Best running shoes for a xmudder / wolf run type thing

Being of average mtb fitness and not having run anywhere since cross country at school thirty years ago. Any useful guidance on decent grippy (I guess) footwear or any other tips to be honest that might help one not die on such an event?
Cheers

Old ones. That you don’t want to wear again. That might also include clothing. Tbh, at these things, you’re so covered in shite, that any trainers will do as long as they’re not flat soled things. They’re more about stamina and resilience than anything else.

Erm… Don’t go tanking it. Pace and don’t go it too hard, do less than you think for the first 3-4 weeks otherwise you’ll get the DOMs and you’ll have to stop.

Trainers, so many to choose from, I use Salomon 3’s for proper trails as the sole is super grippy, but hey have a high heel and the tread wears out very quickly. Also I use Brooks Peregrine which are trail shoes but much flatter footbed and more x orientated tread.

Liners under shorts to both hold it all together and compression.

Do 5k then walk home, do 5k then walk home, etc for the first couple of weeks etc until you get more into it. Forest trails are slower than more normal stuff so that’s a good idea to start out doing.

IMO
YMMV

Adidas Kanadia are my favoured trainers, most specialist “trail running” ones are silly money, you can get a pair of Kanadias for £30-40 from Sports Direct and they’re much grippier than regular road trainers.

Nice one, just finishing is good enough for me. Definitely no rush ! Is running totally different from cycling muscle endurance wise? I appreciate that it’s different muscle groups and that I need to build up to 10k but I know I can manage 4/5 hr rides with 4/5000 ft of climbing.

Thanks Simon, I’ll have a look at those

these are very grippy especially for very wet mud off camber stuff and steep banks etc http://moremile.co.uk/footwear/more-mile-cheviot-2-mens-trail-running-shoes-mm1509.html

retail price is £29.95 can be bought for £22

I always go with Saucony Exodus- very good shoes for trail running. Shed water easily, strong sole which is good for rocky and uneven ground.

Have a look on sportshoes.

Don’t just use old ‘gym’ shoes, as you will be slipping all over the place, will not provide enough support and hold water and stay heavier. Also, avoid gore-tex trail running shoes!

Avoid gore tex, check. Plan A of using old pair out of window!

Make sure you can comfortably run the distance so you can concentrate on the obstacles/having a laugh without getting knackered from running. Encourage any members of your group who are slacking off to train harder, as well. We had one bloke on the day announce “I haven’t done much running” 🙄 Cue everyone else standing around getting cold/pissed off waiting for him the whole time.

Start doing pull-ups if you don’t already.

Wear gloves. Fingerless cycling gloves are good. (The people who had done the event before were noticeable by the fact a lot of them had some form of knee/elbow protection as well which I’d definitely do next time!)

Have fun! I did a Tough Mudder and it was a cracking day out!

Yeah, gloves a good idea.

Headband too? You may look German but headbands work well. Or a running cap ( I use that) it’s thin, keeps my hair in one place and is warm/cool enough.

I’ll agree you can spend silly money on Kit, those Salomons I mentioned are about £100, whilst good at what they do I get through two pairs a year because the sole wears down.

Good call on old gear to start with, trail running is filthy fun and you’ll whimper at getting a pair of running tights muddy at £60-£80 a pop.

Head torch? I’ve got one, don’t use it that often but if you run at night through forests they’re a pretty good accessory.

Water intake. on 10k runs I take a small bottle (holds 200ml) in a bumbag with my keys.

And yes, I may look German on my runs with all that kit on.

I am sure on sportpursuit they had skins on sale. Only worth it though if you’re going to do it often, the leggings A400s were around £60 on sale. Worth it when doing a lot of running.

I also, after long runs used my stockings I got for when I had surgery a while ago! Great for recovery after a long run.

Think I’ve got some old compression stuff and fingerless gloves, so I’m happy about that. I’ll pack my g-form Lycra knee pads also. So just need some to get some relatively cheap shoes and best get out there. Cheers.

Gloves are useful, I wear old mountain bike ones, something with elbow coverage and knee coverage helps stop some scrapes and shoes you don’t mind throwing away after is always good.

Don’t make them too spiky as you will no doubt be standing on people to clear obstacles.

Don’t make them too spiky as you will no doubt be standing on people to clear obstacles.

😆

Ill second using any old trainers you have. And don’t make the same mistake as I did the first time I did a mud event and run through the first tiny avoidable bit of mud you see for fun. I had to carry on running for about another 10 miles with shoes full of mud causing blisters before reaching the proper mud and obstacles.
I saw too many people lose shoes in the mud to consider wearing anything half descent.

I got a pair of Innov-8’s from ebay. £20 or £30 or so. No big deal if they got ruined, but tbh the mess they got in was no worse than a pair of mtb shoes in January!

They weren’t the extreme ones, had a square block pattern on.

Did a Spartan in horrific conditions a couple of years back and I flew past people with gym trainers on who were slipping around all over the place.

They also drained quickly as well so you weren’t lugging around a kilo of saturated padding on each foot after every puddle/river/ditch/ice bath.

Used riding gloves which were nice for the cold, but didn’t help grip on things once they were wet, muddy and slimy.

Shoes with gore-tex are lovely, until the water goes in over the top (first 100m usually), then they don’t drain at all.

Doing the Wild Mud Run[/url] in April. I’ve got an old pair of trainers I’m saving specially for it.

Water intake. on 10k runs I take a small bottle (holds 200ml)

Why? For a 10k surely you’ll only be out there for around an hour, no need for water.

Plenty of acceptable offroad shoes from the likes of Salomon, Saucony, Adidas etc. that can be found on the discount websites for £50 or under. Shoes from the Salomon city/trail range can be found cheap in many places.

Coyote – Member
Doing the Wild Mud Run in April. I’ve got an old pair of trainers I’m saving specially for it.

just a question…

tempt you with a fell race?

just as muddy, wet, hard. but entry cost £4.

not £40.

tempt you with a fell race?

😀

dragon – Member
Water intake. on 10k runs I take a small bottle (holds 200ml)
Why? For a 10k surely you’ll only be out there for around an hour, no need for water.

Just wets my whistle, nothing more.

ahwiles – Member
Coyote – Member
Doing the Wild Mud Run in April. I’ve got an old pair of trainers I’m saving specially for it.
just a question…

tempt you with a fell race?

just as muddy, wet, hard. but entry cost £4.

not £40.

defo as above for fell running – nearest reasonable cost trail race series in Hants/Surrey area is the Brutal Series approx £18 entry http://brutalrun.co.uk/

tempt you with a fell race?

😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

No.

from doing the spartan beast – advice would be; wear some running / cycling tights. I didn’t and my shins were a massive lattice of cuts from brambles etc. See also gloves (which I did wear).

As to shoes – I run/ran in New Balance MT101 / Minimus things. They’re grippy enough, aren’t padded and quick drying / draining. And if you hunt around you can usually pick them up for £40 odd. I have about 3 pairs in rotation between morning runs to work and the gym. And be prepared to bin them if necessary. Mine came out okay after a couple of washing machine cycles..

Coyote – Member

No.

oh go on!

The summer series races are great fun, approx 8k, 300m climbing. start at 7:30, back in the pub (long) before sunset.

The Castleton fell race is simply stunning:

happy, happy, days 🙂

The Castleton fell race is simply stunning:

Is that the Friday evening one in June? One of my favourites. 8)

Make sure your shoes have a good knobbly tread. Had to fish a Toughmudder with a broken leg out of a river after he slipped down a greasy river bank due to his smooth soled Nike fashion shoes

these are very grippy especially for very wet mud off camber stuff and steep banks etc

I’ve got a pair of them and they very rarely get used. If you are in thick mud they are great, but I would think they grip would be too aggressive for climbing up stuff etc. They are cheap too, no way were they ever an £80 shoe

Solomon Fell Raisers work well for me, but as already mentioned don’t try to get by with old gym trainers – you may end up unable to actually stand up!
Innov-8 always get great reviews.
Some grippy gloves that still work when wet are a good idea.

The answer to the original question (with no compromises) are these bad boys

Wearing these is like cheating…. the lightest grippiest things out there

defo as above for fell running – nearest reasonable cost trail race series in Hants/Surrey area is the Brutal Series approx £18 entry http://brutalrun.co.uk/

Or

Contact your nearest running club and ask to go along to the next local XC race… there’s probably one once a month and the costs down here, in sunny Essex, are the same as that chaps fell race up there…. £4 … which include as much cake as you can get down your Gregory at the end …. course you got to replace your lungs first, after going eye balls out for 6/7k…. But it all good fun with a wide a range of abilities

Have done a lot of these events over the years. Don’t use old trainers you’ll be sliding all over the place and they’ll get waterlogged and uncomfortable.

As a minimum get the Adidas Kanadia as they’re good for the price. Or if you can afford them get some Innov-8 x-talons as the pictured above. Make sure you run them in a bit though as they’ll be completely different to anything you’ve run in in the past. Innov-8 do some with more cushioning too, they might be more suitable for you and they also have great grip and drainage.