How does the Kailas Fuga EX 3 handle a rugged 100-miler in New Hampshire?

Introduction to the Kailas Fuga EX 3

JOHN: I’m not going to lie here, when I opened the box containing the Kailas Fuga EX 3, I thought it was going to be something else, and I was disappointed. I was like Fuga? What? What even is this? I even messaged Taylor and Renee multiple times asking questions because I didn’t know anything about Kailas, which is crazy because I’m pretty much all in on running and trail stuff in general.

As it turns out, this shoe came into my world at just the right time. I was questioning tougher trail shoes and thinking that there can be a fine line between a running trail shoe and a hiker. I’ve been reaching for lighter and lighter trail shoes just so I can run in the advantageous spots and, just to be safe, mail in the harder ones. The Clydesdale runner, aka Chad, was asking shoe advice for his first 50k the other day, and my reaction was road shoes!

I have some brutally hard ultras coming, like the Jigger Johnson 100, and I really need to get out of this mindset because I’m good enough with road and lighter trail shoes on most trails, but I know I need a grittier shoe in the White Mountains and other real gnarly trails. I can’t play around out there. I have a feeling the EX 3 is going to change me and my toxic ways.

To give the Kailas Fuga EX 3 a proper test, I used it at Jigger Johnson 100 in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Let’s see how it did.

What we like about the Kailas Fuga EX 3

JOHN: I’m going to check my ego and be brutally honest here. I DNF’d Jigger Johnson, but the Kailas Fuga EX 3 didn’t.

Some ultras out there are so slow-moving that you need a tank to roll you through. The whole thing for me with this shoe is that as tough as the Kailas Fuga EX 3 is, it still feels like you can maneuver in it on tougher terrain. I’m not saying it’s easy to set speed records in this shoe, but if you struggle to find a shoe that eats up rugged trail without feeling like a hiking boot, this is a solid option. The Vibram lugs are tough enough to keep you from slipping when bouldering on class 3 terrain. I got this shoe fully submerged in water and black NH mud, but it never slipped from my foot.

I wear a US M11.5, and I not only found the fit to be perfect, but the lacing system is a dream (very similar to Salomon but with a second speed lace adjuster on the lower part of the laces, similar to Mount to Coast). It’s easy to get the shoe on quickly, and it delivers comfort for the duration of the run. I felt no pain at all while testing this shoe. Plus, I’m extremely clumsy on the trail, but nothing I stepped on or ran into caused harm. This is a tough shoe.

An area of the shoe that kept me protected well was the mesh upper. I brushed past jagged rocks constantly, and in the wrong shoe that hurts, but I always felt protected here.

The stability of this shoe is incredible, and it’s versatile. It doesn’t feel awful on road or gravel parts of the trail, and gives incredible stability in all elements Mother Nature can hurl at you. Wet, muddy, rocky, whatever, this shoe will keep you safe and moving. It feels great running downhill, uphill, and again, most importantly, it doesn’t hurt to do the basic stuff like flats and just running in general.

This shoe absolutely brings it like 80’s action movies, and it’s only $179!

What we don’t like about the Kailas Fuga EX 3

JOHN: So I really had to dig deep to find anything to call out here, but here’s all I could come up with.

I have a slight nitpick on the weight of this shoe. I feel like I could run much better if it were lighter, but for what it is, I’m totally cool with it.

For a hard-as-nails trail shoe, it lets in a lot of debris. Granted, I usually tape my feet and use toe socks so I can just dump the stuff out of the shoe at every other aid station, which makes the debris less of an issue. Also, it’s easy to put on and take off with the QuickLace system.

I’ve always said function over fashion when selecting a shoe, and this shoe is jam-packed with function, but I would like to see a cooler design. It looks generic, and a shoe this good is worthy of a little more edge. I’m not a fan of the all-black Undertaker look; I think we need to get crazier.

I know some people can run fast in any shoe, but I feel like this shoe is very one-dimensional; it works well in hard, rugged places other shoes don’t. This is not a bad thing, but I want to put a disclaimer here that if you buy this shoe with the intention of using it on a wide variety of stuff, you may be disappointed. I would only break it out on harder trails like East Coast rocks, roots, and nightmarish technical downhill (all of the hard stuff). Leave this shoe at home when doing the easier things.

Final thoughts on the Kailas Fuga EX 3

JOHN: I was dead wrong when I judged this shoe before I even ran in it. The Kailas Fuga EX 3 restored my faith in this type of shoe and makes me feel comfortable having a good option for that special kind of evil hard trail race you have coming up.

I think a real thing most ultra runners have to be mindful of is expectations and having a really good plan going into more complex races. Yes, it’s absolutely overwhelming; we have access to so much gear now and some extremely specific pieces for ultra running. We absolutely need it! If you like running ultras, especially hard ones with technical terrain, this makes planning easy because it does so much!

I ran a total of 61 miles in this shoe, 21 on local trails in Virginia and 40 on some of the hardest trails around at Jigger, and was blown away by the balance between maneuverability on tough trails and its ability to move fast in advantageous spots. The protection it provided without causing any foot problems was a huge win.

The only reason I didn’t give Kailas Fuga EX 3 an S grade is that it’s pretty specific to rugged ultras and tougher races. I would not use this on easy stuff at all; this is a shoe meant for war. Also, because it works so well in the rough places, it definitely deserves an A grade and, even more importantly, it’s like Jonah Hill’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street. The Kailas Fuga EX 3 is an absolute animal out there and extremely memorable.

You can pick up the Kailas Fuga EX 3 for $179 from Kailas by using the buttons below.