Footwear for Adventure Racing/Trail Running
By John Walter & Cori Jones

Cori Jones field testing some shoes in the Moab Adventure Xtreme

Adventure racing is hell on your body and your equipment. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to your feet and your selected footwear. As the old cliché goes, it's "where the rubber hits the road". Some studies shows that at the point of impact during running, your feet absorb two and a half times the weight of your body. Over the course of an 8-mile run, the feet of an average 160 lb. male will absorb a cumulative total of more than 2500 tons. Combine with that the uneven and unstable surfaces of the trails found on the typical adventure race. You can see that it's fairly safe to say that the footwear you choose for your racing is a pretty important decision.

Running shoes come in two basic types of construction: curve lasted and straight lasted. Curve lasted shoes are designed for cushioning and have a relatively flexible midsole. Straight lasted shoes, on the other hand, are designed for motion control and stability and have a more rigid midsole. Due to their increased support material, straight lasted shoes are typically heavier than curve lasted shoes. Shoes manufactured for trail running/adventure racing are almost all straight lasted. All of the shoes that we review here fall into this category.

Some things to consider when you're buying your footwear are: how many miles you're looking to get out of the shoe, how much support you're going to need, the type of terrain that you'll be traveling, how much the shoes weigh, how much you're willing to spend, how much breathability you'll need.

A good estimate for the amount of miles your shoes will last is about 300 miles, or averaging 50 miles a week for 6 weeks. As you run in your shoes, the midsoles become increasingly compressed and slowly lose their ability to absorb the impact. Studies have shown that at around 300 miles, the shoe has about 55% of its shock absorbing ability left. Ironically, some of the more expensive shoes will not last as long as they use more expensive materials to absorb the impact and actually break down faster.

Some racers need more support from their shoes. Look for shoes that have some sort of stabilizing structure in the footbed, or some other lateral stabilizing feature. Lateral stability is key when it comes to trail running and adventure racing due to the uneven surfaces that we travel.

The tread of the shoe is another important feature. For longer races, or races that travel through more backcountry, you'll need a more aggressive tread with bigger lugs. Look for treads that will clear mud well. The last thing that you need is more weight on your feet due to mud build-up.

Most shoes for adventure racing these days are made from synthetic materials. New synthetic materials will wear as well or better than leather, although they won't stretch as much. Another added feature of the synthetic materials is their ability to dry much faster and retain their strength while wet. Many shoes also are made with a great deal more mesh material than before. The mesh allows a great deal more breathability, plus allows water do drain from the shoe better and dry faster. Who can forget the horrifying images of the racers feet and the problems they experienced in the 2000 Borneo Eco-Challenge?

One more important thing to consider is the size. Many manufacturers have features that allow multiple lacing options or shoes for wider feet. Also on longer races your feet will swell due to the abuse that they're taking. Some ultra-marathoners will size their shoes a full half size bigger to accommodate the swelling they will experience.

The very best thing that you can do when selecting your shoes is to try on every shoe you can find and take a few trips around the store in them. Better yet, talk the salesman into allowing you to take some laps around the parking lot. This will give you a better idea of how the shoes will feel while you're running in them in other conditions, where the pressure spots are, and how the support feels.

The Shoes
While the rest of the world cheered the 2002 Winter Olympic games, we were out testing the shoes in the foothills of the same Wasatch Mountain range that hosted those Olympics. Our conditions were mostly frozen trails, with occasional fresh snow and mud to run on. We made it to warmer temperatures a couple of times during the review, but remained in a high desert winter environment with extremely dry conditions. Several of the shoes were used in races in which we participated, namely the Desert Dash out of Las Vegas, and the Moab Adventure X-treme. Here's what we found.

Merrell Rip
Salomon Raid Race
Salomon XA Pro
The North Face Ultra 100
The North Face Switchback
Montrail Vitesse
Montrail Melee
Montrail Diablo
Vasque Vapor
Hi-Tec Cyclone
Hi-Tec Perpetua

Merrell Rip

The most outstanding feature of the Rip from Merrell is it's unique sole. Made with Vibram's Transector sticky sole rubber, it is similar to the sole of artificial turf shoes for football or indoor soccer. It's covered with small lugs that provide great traction over the varying terrain while trail running.

The Rip has Merrell's triple density compression molded midsole and a full length nylon plate. This provides excellent support and great protection while running. The nylon heel cup keeps the shoe well centered over the footbed for good lateral stability.

This was the first shoe that we tested in this review. We got the shoe in the middle of January during a particularly cold spell. Initially I thought this shoe allowed too much ventilation because my feet were getting cold while out for test runs. While the Rip has a mesh construction that allows for adequate ventilation, my cold feet were probably due more to the single digit temperatures than mesh construction of the Rip. After comparison to some of the other shoes in the review, the Rip is actually quite modest in the amount of ventilation it gives.

Contact Merrell at www.merrellboot.com.

Salomon Raid Race

Salomon's flagship shoe for adventure racing, the Raid Race, has helped to define the standard for adventure racing footwear. Loaded with features for adventure racers, the Raid Race is without question the most popular adventure racing shoe on the market. More elite teams wear the Raid Race than any other shoe, and for good reason.

The most notable feature on the Raid Race that makes it stand out from the other shoes is the lacing system. Rather than using shoelaces, the Raid Race uses a pull-tab on a Kevlar string. Absolutely the fastest system for "tying" your shoes, this quick fit system is asymmetrical and allows for a customizing fit. The excess string and the tab tuck up into an external pocket at the top of the tongue to keep everything out of the way. At first the lacing system tends to become loosened over time, but as the shoes become broken in, we noticed that the system stayed tight longer. However, one draw backs of this lacing system is that if something breaks while in the field, you're hosed.

The Raid Race also sports Salomon's Advanced Chassis System which is a multi-tiered midsole system that allows for greater stability and better handling of the abuse of the terrain that you'll face in Adventure Racing. The plastic cup around the heel is excellent for lateral stability, helping to keep the foot centered over the footbed. The midsole is relatively stiff to assure that it'll stand up to the beating of an expedition length race.

The Raid Race was well liked by the testers. Of all of the shoes in the review, the Raid Race was the shoe that we had the most experience with and turned out to be the standard that we used for testing the other shoes.

Contact Salomon on the internet at www.salomonoutdoor.com.

Salomon XA Pro

New this season from Salomon is the XA Pro, a shoe that takes the successes of the Raid Race and combines them with the lightweight features of a running shoe. The XA Pro has the same asymmetrical quick fit lacing system as the Raid Race, except the pocket in the tongue has been enhanced. It now sports a pull ring with a Velcro closure to make the s ystem more secure and faster to close and adjust.

Following the trend of many shoe manufacturers, the most notable feature of the XA Pro is the upper. The upper is made from several layers of nylon mesh sandwiched together. This accomplishes the task of increased ventilation, which allows for better draining and drying of wet shoes as well as keeping your foot cooler during hot weather. If you hold the shoe up to the light you can actually see through the two layers of the mesh. The mesh upper takes some getting used to, but with time we found that the mesh was actually a comfortable alternative to a highly padded shoe.

Contact Salomon on the internet at www.salomonoutdoor.com.

The North Face Ultra 100

A shoe designed for ultra marathons, the Ultra 100 fits well into the adventure racing category. In fact, this was without question the most comfortable shoe in the review, straight out of the box, and quickly became a favorite of the reviewers. On the vanity scale these shoes get a ten, as we got tons of inquisitive remarks from people about these shoes. Everyone really seemed to like their looks. Fortunately the value of these shoes goes well beyond look.

The sole of the shoe is the widest of all the shoes that we reviewed, with rubber knobs that extend on both side. This made for a super stable and responsive shoe. Invariably, though, as we became more fatigued during a race, we would occasionally hit those knobs on one shoe against the inside of our anklebone on the opposite foot.

The lacing system of the Ultra 100 has multiple tiers to allow for a customized fit. The X-2 midsole is a integrated system to increase the shock absorption as well as give built in lateral stability, with what they call their "roll control", which is peaked sections of the EVA midsole on both sides of the heel. The Ultra 100 has 3 small elastic straps on both sides and the back of the shoe that accepts the external gaiter from The North Face.

For more information contact The North Face at www.thenorthface.com.

The North Face Switchback

While discussing the new Switchback from The North Face, descriptive words like aggressive, monstrous, and beefy kept getting passed around. The most noticeable feature of these shoes is the monstrous tread with exchangeable plastic cleats. Taking a que from golf shoe manufacturers, the Switchback has 2 different interchangeable soft cleats for varying trail conditions. The standard cleat is used for most trail conditions, giving you more traction. The taller Scorpion Spikes are for snowy, icy, or extremely muddy conditions. The Switchback comes with both sets of cleats with a couple extra of each in case you loose some. While the sole was clearly more aggressive, I found that it didn't clear mud as well as I would have expected. I found myself kicking the sole against some rocks to clear the mud on one particularly muddy run.

These shoes are definitely a cross between hikers and trail runners, leaning farther toward the hiker side. The beefy sole is definitely the most aggressive that we saw in this review. The Switchback has one of the stiffest midsoles of this group, making for a longer break in time. It also has a rigid heel cup to increase the lateral stability. All these features add up to produce a heavier shoe, in fact, the heaviest that we reviewed. Once the Switchback is broken in, it does well, even for the weight. If you need the features, this shoe definitely sports them.

A couple of last notes on the Switchback: When I first saw the cleats on the bottom, I was sure that I was going to lose half of them on the first run. To date I still have not lost one cleat after using the shoes for six weeks. Lastly, while we liked the way the Ultra 100 locked the foot down nicely when laced up, the Switchback had a little looser fit. I found that my heel was riding up a little more than I liked.

For more information contact The North Face at www.thenorthface.com.

Montrail Vitesse

The Vitesse from Montrail is another trail tested and proven shoe. It is one of the more popular shoes for long distance trail runners and adventure racers, second only to the Raid Race when it comes to adventure racing. At 13 ounces it is lighter than 90% of the shoes in the review while being the heaviest shoe that we reviewed from Montrail.

The Vitesse has a full-length nylon plate in that gives added protection and support along with several features that give stability. The heel cup keeps the foot centered over the midsole. One of the unique features of the Vitesse is the added area of the sole on the outside of the arch. If you look at the profile of most running shoes, you'll notice that they have a profile that narrows at the arch. The Vitesse, however, has added about 2 square inches of sole on the outside of the arch to give added stability, helping to minimize the chance of turning the ankle.

The Vitesse has an integrated tongue/bootie constructed of elastic and mesh. The upper is extremely durable, and has mesh ports to enable better breathablity. Overall the Vitesse was well liked by the reviewers. One note on the Vitesse: Size this shoe about a half size larger than your street shoe. They felt a little small when we tested them.

Montrail can be contacted on the internet at www.montrail.com.

Montrail Melee

New from Montrail for this year is the Melee, a shoe that fits well into the sprint race market. Like the XA Pro from Salomon, the upper and the tongue of the Melee is constructed from 2 layers of nylon mesh, giving unprecedented breathabilty. Weighing in at only 11 ounces, the Melee is the lightest shoe that we reviewed.

The Melee is an extremely nimble shoe. Sporting Montrail's TerraFlex Platform system and a molded plastic heel cup, the Melee has decent lateral stability. While it might not have the stability and support of some of the competing shoes, it doesn't have the weight either. In a break from most trail running shoe designs, the sole of the Melee has a smaller lug design. This keeps more of the sole in contact with ground, ideally giving better traction.

The only thing I didn't like about the Melee is the ribbing that trimmed the mouth of the shoe felt a little high, or wasn't padded enough. After runs in the Melee, I noticed that there were sore spots on the bottom of bones on both the insides and outsides of my ankle. While this wasn't necessarily the case for other reviewers, this definitely made me opt for other shoes when it came to my races.

Montrail can be contacted on the internet at www.montrail.com.

Montrail Diablo

While weighing only 1 ounce more than the Melee, the Diablo sports more features that make it a great adventure racing shoe. My favorite feature of the Diablo is the fact that it a gusseted tongue with an integrated elastic sock. It's a little harder to get your foot into, but very comfortable while running. This totally alleviates the issue that I had with the Melee, and in fact made it one of my favorite shoes in the review. While the Melee made me sore, the Diablo is an extremely comfortable run.

The Diablo has many of the same features of the Melee. While not made with the mesh upper of the Melee, the Diablo is still quite breathable and keeps more dirt and debris out of the shoe. It has a full length nylon shank to give added protection and has the same molded cup and midsole as the Melee.

Overall, the Diablo quickly became one of the favorite shoes of the review. It was easy to break in, good support and protection from wear on the feet and extremely comfortable.

Montrail can be contacted on the internet at www.montrail.com.

Vasque Vapor

Drawing on their extensive experience in footwear for long trail use, Vasque has introduced a new line of products for the adventure sports market. The first product in this line is the Vapor. Using a new integrated midsole/shank/sole system in the Vapor, Vasque hopes to prove that this shoe will help them break into the adventure racing market. In fact this integrated system is what makes this shoe stand out from the other shoes we reviewed. The nylon wishbone shank is integrated with the sticky Vibram sole. The tread of the sole provided good traction and cleared the mud well. The EVA midsole of the Vapor was one of the stiffest we tested.

The Vapor follows suit with most of the other shoe manufacturers when it comes to the upper construction. A nylon mesh combined with a synthetic leather material provides a balance between good breathability and durability. It has a reinforced toe box and toe bumper. The Vapor proved to be a stable shoe for trail running.

Vasque can be contacted at www.vasque.com.

Hi-Tec Cyclone

The most notable feature of the Hi-Tec's is their lightweight. They are the one of the lightest of all the shoes we tested and very adventure racing specific. These shoes are made with a lot of strong nylon mesh so they are super breathable and dry out fast. They have a shallow lightweight tread. The toe and heal are covered with a super strong rubberized material to protect you from the front and back, however the sides are very thin and seem to lack support, with only the mesh between your foot and the environment. The material around the ankle has some elasticity and holds your foot snug. These shoes come with a quick draw lace system that is very quick and seems to hold well. The only issue with the quick draw laces is they leave the ends of the laces to flop around, they don't really get in the way but it can be annoying.

Of all the shoes tested I found these to be the most comfortable when standing and walking. But they do lack the support of the other shoes when running. When we first put on these shoes they felt kind of tight and the insides of the insoles had some funky bumps, but after we wore them for a while they broke in and conformed to the shape of your foot.

Contact Hi-Tec at www.hi-tec.com.

Hi-Tec Perpetua

While the mesh of the pliable nylon upper is nowhere near as breathable as the Cyclone, it does afford more water resistance. But don't be mistaken, the Perpetua isn't waterproof, but I found that it did a pretty good job of keeping my feet dry in damp conditions. Hi-Tec has included a lining inside of the shoe that actually wicks moisture away from the foot. When we included a pair of liner sock, we found that this helped to keep our feet dryer on longer runs.

While most shoe manufacturers put flimsy insoles inside their shoes, Hi-Tec has placed some high quality removeable insoles with urethane shock pads inside the Perpetua. An integrated nylon shank and a nylon heel cup help produce greater stability. The EVA misdole of the Perpetua isn't as stiff as some shoes, so it absorbed more of the impact than most of the other shoes we tested. But we were worried that this would cause the midsole to become compressed more quickly

Hi-Tec has been one of the premier sponsors of adventure races and adventure racers and has used this experience to develop the Perpetua for the adventure racing market. A cross between a lightweight hiker and a trail running shoe, the Perpetua would fit nicely as a shoe for longer races, although it's light enough for trail running.

Contact Hi-Tec at www.hi-tec.com.

John Walter and Cori Jones are contributing editors for GearReview.com and are members of Team Half-Athletes. You can see them suffer this summer in races around the western United States.