Wide feet, 4E: which running shoes actually have room and which just say they do? Fit & Sizing

Two different things get called wide: a shoe built on a wider last, and a shoe with a roomy toe box on an otherwise normal last. With a normal heel and a wide forefoot you want the second, and specifically a rounded toe box rather than a pointed one. New Balance and Brooks both publish real 2E and 4E widths across a lot of their range, which is a boring answer but it is the one that fixed it for me.

A numb third toe at a consistent distance is often a lacing problem as much as a width problem. Before you spend $170, try window lacing and skip the eyelets directly over the sore area entirely. Cost me nothing and bought me another 10 km in a shoe I had already written off.

Topo Athletic is the one people forget in these threads. Roomy toe box, but the drop is not zero across the whole range, so you can find something in the 3-5 mm area and step toward it rather than jumping. Altra is the other obvious one and I would try it on in a shop rather than ordering blind.

I'll be the dissent. I have wide feet and the brand that finally worked for me is one nobody recommends for wide feet. The shape of the last matters more than the marketing category. Order three from somewhere with free returns, run 5 km indoors in each, send back the losers.

When you find the one that fits, buy it twice. Manufacturers change the last between versions and the shoe that fit you last year sometimes does not fit you this year.