We Ran in La Sportiva’s Fastest Trail Shoe: Prodigio Pro Review

There’s nothing quite like the freedom of running fast across a rocky ridgeline with massive relief on all sides. Alpine terrain is where I really hit my stride. Not because I get stronger at higher elevations, but because, unlike top-tier runners, I require some kind of external motivation to make such a debilitating effort worth it. 

La Sportiva’s new Prodigio Pros were on my feet when I broke through to the upper elevations of Colorado’s Sawatch range a few weeks back. They infused much-needed advantages into my running kit. The new Italian shoes are super light, but they’re also bursting with energy. They’re nitrogen-infused super shoes. 

The Prodigio Pros are the brand’s most advanced shoes to date. They’re no doubt aimed at the elite trail runners looking for every advantage they can find in their pursuit of race and FKT records. So when I slipped my feet into a fresh new pair, I couldn’t help but feel like an impostor. I had no races on the calendar, and my season’s running goals had fallen by the wayside.

But here’s the thing — I love running and I hammer my local trails 3 to 4 days a week, goals and races be damned. That got me thinking. Would the Prodigio Pro’s claimed benefits trickle down to the day-to-day trail runner like me? I ran for 4 months to find out. 

In short: La Sportiva’s new Prodigio Pro is the brand’s fastest shoe to date. The nitrogen-infused TPU midsole is the highlight. It gives the Prodigio Pro’s super shoe energy. They move fast through mountainous terrain, and they’ll pound pavement, too. The energetic midsole has a distinctive powerwire upper and a low-profile outsole. I didn’t set out to win any races, but these shoes gave my day-to-day running a real boost of vibrancy. 

La Sportiva Prodigio Pro Review

La Sportiva’s Prodigo family is quite a spectrum. I’ve run hundreds of miles in the original Prodigio. Our subject here, the Prodigio Pro, hit the market last spring. But the lineup also includes an aptly named hiking version — the Prodigio Hike — and a new ultra-cushioned Prodigio Max that all build on the same all-rounder foundation. 

But the Prodigio Pros diverge from their siblings with an ultra-techy race-ready design. They’re a pair of shoes eager to move fast, and in all honesty, it took me a few runs to catch up with them. Since then, I’ve put tons of mileage into the once-crisp new pair of runners, and I have a few notes for trail crushers, racers, and average trail runners alike. 

Uppers

The Prodigio Pros look and feel like running shoes from the future. That look primarily comes from the Power Wire upper. It’s like the upper is a fabric composed of an orchestrated tangle of wires rather than knitted, sewn, or laminated like you’d typically find in a running shoe.

The wires are polyester with a TPU coating. The resulting “fabric” has a unique look. It’s almost like a cast on a broken arm. 

The Power Wire would seem to have a lot of advantages. It’s porous and breathable, to be sure. But it’s also durable against abrasive rocks and other trail hazards. But the running performance really comes from its firm but flexible support of the foot. It hugged my foot but didn’t stretch, providing some precision to balance the soft and energetic midsole.

When I was mobbing through rocky sections of trail, I appreciated the upper’s predictability and poise. It provided a level of calm consistency to the otherwise very speedy feeling shoes. 

Sizing

I’ve run in at least 10 different La Sportiva models over the past few years, and I consistently find harmony between a 44.5 and 45. The Prodigio Pros follow that sizing trend, but La Sportiva shoes tend to require slight upsizing compared to other brands. The 44.5 felt dialed for my 10.5 U.S. street shoe size and day-to-day running needs with the occasional 20-miler thrown in.

If you haven’t slipped a foot into a La Sportiva, it’s worth trying on a few sizes before committing based on the sizing chart. 

Sole

The Prodigio Pros float on a cushy stack of midsole — 34mm at the heel and 28mm at the toe. A 6mm drop is relatively neutral, with just enough angle for lots of uphill slogging. 

The Prodigio Pro is propelled into super shoe territory by its midsole. According to La Sportiva, the midsole combines nitrogen-infused TPU at the core surrounded by an EVA cage. Those millions of tiny nitrogen bubbles give the midsole much higher rebound and general cushiness, compared to a traditional running shoe midsole. 

I could feel it when I played with the Prodigio Pros in my hand. When I bent one in half and then released it, the shoe sprang back to its normal shape with much more energy than a more standard shoe, like my original Prodigios.

The foam is squishy to the touch. It’s more of a cloud-like cushion than others in my pile of running shoes. You can feel it right away when you put them on for the first time.

The Prodigio Pros skipped the carbon plate that some super shoes employ. That further lends to its soft character all around. And not only is there no carbon plate, there isn’t really anything between the insole and midsole. And the insole? It’s exceptionally basic. So you’re basically riding directly on the cushy super foam. 

Outsole

The FriXion XF 2.0 Outsole is low profile, lightweight, and definitely sticky on rock. It’s a minimalist slick of rubber underfoot, for sure, and it matched well with the shoe’s character.

The 4mm lugs were just deep enough to bite into soft dirt while grinding uphill or running downhill on the sandy trail system by my house. The stickiness was plentiful for the rocks and roots in the trail, too.

Simply put, they were predictable all around.

Most importantly for my day-to-day needs, the lugs felt like they disappeared when I covered ground on asphalt and concrete. That is important because 90% of my running begins on pavement for at least a mile, where some trail running shoes can suffer.

Instead, the Prodigio Pros felt smooth and light. During a weeklong stint of pavement pounding through the Minneapolis suburbs, I didn’t find myself wishing for road shoes. 

Running

It’s tough not to feel strong and fast on a new shoes day, even if my Training Peaks app didn’t agree. And I won’t soon forget those first few strides in the Prodigo Pros. They are unlike any trail runner I’ve slipped my feet into.

The first thing I noticed was how dang light they are on the feet. They are just 290g per shoe (size 44.5). It’s a weight reduction that you really feel because you’re lifting it up thousands of times on a run. It made me feel a little bit quicker and more agile at baseline.

As I continued plodding along toward my closest singletrack, it was easy to feel the difference from that nitrogen-infused foam — I felt for myself that the super shoe billing is remarkable.

They have more energy and noticeably more rebound than a standard running shoe. It’s like each stride, there’s a tiny little propulsion bouncing your feet back up. 

I had to adjust my running form slightly. It felt like my feet were getting out ahead of my body, like they were running at a different speed than my torso. I leaned a little bit farther forward to match my spinning legs, and just like that, I felt a tiny bit faster. 

Alpine Running

I took the Prodigio Pros for a spin above treeline on one of my favorite alpine running loops. True to my previous experience, the rebounding midsole and grip gave me an appreciated little advantage. 

I let loose once I was above the trees. Hopping and bounding across the open alpine with shoes that wanted to go faster. It was a fun match.

Despite being so soft and fully lacking any kind of firm structure or rock plate, the Prodigio Pro’s thick midsole protected my feet from the rocky tundra. I appreciated that after 15 miles. They’re dang comfy shoes. The cushy platform is well equipped for extended runs. 

The downhill portion of the alpine loop is notoriously rocky and rooty. It was the first terrain on which I felt somewhat disconnected from my feet. Being so soft and comfortable, the Pros didn’t feel particularly precise compared to a more technical, firmer shoe like the brand’s longstanding Bushido or Mutant. Jumping and landing on top of and between rocks and roots felt a little more hazardous until I really got to know them.

So naturally, I slowed down in the really nasty stuff, even if the springy Prodigio Pros were eager to get back up to speed. Really aggressive runners might not slow down at all. It mostly comes down to confidence and form in the really techy stuff.

The predictable upper and sticky rubber provide enough support to fly at your own speed. And yeah, I could have dropped down a size if technical performance was really what I was after.

Once the trail mellowed out slightly, I was back to big, fun bounds. I was just cruising with airplane arms in that pure exuberance that hooks you on trail running in the first place. The Prodigio Pros are the shoes for that. They’re fast and fun.

Integrated Gaiter

I’m a sucker for an integrated gaiter, and the Prodigio Pro integrates one of the best versions I’ve seen. But “gaiter” is probably an overstatement. It’s more of a collar.

Each cuff sports a super minimalist elastic collar that hugs below my ankle bone. It was easy to forget they were there. It simply did its job of warding off the tiny pebbles that can stop you in your tracks.

If there’s a downside to these mini-gaiters, it’s that they make the shoes slightly more challenging to get on. It takes a pair of hands to assist rather than just being able to slip them on. 

La Sportiva Prodigio Pro: Conclusion

I didn’t win any races in La Sportiva’s new Prodigio Pros and Training Peaks reminded me that I’m not getting faster this summer, either. But to hell with all that. I had more fun running in these super-light super shoes than I’ve had in a very long time. There were a couple of jaunts on my local trails where I felt like I was rediscovering trail running for the first time. 

The nitrogen-infused midsoles and high-tech uppers were a solid package for moving fast and free over simple and moderately technical terrain in the frontcountry, backcountry, and even on the road. Sure, I had to slow down a little bit in the really techy stuff so the shoes didn’t take off without me or send me into the creek. And yeah, there was a short learning curve, and it took my joints a few runs to get used to the energy. 

But the bottom line is that La Sportiva nailed it with the Prodigio Pros. They’re light, comfy, fast, fun shoes that can give trail runners at every level a little boost.