Best Racing Shoes (California XC)

Running Shoes/Running Gear Shoes

1 year ago 04/21/2023 9:26pm EDT

Hey guys, I'm a high school xc runner from California and I was wondering what you guys think are the best shoes for racing. To give some context I'm racing at courses like Crystal Springs (2.95 miles) and Woodward Park (5k). All courses are pretty much just hard dirt with a little bit of grass.

Here are some options I thought of but if you guys have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. Btw spikes aren't allowed in california xc if you're unaware.

- Vaporfly 3 (250)
- Vaporfly 2 (150)
- Streakfly (100)
- Zoom victory waffle 5 (Free from a friend but pretty beat up)

I have enough money saved up for any of them so I mainly just care about getting the fastest one (cost isn't really important to me). I'm also curious how you think these shoes would perform on a flat course vs one with a lot of elevation change. Any insight or advice is welcome, thanks in advance!

1 year ago 04/21/2023 9:30pm EDT

re: NotARealPerson123

I pretend this is serious (as oppose to just another Nike commercial posing as a thread) just in case someone else ends up looking at it.

LetsRun.com Forum Thread

No XC spikes rule in CA is a myth

calbuffalo11/11/2022 3:13pm EST1 year ago

Spikes are not allowed at the state HS course. It's in the handbook. It makes no sense to wear them at several other venues. Having said that, why do people claim it's not legal to wear spikes at all in the state of Californi...

Thread:www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?th...

1 year ago 04/21/2023 9:46pm EDT

re: Is this a real question?

By the way, the linked thread was interesting. I made the mistake of briefly participating on my school's team and I can say that nobody wore a spiked shoe. I didn't wear a pair at any point in high school, in fact. If I remember the guys I normally trained with (like outside of the XC season) none of us even had a pair.

This is going back several decades. And I haven't/don't coach HS XC either. So, I didn't have much to add to the thread. I don't have a dog in the fight, so to speak, but I read it out of curiosity. I tend to side with those who claim that there is no Statewide rule of any sort even though certain courses - or maybe just one - prohibit spikes. But like I suggested, the various posters have much more - and much more recent - experience with this that I.

In my memory, it seemed to be a cultural thing. The guys I knew raced in the same thing they wore for road races. Hard to say what they'd have worn for a track race. It doesn't seem like my crowd ever ran one. I certainly didn't. A bunch of folks who own flats but not spikes will run in flats. Could it be that the tradition of non-spiked shoes in CA simply goes back to cultural norms of the '70s? Hard to believe, but they still don't wear spike out there, so.....

1 year ago 04/21/2023 9:47pm EDT

re: NotARealPerson123

Cali XC is road racing on dirt

Get the Vaporfly 2 or Asics supershoe

1 year ago 04/21/2023 10:59pm EDT

re: NotARealPerson123

Yeah haha I am pretty biased towards nike. I don't really know that much about other shoe brands other than hoka, but I'd love to hear any suggestions for flats/shoes from other brands.

I also had no idea that the no spikes in california thing was a myth, however a lot of important races have a no spike rule (states + clovis) so I agree that flats are probably better.

1 year ago 04/21/2023 11:27pm EDT

re: NotARealPerson123

Vaporfly 2 is up there, my entire varsity team runs them because Cali XC is honestly just road racing with tiny dirt lol, treat it just as racing on roads.

Vaporfly 3 is probably the same, can't imagine a huge difference between vaporfly models except maybe comfort/maybe durability but performance really should be about the same.

Alphafly is a bit too clunky, maybe Saucony Endorphin Elite or some other plated shoe anyway.

Just any good road racer, or even just flats (less free benefit and slower times probably but better for your leg strength for wearing spikes track season), will probably do well.

This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted. Reason provided: clarification

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