The Cloudboom Max is On's answer to the marathon-training super trainer: two layers of Helion HF hyper foam standing 40 mm at the heel, with a glass-fiber-infused Speedboard instead of race-day carbon. On's own copy is unusually specific about who it is for — everyday marathoners targeting 4:00 to 4:30 finishes who want more support than an elite super shoe gives them.
It suits you for marathon blocks: the long runs, the race-pace segments inside them, and race day itself if the Strike's softness reads as instability to your legs.
It is not light at 296 g, and it is not the racer — the plate is deliberately the training-grade one. It is the shoe for the twelve weeks before the race more than the morning of it.