ProView – Merrell Women’s Antora 4 Review

Once spring had sprung in Alaska, I was ready to mix some trail running back into my schedule. I had the pleasure of testing the Merrell Antora 4 in Seward, Alaska, where I ran on rock beaches, muddy trails, slick rocks, and packed gravel. The shoes kept my feet comfortable, dry, and full of energy to keep adding miles to my adventures. I am excited and eager to continue to use the Merrell Antora 4 on all my trail outings this spring and summer. 

After a long winter of skiing, I was excited to see the dirt trails and green leaves begin their spring emergence and the chance to get back into hiking and trail running. As a less experienced trail runner, I found the Merrell Antora 4 to be a fantastic companion for my level of running adventure. Here in Alaska, I knew I would have a great opportunity to try these shoes out in some wet and wild conditions and I was excited to see how they would perform while running through mud, wet rocks, and unavoidable puddles. It has been a very wet start to the spring here in Seward, Alaska, but luckily the Merrell Antora 4 proved to be comfortable, quick drying, and provided strong traction on my trail adventures.

Fit/Comfort

Taking the Merrell Antora 4 shoes out of the box I was surprised how lightweight and foam-like they felt. I will admit I was skeptical at how they would perform and hold up, but upon putting them on I found them to be immediately comfortable. The shoes can be ordered as medium or wide width, and even though I ordered medium width I still found they had a wider than normal toe box and the material encasing the widest part of my foot was mesh. As someone with large bunions I found this to be a pleasant feature. I also found the footbed of the shoe to be very comfortable and is constructed to encourage your foot to roll through the toes as you run. I felt it promoted good running form. 

Look/Style

The Merrell Antora 4 is an attractive shoe. It isn’t as large and chunky as many of the trail running shoes I have seen recently. The colors are bright and fun, though most of the color combinations are lighter colors and I found that the shoes were stained from their first use. The shoes are quick to dry though, so if I had access I would certainly wash the shoes regularly to keep the colors bright. Otherwise I did find them to be a great shoe to wear around town with jeans or hiking pants as a casual but comfortable shoe.

Features

Even though I was initially skeptical when I first handled the Merrell Antora 4 out of the box, I found these shoes to have a number of excellent features that easily won me over. The footbed of the shoe is made from Merrell’s FLOATPRO FOAM for enhanced cushioning and energy return. As I ran I found this feature forced me to run in better form, with my foot rolling from heel to toe. The foam footbed did give me some spring in my step as I bounced off of rocks and gravel. 

The shoes also feature a padded collar and a bellows tongue to keep dirt and debris from entering the shoe, which worked much better than previous trail shoes I have used. The shoes also boast a Merrell Quantum Grip rubber sole, that did provide a great amount of traction. I have yet to run on any dry trails here in Alaska, so I was grateful to have such strong traction both going up and down large slick, smooth rocks. 

One of my favorite features of these shoes is that they are made up of a lot of mesh, allowing them to quickly dry. I was annoyed by all the puddles I was unable to avoid, but after only a matter of minutes, I noticed that my feet would be mostly dry again. Hiking in the rain here is unavoidable, so this was a very useful and effective feature.

Weight/ Packability

The Merrell Antora 4 are the lightest weight running shoes I have ever worn. They weight in at 7.76oz per shoe, which is pretty incredible! The lack of weight on my feet enabled me to run further and faster, with more energy to spare. The downside being that these shoes are more minimalistic in terms of underfoot padding.

Function/ Performance

So far the Merrell Antora 4 have outperformed my expectations. Straight out of the box they were immediately comfortable and flexible without any break in period necessary. They have excelled in wet and sloppy conditions, and even provided enough comfort and stability while running on an Alaskan rocky beach. I took this shoe on hikes in the forest and found it to be an excellent moderate distance hiking shoe as well. 

I will say that the Merrell Antora 4 is more geared toward moderate trail running, not only moderate trails, but also moderate distances. I found it to be more of a casual trail running shoe rather than a serious ultra-trail-runner shoe. This is fine for me since trail running is more for cross training for me, but for ultra runners this shoe might not be the best match.

I found the Merrell Antora 4 to be a more minimalistic shoe, with less structure and stability than other trail running shoes I have worn. It took me a few tries to figure out the best way to get my laces tied, to balance a firm fit, but not too tight it compressed my upper foot. Once laced properly, they did feel to fit well and didn’t move around on my feet. I took these out on one run on a firm gravel road and did not enjoy that experience. These shoes definitely are better on soft ground since they don’t have a lot of extra padding. 

Durability/Construction

The shoe is very light weight and made up of mostly foam and mesh, so I can imagine that a lot of rough trail miles will put some wear on these shoes. I don’t think the construction of these shoes would hold up to a runner who was putting 50+ miles on their shoes every week. As a casual runner and avid hiker, I think these shoes will continue to hold up just fine though. 

What sets the product apart?

What sets the Merrell Antora 4 apart is its lightweight, high breathability, and wide toe box. These shoes really are comfortable, so much so, that they actually made me want to run! It was nice to end a run or hike and not have my feet or bunions be in pain. The footbed did spring back and provide that extra oomph of energy to my runs. 

Who is the product for? 

This product is for moderate trail runners and hikers. I don’t think this shoe is built for any sort of ultra-runner, but for women beginning their trail running journey, or for women who just enjoy casual runs in nature, this is a great shoe. It is also a stand out shoe for women with wider feet and particularly women with bunions! I love that Merrell constructed a shoe that provides so many features of comfort to make running an enjoyable experienced. 

Eco-Friendly

Merrell very proudly listed how environmentally conscious these shoes are, which is really rad! The Merrell Antora 4 are made with 100% recycled laces, 100% recycled mesh lining, 100% recycled mesh footbed cover, and are vegan friendly. Thank you for using recycled materials to make this great shoe Merrell! It feels good to be out running in nature and know that the shoes on my feet were made from recycled materials.

The Final Word

The Merrell Antora 4 is a top-notch moderate train running shoe. It performed well in wet, muddy, and rocky terrain, and truly made me excited to get out on the trail. From trail running, to hiking, to walking around town, I found these to be a quality set of footwear. I would recommend these shoes to women who enjoy casual trail running and hiking and who want a light weight and breathable shoe. 

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