Torrent 2

Hi, Not much of a runner (bits of trail here and there, but nothing to write home about). Just signed up for a 20km fell race so need some shoes. Will of course try them on before buying, but any suggestions? I run in either Hoka W torrent 2 size 7, or Innov8 Trailfly wide in a 6 or 6.5 With the hokas, I feel super stable, but get blisters on the outside of my little toe and big toe, within 2km so I think they are too narrow. With the trailfly, no blisters and very comfortable around my forefoot, but I feel like I’m going to roll my ankles (and do if the ground is uneven) and pronate, which has never been a problem for me in any other shoe. I have a very forefoot strike, although slightly more midfoot if tired, and other than in my trailflys, pretty neutral gait. I do have an old Achilles injury caused by pressure from a seam in a too small pair of hiking boots - it’s well rehabbed but I do get tendinopathy easily if a shoe places pressure on it (I can have shoes that touch it, just when they dig in I have no tolerance for that). I do think I do maybe slightly spin my heels out on landing (possibly landing lateral forefoot and rolling towards big toe, resulting in heel spin), because I always kick the inside of the other ankle. I have reasonable arches so do find I get numb toes if the laces put pressure in the wrong place. I have tried many, many times to find shoes that work for me, had gait analysis etc, but the best shoes I’ve found are the 2 above, which I don’t think fit well enough to take the increase in running I’m about to do (or indeed, the terrain?). It’s one of the things that puts me off running is I’ve never found shoes that feel good. Apologies for the long post - hoping if anyone has any suggestions it’ll be a starting point, otherwise I’ll be running through the mud in January barefoot 🤦‍♀️😬 I live in north west England

I can; my plan is to go next week, but wanted to get some personal experiences of how everyone has found shoes because I’ve had a few experiences (in very good shops!) where they’ve felt good at the time but then when actually running in them found issues (like the innov8s feeling unstable). That’s really good to know re. innov8. I actually live near to an innov8 shop and get a discount through them so might be worth a trip to them as well as a running shop near by Thank you so much for your help and advice

Oh I’ll have to look into that! Over 2 days sounds like a great way to get into ultras (which I’m trying to do with the bowland half 🤞) I love how inclusive and friendly a lot of the runs up here are - makes it so much less intimidating to try and get into it

I put a couple hundred miles on the Hoka ONE Torrent 2s a few years ago. Versatile shoe for both bony single-track and hard-pack rail trails.

if you are in asics n like asics fit, maybe Fuji n Trabuco also something you should look into. for my light gravel, i have Novablast3 TR, n sometimes also got away with Adizero SL2. but my long distance trail shoes are Torrent2, Speedgoat5, XodusUltra2 n just newly acquired EndorphinRift. among my lineup, SG5 probably overkill for something under 30km. for Salomon, most reviewer would highlight about its narrowness. take note

I have at least 5 pairs of HOKA shoes, some of them are well over 800km and still going strong, not a single issue with them. I still have a pair of HOKA Torrent2 that I retired from running with 1200km due to midsole degradation, but otherwise have no issues and for walking they are still good. I retired a HOKA Challenger with 1090km, a Speedgoat3 with 980km, I still have a Speedgoat4 with >900km, and so on and so forth. They have been the most reliable shoes I ever had.

First, there is nothing that wrong with using road shoes on trails. 25 years ago there was no such thing as trail running shoes and people did fine. If you do want specific shoes and like Hoka then: Hoka Challenger if they are smooth trails or mixed road trails. Hoka Torrents if they are rougher trails.

> How is that with these two models? Speedgoats are like the gold standard for a lot of hikers out here in the west. Do any major trail in the Sierra, Rockies, or anything in between and you'll see a couple pair. Their durability is typically their weakest trait, though that's sort of the compromise for their comfort and grip. I wear a mix of Hokas (Torrents and Speedgoats), La Sportivas (Prodigio Max), and Salomon (Genesis) and it's largely the same across most brands. Comfort and grippiness come at the cost of durability. It depends heavily on where it is I'm hiking, but I generally looking at 300-600 miles on a pair of shoes before the foam eventually crushes out. I'd try out the ones I just mentioned and see if you like them.

I’ve run the race a few times and it has a couple technical areas, but most of the course is packed dirt single-track that is very runnable. I think anything that gives you limited support and decent padding would work. I always used my Hoka Torrents to run it. The biggest issue you will face is temperature changes. I e run it in 90+ degrees in November and also in sub 30. If it rains, the trails become that sticky clay-like mud that TX is famous for. If it’s dry, then trails are pretty firm. Love that race.