Li-Ning Red Hare 9 lineup: Ultra vs Pro vs standard

Li-Ning’s Red Hare (赤兔, Chitu) line has three tiers in its 2026 “9” generation, and they are three different shoes, not one shoe at three prices. The Ultra is a tall, soft, bouncy long-run trainer. The Pro is a firm, grounded all-rounder. The standard Red Hare 9 is the entry model, and it is the one nobody has tested.

Disclosure: I run the Gear & Kit shop, and it sells every shoe in this post. If you buy from it, I make money. The shop links below are there because readers asked where to buy in Australia, not because the verdicts depend on them — the Pro’s weaknesses and the Ultra’s instability are stated the same way whether you buy from me or not.

I have not weighed or measured these shoes myself. The weights and stack heights below are lab measurements from RTINGS, taken on a men’s US 9. The prices are ones I checked myself on 13 October 2026.

The three tiers side by side

	Red Hare 9 Ultra	Red Hare 9 Pro	Red Hare 9
Model code (men’s / women’s)	ARPW007 / ARPW008	ARPW001 / ARPW002	ARPW003, ARPW023 / ARPW004, ARPW026
Role	Max-cushion trainer	Daily and tempo trainer	Entry daily trainer
Weight, US 9	237 g	232 g	Not measured
Heel / forefoot stack	46.2 / 37.1 mm	36.0 / 28.4 mm	Not measured
Drop	9.1 mm	7.6 mm (8 mm claimed)	Not measured
Midfoot	Winged plastic shank	Plastic shank	Not established
Foam	Super BOOM over Super BOOM Capsule, on a BOOM carrier	BOOM, single density	Not established
Ride	Soft, very bouncy	Firm, grounded	—
China list price	¥899	¥549–599 by colourway	—

Lab figures from RTINGS’ Ultra and Pro reviews. The Ultra’s ¥899 list price is from Road Trail Run; the Pro’s ¥549–599 is from Tmall listings recorded on SMZDM.

Two numbers in that table are only nominally close. The Ultra and Pro weigh within 5 g of each other, but the Ultra puts 10 mm more foam under your heel and almost 9 mm more under your forefoot. That height is where the comfort comes from and where the wobble comes from — the trade-off I covered in stack height and stability.

Red Hare 9 Ultra: the long-run shoe

The Ultra is the most cushioned shoe in Li-Ning’s range, and the cushioning lasts. In RTINGS’ simulated long-run test it was still absorbing about 10.5 J of impact at 40 km against about 11.1 J at 10 km — a smaller fade than almost any shoe they have tested. Its forefoot returned 84% of the energy put in, which is higher than some carbon-plated racers.

The cost is stability. The three foam layers are soft, the heel is tall, and the platform moves under you, particularly at easy paces where you spend longer on each foot. Road Trail Run’s tester found it the weakest of four Chinese super trainers for interval work, and the worst fit of the group. Both reviews flag a very narrow arch.

• Buy it for: long runs, marathon blocks, easy mileage when your legs need protecting.
• Avoid it if: you over-pronate, roll ankles, or want one shoe for fast intervals.
• Closest Western rivals: ASICS Megablast and Superblast 3.

Red Hare 9 Ultra, men’s · Red Hare 9 Ultra, women’s

If you are buying from the US, my Red Hare 9 Ultra US pricing breakdown covers the four American routes. The shop does not ship there.

Red Hare 9 Pro: the everyday shoe

The Pro is the opposite character. Its foam is firm at both heel and forefoot — RTINGS measured it close to carbon-plated trainers like the Nike Zoom Fly 6 in forefoot firmness — and the platform is wide. That makes it stable and predictable. It also means it barely compresses, so there is little bounce.

The cushioning also fades faster than the Ultra’s. RTINGS saw a noticeable drop in impact absorption after about 10 km, which is why I would cap it at runs up to roughly 15 km unless you like a firm ride. The forefoot rocker starts early, which keeps your turnover ticking over at easy paces, but it flattens out when you push hard.

Despite the name, the Pro is not a racer. Li-Ning’s race shoe is the carbon-plated Feidian 6 range.

• Buy it for: most weekly runs, easy days, tempo sessions, shorter intervals.
• Avoid it if: you want soft cushioning for long runs, or have wide feet — the arch is narrow and the toe box is shallow.
• Closest Western rivals: PUMA Deviate Pure NITRO and adidas Adizero Evo SL.

There is also a water-repellent version (LN DWR, men’s ARPW021, women’s ARPW024). I could not find any lab data on it, so I am treating it as the same shoe with a different upper rather than assuming anything about its ride.

Red Hare 9 Pro, men’s · Red Hare 9 Pro, women’s · Water-repellent, men’s

Red Hare 9: the one nobody has measured

The standard Red Hare 9 is the least documented shoe in the family. I found no lab test and no English-language review with measured weight or stack. The reviewer at Weeviews who covered both the Pro and Ultra deliberately left it out.

The only first-hand opinion I found is about the previous model: a club runner reviewing the Red Hare 8 Pro on Teletype said the base Red Hare 8 looked and felt noticeably more budget than the Pro. That is one person on an older shoe, so treat it as a weak signal.

It is cheap, which is its whole case. Until someone puts it on a scale, I would spend the extra A$40 or so on the Pro, whose strengths and faults are at least known.

Red Hare 9, men’s · Red Hare 9, women’s

The previous generation: Red Hare 8 Pro

The 2025 Red Hare 8 Pro used a BOOM midsole, a textile-and-TPU upper, Li-Ning’s PROBAR LOC midfoot support and a GCR rubber outsole, with no plate. A water-repellent version also exists. I found no lab measurements for it.

It is nearly gone: on 13 October 2026 the shop had one colour-and-size combination left in each of the men’s and women’s listings. Unless your size happens to be the one left, the 9 Pro is the shoe to buy instead.

Where the sources disagree

Spec sheets for these shoes do not agree with each other, and the differences are bigger than rounding:

• Ultra stack: RTINGS measured 46.2 / 37.1 mm; Road Trail Run measured 47 / 42 mm on a US 9.5; the spec database Supwell lists 43 / 35 mm.
• Ultra plate: RTINGS describes a plastic midfoot shank. Supwell lists a glass-fibre plate.
• Pro weight: RTINGS measured 232 g on a US 9. Spec cards circulating on social media quote 248 g and a ¥659 list price; I could not trace either to Li-Ning or to a measurement.

I have used RTINGS’ figures throughout because they are measured, use one method across every shoe, and come with photos of each measurement. A 1 mm difference in drop matters less than people think — see heel-to-toe drop explained.

Sizing and fakes

Both RTINGS reviews found the Ultra and Pro true to size in length but very narrow through the arch, and the Pro shallow over the toes. If you have wide feet, these are not the shoes to buy blind. Li-Ning lists sizes in CN/EU, so check US shoe size conversion and your foot length in centimetres before ordering.

On fakes: Chinese buyers on SMZDM repeatedly warn that very cheap Red Hare listings on domestic marketplaces include fakes and used pairs, and Ultra listings have appeared there for around a third of the ¥899 list price. A price that far below list is the warning sign, wherever you are buying. The checks in buying grey-import shoes apply here.

Which one to buy

1. Mostly long runs, marathon training, neutral feet → Red Hare 9 Ultra.
2. One shoe for most weekly runs, or you like a firm, stable ride → Red Hare 9 Pro.
3. Wide feet → try before you buy, or look elsewhere; both run narrow.
4. Fast intervals and racing → neither. Look at Li-Ning’s carbon-plated Feidian 6 range.

For how these line up against the Nike, PUMA and adidas equivalents model by model, see Li-Ning vs Nike, PUMA and adidas running shoe equivalents.