers, including Hoka, The North Face, Kailas, Dynafit, On, Salomon and Kiprun — Decathlon’s running brand.
‘I think what's really unique about the trail space, and something that is great in terms of that community atmosphere, is you seem to have so many more players just within the trail landscape as a whole,’ says Brenden McAleese, product line manager, trail running footwear at Nike, speaking to RW at the UTMB in Chamonix. ‘That could potentially be part of the reasoning as to why we haven't seen somebody just completely dominate within that space, if you will.’
Meanwhile, Sarah Gardner, product line manager, women’s trail running apparel at Nike, adds that there is a much more diverse range of distance that can be covered in a trail race, with specific products aligned to specific distances.
‘Obviously, 5k and 10k are run on the trails, but there's races all the way up to 100k and 100 mile and beyond,’ she says. ‘That breadth of distance creates, at times, maybe a smaller pool of runner that would want to sign up for those races or get really serious about it. But we're definitely seeing growth in the trail running industry and varying levels of investments from consumers about how intense they want it to be. It’s important for us to make sure that at a starting point, we're offering product for all levels. And I think over the next few years, we're just going to see more and more growth in the sport.’
This year, Nike Trail celebrates its 10th anniversary and the brand has unveiled its latest trail models: the Kiger 10 and Wildhorse 10 – both part of Nike’s original trail running franchise. The shoes now sit in a suite of eight trail running shoes from the brand, split into three primary categories: Rapid (Ultrafly and Kiger), Crossover (Pegasus Trail and Juniper) and Rugged (Zegama and Wildhorse).
‘Running is in our DNA, but trail running is also in our DNA,’ says McAleese. ‘We’re trying to take as many learnings as we can from our elite road shoes that are on podiums pretty consistently, and we're continuing to refine those models to hopefully see more and more athletes on podiums.’
The Kiger 10 is a minimal and lightweight trail shoe, built for races under 50K. That said, French trail runner Baptiste Chassagne placed second in this year’s UTMB — the world's most famous 176km footrace — wearing the shoe.
New to the latest version is a Vibram Megagrip outsole — the 'gold standard' used by a number of sports brands that offers superior traction and durability in high wear areas including the forefoot and heel. A forefoot rock shield also gives the shoe additional protection, with a Cushlon 3.0 midsole underfoot.
According to McAleese, Nike trialled several different midsole foams on the Kiger 10, but found that more compliant foams tended to ‘bottom out’ on inclines.
‘Cushlon came out as the clear winner,' he says.
Up top, the Kiger 10 has a leno weave upper, as well as a soft collar for enhanced comfort and a secure heel pocket to keep the foot firmly in place.
Meanwhile, the Wildhorse 10 is designed with comfort and support in mind, for use over a wide variety of distances. McAleese says the brand decided to skip the v9, going straight from the Wildhorse 8 to the 10, because they felt ‘the update was monumental’.
The shoe offers a 3mm taller stack height in both the heel and forefoot, upgrading from the brand’s React foam to ReactX — the same used in the Pegasus Trail 5. Nike claims it provides 13% more energy return while cutting the midsole’s carbon footprint by at least 43%. On the latest version, there’s also a forefoot rock shield and updated toe protection, while the shoe drops 35g from its predecessor. Underneath, there’s an All-Terrain Compound outsole with 4mm lugs.
Both the Wildhorse 10 and Kiger 10 will be on sale from April 2025, alongside new trail-specific apparel.
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