(Image credit: Future)

As a fitness editor, I spend my days writing about running shoes, so choosing a pair to wear on race day often feels (almost) as difficult as the race itself. The good news is, I’m currently a few days away from my seventh marathon, and I’ve settled on my race-day shoe — and it’s probably not what you’re expecting.

After testing most of the best carbon-plate running shoes on the market, I’ve chosen the New Balance Supercomp Rebel v1 as my race-day shoe, even though New Balance markets it as an everyday runner rather than a racer. Read on to find out why this shoe in particular made it into my hand luggage as I fly to Frankfurt, Germany, for my next 26.2-mile race.

The carbon-infused plate is more flexible than other racing shoes

Ok, I ever-so-slightly lied — this shoe isn’t completely plateless. New Balance markets this shoe as a fast shoe for everyday runs, or a supertrainer, if you will.…