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New Balance drops the trop for spring ’23
Looking electric on race day
40 mm in the heel/36 mm in the forefoot (4 mm drop)
Full length Energy Arc carbon fiber plate provides stability and propulsion, comfortable bootie upper
$230 (available now)
Warm weather is coming, racing season is upon us, and New Balance just blessed us with the two best colorways yet of the SC Elite v3– cosmic pineapple and neon dragonfly. The top-tier racer (which we ran in for the New York City Marathon in November) features a high stack of squishy FuelCell for the midsole, sock-style synthetic bootie upper, and Energy Arc carbon fiber plate geometry, designed to increase energy return.
Release colorways are usually ho-hum, but we were pretty onboard with the original white and mint colorways that came out a couple months ago. But we knew there was better stuff coming, and here it is.
The cosmic pineapple looks juicy– we’re not sure we can think of a race day shoe that will stand out like this one. Covered head-to-toe in tropical light, the all-yellow upper is graced by metallic accents on the flying New Balance logo. The product photos on the New Balance site do zero justice for this shoe IRL (we’d like to think our photos help a bit, but it pops way more when it’s in hand/on foot).
Energy Arc carbon fiber plate
Metallic accents on logo
Paired with pineapple sounds like something out of a Malibu campaign, but it works with the other colorway of the SC Elite as well– tropical dragonfly. While we have no actual experience with the equatorial insects, we can assume they’re rad and won’t give you malaria unlike their other winged counterparts.
Mango dragonfly colorway of the New Balance SC Elite v3
The accents on the shoe are “cosmic rose and cosmic pineapple” and by the end of the description we’re not sure if it’s all subliminal messaging to get us to experiment with psychedelics. Maybe the FuelCell is infused with nootropics; either way we’re willing to turn the lights low and listen to some Tame Impala and see what happens.
If you’re trying to head across the universe in a new pair of race day super shoes, then pick up one of these squeezes at the shop links below.
Both colorways are available in men’s and women’s sizing. Available now for $230.
Synthetic upper
Energy Arc plate and outsole
Upper of cosmic pineapple new balance sc elite v3
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Robbe is the senior editor of Believe in the Run. He loves going on weird routes through Baltimore, finding trash on the ground, and running with the Faster Bastards. At home in the city, but country at heart. Loves his two boys more than anything. Has the weakest ankles in the game.
More from Robbe
With a higher stack than Rebel 3, and Mach 5, why wouldn’t/shouldn’t someone use this in their training rotation? The SC Trainer is just too much shoe for me. I know that the SC Trainer v2 is trimmed down, but I need to add a speed/distance shoe before July.