Check the picture of the Italian that won the World Mountain Championship... he's wearing racing flats, as is the Eritrean in second place... me like, as it is my philosophy that specific "trails" shoes are rubbish. You want to be in the most comfortable shoe possible.
I wouldn't write them off so quickly - a few steep downhills or grass or mud and you would not have much fun in flats. Then you'll be looking for more grip and support than you'll get from your road racers. They had obviously been round the course beforehand and made their decision.
The women's winner used trail shoes ... perhaps they helped her keep her feet as she ripped the descents:
Anna Pichrtova (CZE), also a downhill specialist, lifted the women’s World title at last after several high positions in previous trophy races. Last year’s champion, Andrea Mayr (AUT) gave her a hard fight. It was not until the descent on the second and final lap that the Czech pulled away to win by 41 seconds in a time of 39.11 for the 8km 622m ascent/descent course. Laura Haefeli (USA) led the American team to their second successive World Title with a score of 23 point, just one more than Czech Republic with 24.
To be truthful, Pichrtova was wearing Innov-8's, which are basically flexible road flats with a grippy outsole.
[quote=Leirbag] it is my philosophy that specific "trails" shoes are rubbish. [/quote] Wrong. He may have not been the first to discover this "philosophy", but Matt Carpenter has been espousing it publicly for years.
Leirbag wrote:
me like, as it is my philosophy that specific "trails" shoes are rubbish.
Absolutely! Crap, who says you even need marketed 'running shoes'?! I did just fine in the Puma H Streets when I trained in Boulder for 6 weeks over lots of rocks. It actually felt good to feel the rocks.... your feet sort of wrap themselves around the rocks.
I run races regularly in flats--ds racers, right now. I've felt generally pretty confident on downhills, but when I'm whooped, I worried about falling. I hear inov8s provide that extra grip in a flat weight and feel. I'm with you about feeling the rocks and the trail.
u knowitall wrote:
Well, if it isn't the site's least experienced expert chiming in yet again.
No, that honor goes to you.
...those look like mizuno elixir's too me.....not racers...
Back to footwear for a sec ...
I've run lots of trail races in road shoes, and many others in trail running models.
There are definietly days when I prefer a nice, light road shoe -- but for gnarly trails trail running models seem worthwhile to me.
It reminds me of mountain biking. Many riders declare a hardtail is lighter and faster, and suspension is for a gimick or for sissies. Then they try a full suspension bike and discover that, despite being a bit heavier, the increased traction and control makes it a better choice for many (but not all) courses.
You wish.
The Italian? He's wearing Asics Ohana Racers.
When I ran the worlds in Kinabalu in 1999 a lot of the teams turned up with racing flats and then checked out the course and had to get studs flown in...!
Basically in this competition it depends on where the race is and whether it is the uphill only year. This is not normal trail running either as the speeds that the top athletes can get up to during decents is close to 100m sprinters. A lot of the euro courses a dry dusty trails and hence flats are the best shoes especially when it is uphill only.
You need something low profile with soft lugs. Most of the trail shoes have to sacrifice the soft rubber in production for more durable hard compounds. The specialist companies like walsh and innov8 can afford to be a little more extreme.
Generally the mainland europeans wear flats, the commenwealth countries wear studs (walsh, innov8, adidas swoops, Not sure what the yanks wear but i think they wear more adventure style racing shoes.
My personal choice would be the old adidas lightfoot, followed by the classic walsh PB's. Super light, super grip, low profile.
If you run on soft trails then you don't need cushioning and a pair of studs are good for runs over 2 hrs. Another option is to pick your fave racing flats and send them to Pete Bland Sports to get them resoled with some aggressive lugs.
I've seen Eric Clifton at trail 100's wearing Nike Mayfly or the super-light NB flats. But those weren't the rockiest courses and he was one of the few wearing that light a shoe. It's also wild that he was wearing, I think, Mayfly's in parts of "Running On the Sun".
Here's a picture of Krupicka (Leadville 100 champ) wearing a pair of low-profile Inov-8s as well:
http://bp1.blogger.com/_muneiQUr-RM/RsCpDUIWPJI/AAAAAAAAADc/-epTBZ2ON80/s1600-h/P8100066.JPG
He looks to be wearing the same shoe in the actual race:
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/proofs/LT100Rn.2007/LT100Rn.2007-Pages/Image7.html
I'd say that Leadville is a pretty gnarly course.
That one photo has a lot of the best ultrarunners in the country in it. Krupicka (2x Leadville and Rocky Raccoon champ), Hal Koerner (Western States 100 champ), Karl Meltzer (ultrarunner of the year last year w/ 6 100 mile wins), and Scott Jurek (7x WS champ, Hardrock course record this year, wins everything big).
Looks like you picked up a troll stalker there jag1. Did you shoot someone down when they hit on you in the past couple of years? Outkick a guy in a race, perhaps?
