On the road you don't need grippy studs on your shoes. Off-road, it's vital or you'll be slip-sliding all over the place and putting yourself at greater risk of injury.With that in mind, it's a common question for runners new to off-road running - which ones to choose? There's as much choice for fell as there is for road running and plenty of places to go shopping for them. The main thing to look out for are off-road shoes are suitable studs or grip for the terrain you'll encounter, once you leave the road and trails behind.
Whether you want minimal shoes or some with a heel-to-toe differential is entirely personal choice. As with any shoe fitting, you need to try them on to see if they suit your feet. Although there are obvious commonalities in foot structure, we are all unique. We also have personal preferences about how shoes feel when we wear them.
Here's the shoes I've been using over the past couple of years, and a few thoughts on how I find them to run in:
Northface Hedgehogs:
I've mainly used these as 'around town' walking shoes in winter to keep my feet dry - they're goretex which causes my feet to overheat when running. I can run in them quite comfortably, but paradoxically would only do so on dry trails. That's because when you're out running in the hills you are going to get wet feet. There's no way of avoiding it. Goretex only serves to hold wetness inside them as far as I have experienced, whereas shoes designed for fell running allow water to come out as easily as it enters. When I say they hold water in, I'm talking about the volumes you encounter in bogs, deep puddles or crossing a stream. I think that these are in fact sold as approach shoes, not running shoes, so perhaps not a fair choice to include. However, you've got my thoughts on goretex and running shoes.
My overall opinion: good for town and trail shoes, walking only.
Distance run in to date: not applicable
INOV8 Roclites:
My first fell running shoes. Essentially a trail shoe but they served me well when I initially started running off-road. I now only use these on trails, and as the grip has worn down they really don't work well on mud or wet grass any more. After wearing XTalons (see below), I also find these too broad around the toe area.
My overall opinion: great starter shoe for trails and easy, dry fell runs.
Distance run in to date: unknown, I owned them way before I started logging runs on strava.
INOV8 Xtalon212s:
Pair number 1 |
Pair number 2 |
Side by side view of soles on first pair of xtalons (left) and second pair (right) |
Side by side view of uppers first pair (left) and second pair (right) |
My overall opinion: my fell shoe of choice.
Distance run in to date, pair 1: 547.3km + what wasn't logged before I joined strava - could be another few hundred km?
Distance run in to date, pair 2: 314.4km, I reckon the studs on this pair have worn down quicker than pair #1
INOV8 Mudclaw 300s:
These are a close second to being my favourite fell shoe. I only noticed taking this photo that one of the studs has started to rip away. A lot of runners have this happen fairly regular but perhaps I'm light enough on my feet, or don't run hard (read that as fast) enough for this problem to arise. This pair has started to disintegrate a little around the toe box, on the medial side the stitching has started to come away and some of the plastic rand has come away from the material. They still feel good to run in though. A couple of minor gripes with this model: firstly when traversing I find that the fabric under my ankle bone digs in. It's never caused me any issues with rubbing skin or blisters, but it's quite uncomfortable. Secondly, when they get really wet I find the toe box feels much roomier and my feet feel sloppy in them. Tightening the laces does help with this, but not entirely.
My overall opinion: Great shoes, a few minor niggles. I'd buy them again.
Distance run in to date: 537.9km
Adidas Kanadias:
A decent and cheap trail shoe that I used for quite a lot of fell runs when it was dry, especially if I had sections of road, trail or hard packed ground to cover on longer runs. The material which the studs are made of is pretty useless on wet ground, especially grass. After over 400km they are now showing obvious signs of disintegration (I can poke my finger through one of the holes) and I suspect they will catastrophically fall apart sometime soon. The studs are also quite worn down from the combination of terrain (road to reach trails, trails and rocky paths). This means that I really can only wear these now on trails when it's dry. I might buy these again if I did a lot of trail running, but since getting these I've done quite a bit of running in minimalist shoes (including vibram fivefingers) and I think the Kanadias give too much cushioning for my style of running now.
My overall opinion: decent and reasonably priced trail shoe
Distance run in to date: 419.6km
Walsh's
My overall opinion: wouldn't buy again but ok as a spare pair.
Distance run in to date: unknown, very little
Orocs, pictured new, and still look like this |
As you can see, I've got a fair collection of INOV8 shoes (small in comparison to some people). I really must try a different type, but then I really do like the fit and grip from them, especially the XTalons. It makes it hard to switch to other brands, especially when shoes are as expensive as they are. Buying a pair of £90+ shoes to find they don't suit you is an expensive mistake. Hence the need to try on shoes, rather than go by what other people say. Shoes featured here are what I've used...there's still lots of others out there to go and investigate.
Here's a random selection of photos showing the shoes in action:
xtalons (first pair) climbing out of William Clough on Kinder Downfall Fell Race |
xtalons (unsure of which pair) running in the Rhinnogs, Wales |
xtalons (second pair) in Grindelwald, Switzerland |
xtalons (second pair) in Bettmeralp, Switzerland |
Mudclaw 300s having fun in the peat bogs, most likely on Bleaklow |
Mudclaw 300s on a snowy winter night run |
Mudclaw 300s having a wash in the stream |
xtalons (2nd pair) on a Welsh beach |
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