I tried the decathlon trail shoes, but they were too narrow for me, sadly.

Also ended up buying the fujitrabuco 7 trail, I reckon they’re the best shoes I’ve ever had, my go to for anything off-road now, hill walking too.

Just waiting for them to go half price on sportsshoes, and ill stock up!.

Yay – a new page so I don’t have to see those battered scalps every time I look at the thread 🙂

Long shot, but anyone here running in Kalenji (Decathlon) shoes?

Me – i find their 21.99 active mens running shoe great for the road and the running club track *tarmac* sessions. get about 500km out of them before the cushioning goes and i get sore calves again. – having gone from pegasus and brooks glycerine 8s –

I also have their Trail running TR shoe – which i ran the lairig ghru in – i echo the above they are quite narrow. I found they rub my arch after about 35km.

Conversely i have some kiprun 4s i use for winter bog snorkling and hill running and they are really wide in the forefoot and seem comfy enough to just go and go. not much if any padding though.

Yay – a new page so I don’t have to see those battered scalps every time I look at the thread 🙂

Hits head again for purposes of upsetting dashed 😀

TR, somewhat snobbishly I overlooked the cheaper ones. They’ll do the job and I can keep an extra pair at work at that price.

How do the Kiprun race 4s last? They’re the same price as the Inov8s I get on sale, but they last about ten outings before I can see my socks through various holes in the upper.

Feeling a bit like an old human today. I’ve been building up slowly to 5K and done a couple of slow ones in the last couple of weeks. Went out last night for a steady 5K and my left calf felt a bit tight after 3K – no pain and didn’t really cause any problems but I monitored it and all seemed well.

Got back and calf quite painful. Thankfully not a proper strain like I had at the start of the year and it’s not too bad today. Should be over it in a couple of days, but just makes me think that I’ve got to be careful. Perhaps it was the colder weather, perhaps I didn’t warm up properly, perhaps it is the shoes?

Any recommendations for good shops in South London or Surrey? I’ve seen one in Surbiton/Tolworth, just down the road from me, called “Up and Running” that has good reviews and looks good.

I’ll lick my wounds and stick with it.

My kiprun 4¥ did well over winter they have plenty life left in them yet.

I only really use them on grotty trails and wet days so they don’t get an easy life.

Massively grippy in the mud but not great for anything other than mud/trails very squirmy under foot on hard surfaces.

Interesting to know. I use Walshes in the mud but also have to run on a lot of sandstone which wears the knobs down in no time.

Good call on the 22 quid Kipruns btw – cheers! Picked some up yesterday and ran home from work in them, equalled my PB and felt comfy, so they’re a thumbs up from me. Only struggled on a steep gravel path which I doubt was in the design brief.

down the road from me, called “Up and Running” that has good reviews and looks good.

They do get very good reviews although my personal experience with them wasn’t brilliant as the shoes they recommended were very uncomfortable and gave me pins & needles but I guess I need to put that down to the shoe rather than their advice as I still run in shoes that help correct my running gait as they recommended but just another brand.

Was up in the Cairngorms on Sunday, saw quite a few folk running with numbers on, many looking quite dishevelled, turned out it was the ‘type 2 fun run ultra’ where there’s dozens of check points and you choose your own route and which ones you do, so there’s an element of planning and strategy involved other than everyone just racing the same route. The conditions Saturday (friend got hypothermia while out) and Sunday (first taste of winter) were pretty rough, so respect to everybody that did this overnighter (30 hours)

These just arrived on my desk, a bit more than £22 :O

Not sure I can justify them really, but one can never have too many bikes or shoes 🙂

I couldn’t justify them, but wondering if I could drill them to fit SPDs…

My running landscape is significantly less spectacular than those photos, but it’s the view from the mind’s eye that counts!

Call me mad, but despite my calf twinge on Wednesday, I decided to do a slow 3.28k this evening. I’ve been looking after it and massaging the painful bit and it’s felt ok. I’m determined not to give up this time due to niggles.

I warmed up well, took it easy, felt it twinging a bit but all is good. I think it actually feels better. I know I do.

Great inspiration here folks 👍👍

Its still dry and hardpack down this way, some of the forests in upper Wallington look like the last time they had rain was a few years ago..

Still rocking my ON fetish, still proving to be some of the best gear I’ve ever used.

Interested in ON. What’s good about them? Be grateful to get an insight.

Did the Ben Nevis race yesterday when I probably shouldn’t have. Multiple niggles, a cold and 2 runs in the best part of a month isn’t the best preparation! Blew up pretty badly towards the end but managed 2:01 something. 13 mins slower than last year but happy given the circumstances.

Interested in ON. What’s good about them? Be grateful to get an insight.

All IMO, others may differ….

I bought my first pair for running hard dirt and bought the Cloud’s … then bought the Cloudventure Peaks, and then another pair of Cloudventures and then…. we’ll my wardrobe just expanded from there.

Firstly, I run for pleasure only and SDowns area, so mix of hard/soft trails and forests etc. I’ve done a couple of 25 & 50ks but that’s the longer distance, most weeks I do 15-20k a couple of times and a short 7k. Just for fun…

Bumped into a mate who had a pair of clouds on, thought “nice” and at the time I ran in Sal SpeedX’s for the trails. So tried a pair and they’re different to may shoes I’ve ran in, and way more comfortable too.

The shoes have a particular tread called “clouds” essentially some foam filled domes or hollow domes. Shoes are extremely well made, and light too. The clouds have a “bounce” about them, and have helped me become a more bounce/lift leg runner than a plodder… I still plod, but do tend to bounce more… don’t know if that’s the shoes or my style more these days.

They have a particular grip, and TBH it’s not that brilliant in soft squishy mud or SDowns damp forest because the clouds tend to slip on the wet roots or flint. So if it’s soggy I run in my Sal SpeedX’s since the grips better for that type of trail.

Another slightly odd thing about the “hollow” clouds is they attract water if it’s wet and the shoes squeak a bit… but that’s it.

My original Cloudventure Peaks have done about 3k and still look great and loads of tread, but as a precaution I bought a second pair. They’ve changed the sole design a bit on this years model to more of a tread not unlike Sal SpeedX’s… but they’re white this year… which is pointless because they’re gonna look well grubby very quickly. 🤷‍♂️

The soles much lower cut than a lot of shoes I’ve owned, and I seem to prefer it… odd considering I ran in SpeedX’s for years.

ON are on the expensive side of things, but that’s fine considering the amount of K’s I run in them.

I’ve also got a wardrobe of their running gear, it’s very well designed… a touch better than Sal’s/Norona IMO and suits me well for fit.

I’ve posted on this thread a few pics and other musings about ON and my experience with them, could be a good few pages back… maybe worth a look.

Undoubtedly I’ll get some stick for using them, because some folk think they’re expensive and that they think you could get equally good brands cheaper… that’s their choice. But for me, and the miles I do I think they’re worth every penny.

HTHs

Tried some ON’s on yesterday. Seemed nice but the guy in the shop thought as I run about 50/50 road/trail they’d get trashed pretty quick.

Came away with some brooks cascadia 14, first run out on the moors this evening hopefully.

I’d agree with the road/trail mix ^^ the clouds will wear out quickly on tarmac. I have a pair of original clouds that I use for town/casual (worn them today as I happens) and the heal and outer edge have worn down but not lost any bounce… but I’ve never run in this particular pair (but use the others for trails)

IIRC Lunge might have tried ON but didn’t like them much, but he’s way more experienced than me and maybe a little different conditions (trail/tarmac, as opposed to me which is always trail)

Its probably worth reading back in this thread for mine/his views before buying em’…

I must add, I have a high instep. Finding any shoe that fits is always fraught with trepidation. The Sal Speedx are particularly odd choice for me (high heal foam, more forward tilt) yet I’ve been running in them for a good few years before I moved over to ON… but I still use the Sals, but only when it’s gloopy…

Also at the Ben race this happened…

Whilst warming up I came round a corner to find Charlie Ramsay himself standing in the middle of the path. I impulsively offered him my hand with the explanation ‘I’m number 93 on your list.’ We had a wee chat about his round and rounds in general then I carried on. When I passed in the race he shouted ‘come on number 93!’ Made my day.

Awesome Spin, a genuine legend. 😊

Aye, it was a lovely moment.

One of the guys in my triathlon club has haemophilia and can’t run, so I came up with a genius plan: a sprint triathlon relay! He did the swim, another guy did the bike, and I did the run. Given my preferred distance is marathon and up, a 4.2km race wasn’t exactly my forte… All good fun though, even if I did get soundly beaten by ex-European 10k champ Chema Martinez 🙂

IIRC Lunge might have tried ON but didn’t like them much, but he’s way more experienced than me and maybe a little different conditions (trail/tarmac, as opposed to me which is always trail)

Correct, I bought a pair of CloudFlyers (I think) which are their light stability road shoe. I only used them on the road and towpaths and found them a a bit dead feeling, no feedback or return for my effort is how they felt to me. I still wear them occasionally but don’t really like them still. If anyone’s a size 12/47 wants to try a pair I’m happy to part with them for a very fair price.

I’m having a bit of a challenge with shoes at the moment, keep buy8ng pairs, doing 5 or 10k on the treadmill and taking them back as they’re not right, tried Mizuno, Brooks, ASICS and Nike so far. Ideally I’d like Nike to rerelease a shoe with the same last as the Pegasus 34 as they fit me like a glove and I’m fast using up my stock of them.

I’m having a bit of a challenge with shoes at the moment, keep buy8ng pairs, doing 5 or 10k on the treadmill and taking them back as they’re not right

I love my NB, any reason you haven’t tried them? What kind of shoes do you like? (I like low drop / wide forefoot fwiw)

I love my NB, any reason you haven’t tried them?

They’re next on the list.
I need a wide forefoot, that’s the main challenge. Bar that, a firms ish, neutral shoe that’s good for some distance work, nothing too complicated!

I’ve got NB 990s. Only issue is the paper thin insole – I had to glue it in, as it would slip back in the shoe and leave my toes with even less padding… a bit of silicone and it was sorted. Otherwise I’m very happy with them, lots of space for my toes and very comfortable, I’ve done a few half marathons and the run leg of an ironman in them with no problems. Sounds like they’d be ideal for what you’re looking for.

So – back from the GNR and what a great day it was. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get anything like the pace I was hoping for – it’s 16 years since I last ran it and it was considerably busier and the hills were bigger (and more of them) than I recalled (as others have said on here) so I was nowhere near my hoped for time, but still ran inside my cut-off and finished with 1hr 58. I guess that’s okay for a 52 yr old who had run no longer than a ParkRun until the beginning of July. Onwards and upwards for next year 🙂

View this post on Instagram

New shoe day. And a thermonuclear explosion over Bodmin. Might improve it a bit… #howiescape #lovedartmoor #dartmoor #trailrunning #running #brooksrunning #brookscascadia14

A post shared by Less Bikes, More Stuff (@jim_gardiner) on Sep 8, 2019 at 3:24pm PDT

cascadia’s seem good so far..

It was the Surrey Bacchus wine marathon yesterday, which I’ve run numerous times before. I recycled my outfit from a few years ago, but wasn’t able to arrange to have number 118 this time to coordinate!

One good thing about this is the additional head protection 🙂

Plan was to actually drink wine this year, as I received a torrent of abuse last year for winning but not embracing the spirit of the event! Also was treating it as a fairly hard training run but leave the legs relatively fresh as I have a more important race next weekend. Was glad to have company for the first lap, a Serpentine runner I have crossed paths with before, so we chatted on the way round before he loitered to wait for his friends and I pushed on a bit more. Finished in 2:45 and I think the next full marathon finisher was about 45 minutes back! As there is no timing mat at the half-distance, all of the folk who were entered the full, but only completed one lap, appear with their one-lap times in the results, but with no way of differentiating 1 lap from 2. I think 9th in the results was actually 2nd…

Anyway, a fun morning out with pretty much perfect weather, and a nice 871m of climbing!

Great effort johndoh….. I’d never consider a marathon on road… a great result and hope you continue…

Anyone know if the Northumberland coastal runs on soon..

Congrats to Johndoh. It was a bit warm as well wasn’t it? I second what you said about the crowds – twice as many people as last time I did the GNR. I got in in 2hr 4mins as I had a bit of a wobble at 8-9 miles with dehydration I think. Pulled myself together after that and really enjoyed last 4 miles. I just can’t comprehend how TF does 2.45 for twice the distance. Awesome stuff!

Cheers – I will be continuing my running (although I want to get back on my bike after not using it all summer using all my spare time with running training) but I do want to get faster and hopefully get closer to what I know I can do with a decent amount of focussed training.

I just can’t comprehend how TF does 2.45 for twice the distance.

While chatting 😮

Congrats to him and to you johndoh!

@Bikebouy – Northumberland coastal run (assuming you mean Beadnell to Alnmouth) is in July.
Entries usually open in January, but sell out quite fast

I just can’t comprehend how TF does 2.45 for twice the distance.

Yeah I have to accept that some people are just built very differently and accept that, whilst I might be okay (and a hell of a lot better than many people of my age) that there are always going to be people much better than me. I was well reminded of that early this year when trying to set a ParkRun PB and was overtaken on the second of three laps like I was just jogging by a young lad in his very early teens 🙂

But well done slowpuncheur – it was a bit warm so I made sure I took on fluids (just a few sips from a bottle about three stations) even though I don’t normally drink. I could feel small stiches start each time I drank so kept it to a minimum then had a few bottles at the end (followed by celebratory beers in the sponsor tent 🙂 so well done to you for pushing through – I did see one person being carried off through the barriers unable to go on with about 400 metres to go and another on the TV later of someone looking like she was about to face plant just as she turned right onto the grass and the finish line but somehow she managed to finish.

I just can’t comprehend how TF does 2.45 for twice the distance.

But it does look like his unreasonably hairy shoulders have spread to the surrounding car park so he is clearly some kind of X-Men freak. 😉

^Yup. Running is good for your humility. I think in MTB and road biking you can buy speed to some degree but whether you’ve got £20 Sports Direct specials or £200 Nikes, it doesn’t make much difference.

I beat you to the beers though. I have a lovely plastic cup of the stuff at about 10 miles. Better than haribo.

whether you’ve got £20 Sports Direct specials or £200 Nikes, it doesn’t make much difference.

You’d be surprised, going from road to trail shoes makes a huge difference to pace. It won’t turn you into an Olympian athlete, though 🙂

I beat you to the beers though. I have a lovely plastic cup of the stuff at about 10 miles. Better than haribo.

I saw them and thought the better of it after nearly choking on a jelly baby and completely upsetting my rhythm earlier in the run 🙂