Best For

Welcome to your running shoe value home in 2023! With today’s economy, it’s all about seeking out those value driven road running shoes. I foresee the ASICS Dynablast 3 launching many runners through their daily training miles thanks to a solid FlyteFoam Blast midsole, and at a spectacular price point. When you need to pinch pennies, and even if you don’t need to, I would absolutely buy this neutral road running shoe again for a runner’s daily training quiver in 2023.

Upper

The Dynablast line up from ASICS has always offered a well-cushioned upper. This is not a plush experience in the hind end of the shoe, but it is absolutely comfortable enough, especially for $99! With a reinforced eyelet chain, runners will never scrunch up during the lacing or running process. The tongue is not gussetted, and it is a thin tongue, but despite the simplicity, I barely felt the laces on the top of my foot…. You can’t really complain at $99! Back to the medial and lateral collar, ASICS nailed it. Although it is not plush around the ankle and achilles tendon, the lockdown in the heel pocket is superb. Actually, another recent addition to the daily training running shoe quiver is the Adidas Adizero SL. Both of these neutral road running shoes offer a similar experience and lockdown for the collar region, both ASICS and Adidas are on their A-game in this section of the running shoe design. Concerned about frigid wind chills on your toes? Fear not, the upper is so simple in design that the toebox is not very breathable… another bonus of being at the $99 price point. Lastly, stout through the heel counter, not a tank, but stout. 

Midsole

FlyteFoam Blast midsole foam coming in hot, okay, maybe not hot, but adequate for a $99 price point! You can smell the pavement below your feet with a refreshing low stack height under step. It’s almost worth calling the local archelogical society to dig up this low stack height neutral road running shoe. Dare I say, it’s rather difficult to find a ground contact feel running shoe in the 2020s. With 24 mm and 16 mm welcoming your feet to the tarmac, the 8 mm of drop offers a snappy feel through the footstrike. This is a road running shoe where you are in charge of the shoe, the shoe is not in charge of you. Bare in mind that the durometer is not soft (45), which adds to the responsive feel understep, the opposite of mushy. We’re not necessarily talking about high energy return through the ASICS Dynablast 3, in fact we’re not, it simply gets the job done…. Again at the $99 price point. 

Outsole

The ASICS Dynablast 3 outsole gets a nice undercarriage durability upgrade with AHAR+ rubber. Rarely do I see AHAR+ worn down from photos submitted from runners around the world (info@demoorglobalrunning.com). The AHAR+ just keeps going and going through the daily training miles. As always, we’re all, or at least I am, grateful for the AHAR+ rubber appearing only on the high impact areas. The entire outsole is not plastered with rubber, thank you ASICS. Strategically placed under the forefoot and the heel, the rubber creates a baby decoupled groove feel, reminiscent of the ASICS Novablast 3. 

Would I Buy This Shoe Again?

$99, that is all you need to ruminate upon. The more I type about this running shoe the more eager I become to go knock out some daily training miles, mostly runs in the 4-8 mile range. Time to pinch a few pennies runners around the world, with the ASICS Dynablast 3. The question becomes, will this running shoe sell out at that price point in 2023, we shall see…