Altra & Soar Meet in Unlikely Collab Made for Trail Running's Most Obsessed

Once upon a time, collabs were rare. Now they're routine, and many of them are unremarkable—some feel forced, some obviously shallow, some don't make any sense at all. The best collabs bring together two brands whose circles overlap in the tiniest of slivers, but then you see what they make and you think, of course. That's the case with the new collection shared between Altra and Soar, which is aimed at a small group of rarified runners who put performance and design at elevations as high as the trails they run on.

Available as of 15 July 2025, the Altra x Soar collection is a four-piecer that includes the Trail Race Top ($200), Trail Race Shorts ($285), Printed Run Cap ($65), and Mont Blanc Carbon Trail Shoes ($260). All are made with the highest-end materials available to facilitate one thing: fast movement in the mountains and everywhere else off-road.

For the runner's runner

A little background helps in understanding where the Altra x Soar kit comes from. Starting with Altra, which is one of those companies that's core within core. Altra started in Utah making shoes with more room in the toe and a balanced, zero-drop platform underfoot for an overall more natural feel. Trail runners and thru-hikers make up its base, and the company caters to roadies now too. The company is much smaller than Nike, Hoka, or On, but Altra devotees prize performance over trendstream clout. People who like Altra don't just like Altra, they love Altra.

Soar is similar. The company was founded in London by former DJ and fashion label owner Tim Soar with a firm belief in form following function and that only testing can prove the point. Their best-selling stuff is their race kit, which is about as technical and premium as running clothing gets (it ain't cheap either). That tells you something about the type of people who believe in the brand.

The collab meets Rocky Mountain West with London's Hackney neighborhood, a union that seems misaligned until you consider that both brands serve the same sort of obsessive, dedicated runner.

A rundown on the gear

Apparel in new patterns is an easy way to pad out a collab and turn it into a collection. In this case, the Trail Race Top and Shorts are on equal footing with the Mont Blanc Carbon shoe. That's because Soar puts a lot of thought into clothing design.

For instance, the top is made of multiple types of fabric; there's an abrasion-resistant panel on the chest that won't pill or fray with a pack or vest bouncing around for 50k, a UPF 50 fabric on the shoulders and back are for sun protection during long days out, and a superlight knitted mesh fabric on the bottom and sides that Soar has put thousands of miles of testing on. But the best detail might be the collar around the neck, which is raised to prevent hydration vest rubbing. If you, like me, have experienced this during long runs, then you know how smart this small detail is.

Technically, the shorts are even more impressive. What looks like a run-of-the-mill pattern overlay is actually Rheon, a strain rate-sensitive, energy-absorbing polymer. Rheon stiffens when force is applied through it, so it remains flexible through the oscillating motion of a stride but stiffens when the foot makes impact with the ground, conserving energy over the long term. On top of that, there's tons of storage for gels and bars, a zippered pocket, and even some elastic cordage to carry poles or a layer with.

And let's not forget the hat, which weighs just 27 grams and stays put nicely.

To match all this tech, Altra submitted the Mont Blanc Carbon trail running shoes to this collab. Like OG Altras, the MBC has a zero-millimeter heel-toe drop and a roomier, foot-shaped toe box. New to the recipe is a midsole that has a rim of softer compression-molded EVA foam and a core of performance-geared TPE. Plus, there's a full-length carbon plate in there for added stability and propulsion. Other details include light mesh upper, Vibram Megagrip outsole, and a collab-only color design that's less ULTRA, more ultra.

On the run

All of Altra's trail athletes have been testing the Altra x Soar kit for the past few weeks. Me, only more recently. The other day, I took it all for a spin up a dirt road and over a small mountain via the local trails. It was in the 80s, with humidity thick at 70%, trying to keep up. No running shirt comes through a vapor swamp like that with a single dry fiber, but at least the Trail Race Shirt, as light as it is, didn't weigh me down. There was no telling where humidity ended and sweat began.

Below the waist, the Trail Race Shorts feel ultra-technical. This, I thought, is what Olympic track athletes must feel like in their competition kits. Don't expect to feel the Rheon overlays going stiff and slack on the run; that's a subtle trait only measureable in a lab and felt over 50 miles, not the 10 I was out for. The pockets, they're spot on, and the rear zippered one is big enough for today's big phones. Also—they're called shorts but they're not shorts, they're half tights.

I wasn't out for speed or Strava glory, though that's what Altra's Mont Blanc Carbon is made for. Tara Dower wore it to a second-place finish at the Black Canyon 100k, Lindsay Allison took it to first at the Lake Sonoma Marathon, and Careth Arnold won the Twisted Fork 68k wearing a pair. Me, I was just happy to have some decent cushion and grip underfoot in a recently rained-on forest. The extra pep helped on the three-mile dirt road approach, too.

Price is what most people will come up against in this collab. By now, runners of a particular stripe are used to $250 shoes when there's a promise of performance. Why should apparel be different? It's pricey because it's as premium as running gear gets. It's not for everyone, but not everything is. That's the point—this is for trail running's most demanding subset. And for people whose obsession with design is equaled by one for sweat.

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