Challenger brand SunGod are quickly becoming a household name in the running world. Founded by Ali and Zoe Watkiss in 2013, their range of performance and lifestyle sunglasses now extends across running, cycling and snow sports. Offering premium performance and customisable designs at a relatively reasonable price point – step on any start line and you’ll see plenty of SunGod glasses around!
The latest addition to their run-specific range is the new FORTY2s™, launched soon after the announcement of their first ever UK bricks and mortar store, in Covent Garden. They’ve been developed with input from elite trail and road runners. Featuring a slightly smaller frame and an ultra-lightweight design, these new running glasses from SunGod promise to offer style, comfort and versatility for a wide range of runners.
I’ve been putting the SunGod FORTY2s™ through their paces for the last month or so. Read on to get my verdict!
Key features
SunGod have developed the FORTY2s alongside elite athletes in their metaphorical stable, including the McClaren F1 team and elite ultra runner Tom Evans. Eagle-eyed viewers might also have spotted the likes of Anya Culling taking them for one final pre-launch road test at the London Marathon, too.
| Developed with input from elite athletes | Sustainable materials: 100% recycled material frame |
| Ultralight nylon lens with 8KO technology | Zero bounce design with ergonomic grippers |
| Modular and customisable | Running-specific smaller frame size |
| Hydrophilic nose grips designed to grip more as you sweat | UVA/UVB protection |
| Cut-outs for ventilation | Weight: 28g |
| Height (inc. frame): 54mm | Width (including temples): 150.6mm |
These running glasses are made from sustainable materials, with the frame made from 100% recycled material which SunGod say has a 7 x lower carbon impact than using virgin plastic. The frame size is slightly more petite than their typically more oversized offerings. And the lens – still made with SunGod’s proprietary 8KO technology – is made from nylon which makes them significantly lighter than a standard polycarbonate lens.
You’ve got all the usual tech specs you’d expect from SunGod – including UVA/UVB protection and a modular construction which means you can customise your lens and frame. In addition, the running-specific design has also been created with a ‘zero bounce’ frame, cut-out vents for more ventilation and a hydrophilic nose grip which is designed to grip more as you sweat. They start from £110 RRP.
HOW WE TESTED the sungod forty2s running sunglasses
I’ve worn these for pretty much every run session since I got them. That’s included long steady runs, tempo efforts and some trail running. Thanks to the wildly changeable spring and early summer conditions here in the UK, these have also been tested in a range of conditions. From your classic, mild late April early May temperatures. To freezing cold mornings with an icy head winds. And more recently, some hot and sticky runs as summer has finally got the memo.
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Summary: The ‘TL;DR’ overview – Lightweight, comfortable running glasses that come into their own when temperatures rise
I actually used to run in my SunGod Vulcans, but found that they were ever so slightly too heavy for longer runs and left me with an all-day long imprint on either side of my nose. Comparatively, the new SunGod FORTY2s are super lightweight and ultra-comfortable – ticking every box I’d look for in running-specific sports sunglasses.
The no bounce frame delivers – these glasses stay put even during harder efforts and drills. In cooler conditions, I didn’t get any steaming up or fogging. And even while running in hot conditions in recent weeks (got to love the changeability of spring in the UK), with sweat and sunscreen to contend with, there’s been no slipping whatsoever.
I was sent these in the limited edition Neon Blue colourway, which has a tinted lens. And if I had to try to find something negative to say about these glasses – it’s that I’d have preferred a mirrored lens. Nobody needs to see the haunted look in my eyes during the tail end of a long run (or worse – the last 5km of an Ironman marathon!) But there are several other colour options available, including the option to pick a photochromatic lens or a mirrored lens. So with that in mind, that’s every single box ticked!
- Comfortable fit with no bouncing or slipping, even in hot conditions.
- 8KO lens offers excellent clarity both in bright sunshine and gloomy early mornings.
- Several colourways and lens options available, and you can customise your own.
- Made from sustainable materials
- Lifetime guarantee
- Starting at £110, these are at the premium end of the scale so might be tough to justify if you’re on a budget
best for…
Well, running – obviously! But so far, these are lightweight enough for long distances, and made from sturdy enough stuff to stay bounce-free and slip-free for hard efforts or technical trail runs. They’ve performed well in both cold and hot conditions, too. All weather, and all run, versatility.
Unboxing the SunGod FORTY2s
Fresh out of the box, the first thing that struck me with these glasses are just how lightweight they are. The half-frame design and smaller size gives a subtler profile, without being so small that you look like you’ve thrown it back to the ultra-small sports sunglasses of the noughties and the twenty-tens. These strike the perfect balance between on trend, and functionally small and lightweight.
The neon blue frame looks super cool. And they come with their own microfibre carry pouch, which doubles up as your lens cleaner and keeps the sustainability theme going – it’s made from recycled bottles.
I really like that the ergonomic ear grippers are only ‘grippy’ on the inside of the arms of these glasses – rather than a slide on ‘sock’ style gripper which I’ve found can often end up coming loose over time, and/or can be prone to getting tangled in my hair when it inevitably starts making a break for it out of my hairband mid-run. You also get a few different nose gripper options to find your perfect fit.
Overall, these glasses have an ultra-cool, ultra-lightweight look and feel and all the makings of a perfectly versatile pair of running glasses. First impressions had me, well… impressed. But it was time to hit the roads and the trails to see how they’d perform!
Performance
Wondering around the kitchen admiring the new SunGod FORTY2s in my reflection in the microwave is one thing (everyone does that the second they unbox new gear, right!?). But you can’t really get a feel for just how well sports sunglasses will perform until you put them through their paces in a range of conditions. And thankfully, the wildly fluctuating weather over the last few months has delivered almost every condition going – other than snow! That means I’ve had chance to test these glasses out in the cold, the wet, dazzling sunshine and high humidity.
No slip, no bounce
The SunGod FORTY2s passed the major test for running glasses: no bouncing, and no slipping. For me, those are the two major deal breakers. I like to be able to dial into my inner metronome on long runs, and if I’m having to push my glasses up my snout every 2 seconds that’s almost impossible. A pair of Oakleys I used to run in a couple of years ago have been confined to the bottom of the kit drawer for this very reason.
The FORTY2s sit perfectly still – even through harder efforts. And perhaps more impressively, even after making the rookie error of going out dressed all in black on a Sunday long run during a heatwave, these glasses didn’t slip at all even while I was sweating profusely through my SPF50. SunGod promise that the more you sweat, the more these glasses grip. And they certainly delivered.
So lightweight you almost forget you’re wearing them
Alongside staying put, these running glasses are also incredibly comfortable. The lightweight frame and lens construction means you barely notice them on your face. With other glasses, I start to find they’re creating pressure points behind my ears or across the bridge of my nose during the latter stages of long runs. So far, though I’m not quite into peak long run season quite yet, this hasn’t been an issue with the new SunGod offering. I even convinced myself I was about to get caught in a terrible storm the other week because the clouds looked so ominously dark – before remembering I had my sunnies on!
No fog
I was out on a fairly tough trail run not too long ago. Not only were the temperatures alarmingly close to 0 degrees (at the start of May – classic UK!), with a brutal head wind straight off the north sea. I was also running on a mixture of deep sand along the beach and sandy, hilly trails through constantly rolling woodland. That meant I had that weird thing where your extremities are freezing, but your core temp is rising fast. And my famously bad sense of direction meant more than a few ‘where the heck am I’ stops. All of which, is usually a perfect storm for running glasses to get foggy and steam up. But the SunGod FORTY2s stayed totally clear. They’ve also stayed clear during the few instances that I’ve been able to convince myself that I’m not made of sugar and actually run outside in the rain rather than hiding on the treadmill.
Versatile running glasses that deliver on both style and substance
So far, it’s pretty much impossible to fault these glasses – I’ve genuinely really enjoyed running in them.
The design is cool – and the modular construction means you can customise your own pair, too. They’ve performed superbly across a range of run sessions and in a wide variety of conditions. And while the starting price of £110 means they’re towards the more premium end of the scale – the lifetime guarantee means you can be confident of getting plenty of bang for your buck.
Ratings
Overall, a really strong addition to the running-specific sunglasses range from SunGod and I can imagine we’ll be seeing plenty of the FORTY2s on start lines this season!
