Put your best foot forward
Dave Shipman
What to wear for the best has become an increasing preoccupation with club members in recent times, certainly the issue of the right shoe for the type of condition is a much more complex one than it used to be. At the Harrier League conversations can be heard about whether it's to be spikes or fell shoes, if the former what length of spikes, fullsole or just front foot.... A few weeks ago there was a protracted e-mail debate about the merits of a free pair of Inov8s, what they were fit for, and which type of runner they would be compatible with, never the mind the shoe-size and width fitting!! Now you can't buy a pair of running shoes without being asked whether you pronate or supponate, the podiatrists and chiropractors all recommend their favourites (always very expensive) and then you have to spend even more on inserts, implants, silicone heels or sorbothane inner soles.
Only last week someone asked me if it would be alright to enter a trail race if they only had "normal" trainers. Then, on the Wednesday Valentines Head Torch run the merits and failings of all varieties were given a severe testing through Croxdale Woods when an extremely muddy section caused us to resort to what Geoff Watson termed uphill skiing, that curious method of sliding / trudging feet forward through the mud in the hope of making progress and achieving some traction while others slid or skidded back down the hill into darkness and despair (although we only lost one of our party that night). Without exception the Walshes, Inov8s , New Balance and All-Terrain Terminators all failed to cope.....remarkably it was the better and lighter runners who seemed to make progress, so there could be a message there, save money on so many pairs of shoes and train a bit more...which isn't a snub to the person who asked about trail shoes in the first place, as I had recently slithered around Captain Cooks in road shoes, opting for extra cushioning rather than grip due to a sore ankle, so had first hand experience of making the wrong choice and could sympathise with my clubmate's anxieties.
Such reflections reminded me of a simpler time. I did my first half marathon in a pair of Dunlop Green Flash, as did many others. When the London Marathon began, pre-proper running shoes, I can remember dialogue in the Sunday broadsheets about what to wear on the big day, and the message from Chris Brasher (along with fat Brendan one of the great initiators of the running boom) was that participants shouldn't change their usual exercise habits just because it was a marathon. Subsequently, one correspondent on the letters page wrote saying that people didnt need to spend money on these new-fangled specialist shoes as he had broken 3 hours, wearing his Clarks casual shoes - if his running career continued he probably went on to break many records, his knees, his hips and is currently moving with the aid of a zimmer frame. Incidentally, it may be no coincidence that John Everett, having done a leg of the Calderdale Way Relay last year in a pair of football boots ( his son's I think) has just come out of hospital after a knee operation.... Both Brasher and Brendan then went on to realise that if you recommend to thousands that they should wear Reebok XX121s or Nike Air Pegasus or Asics or Saucony or New Balance, or whoever was prepared to pay them the most for product placement that year, then a huge majority would go out and purchase the next "must have " shoe, supposedly leaving the rest of us hobbling behind in our Hi Tec Silver Shadows, so beware when you read the articles in Runners World, they dont always have your interests at heart !!
Having said all of that, I dont think that I have ever seen or heard repeated the method put forward by notorious iron men of the hills, AndyScaife and Mick Seed, for negotiating particularly rocky sections of a route in the Lakes - Geoff Mudman Davies may be able to advise us all if he knows different - ...they carried a large pair of woollen socks each, which they slipped over their Walshes to give them better traction on the downhill slopes.... I dont know if it worked, I drove round to the other end of that stretch and they were both too tired to talk when they had completed their 20-odd hour epic on the fells, I believe the socks were discarded on route, but it may be that the hand - knitted running sock is the next best thing....
Which brings me round to this Wednesday, or any other Wednesday really and the whole point of this rambling discourse.Nigel will probably be leading another head torch run through the dark, dark woods, what can I wear on my feet which will give me any chance of keeping up....???
The Tail - Ender
