You’re gonna just have to try some and find those that *you* like that perform and last the way *you* want.
I like Terrex Swift waterproof grip (Continental sole). Great support. Have had three pair. Adidas replaced one for free because the sole separated. But, in general, they didn’t last very long.
I like Salomon Speedcross 5. Not great for wide feet though. Lasted longer than Terrex and lighter. If you toe drag, you’ll easily wear a hole. I may buy another pair if hit a sale.
Nike Pegasus Gore-Tex Trail. Super light, great waterproof. Lasted well, especially for the super light feel. Not as much lateral support as some others. Toe tread eventually separated. Extended life via shoe-goo. Would definitely buy on sale.
Salomon Speedcross 5 or 6 are trail running, waterproof shoes that work nicely for DG.
The fit tends to be somewhat slim, so best to try them on for proper sizing, which could be a number different than your norm.
My Speedcross 5 were more fragile than other trail shoes, but I abused them for OCR including loads of rope climbing. Quite a few of the people I train with use Speedcrosses of various versions but generally they're not as fond of the 6 because of the way it fits. The most common alternatives I see in my OCR training group are various Inov8s, Saucony Peregrine's (although most of those uppers look very beaten up at lowish mileage), Brooks Cascadia, Asics Trabuco and VJ Spark/XTRM/Lightspeed.
VJ is great indeed, but Vibram Megagrip is not too bad on wet surfaces from my experience. I've also heard nothing but good things about Puma outsoles. And I had a pair of Salomon Speedcross that had good traction on wet surfaces.
Note that Inov8 has different outsole rubbers and my experience with their graphene G grip on wet surfaces is that it's very bad and completely unusable for certain terrains. But I've heard good things about their other sticky rubber compound.
It's always a compromise, shoes like the Mudtalon with huge 8 mm tractor lugs or Salomon speedcros do well in deep mud, but they're not nice for running on tarmac or slippery hard surfaces.
Running in trickery conditions is about confidence and feel and it sounds like you don't need the biggest lugs but good grip and good ground feel. Like others said there are many shoes that would fit your use case. My personal suggestion would be to check out the VJ Maxx2, VJ Ultra 3 and various models from La Sportiva, Inov8, Salomon and Scarpa.
That's correct, I used my Salomon speedcross to much on hard surfaces and the lugs under the ball of my feet were worn down after 250 km.
Inov8 G grip underneath my parkclaw g280s on the other hand is still barely worn after almost 500 km of which 70/30 offroad/onroad
They're very old, the foam has likely lost all its dampening. I wouldn't even wear those if I could get them for free.
There are plenty of great shoes suitable for OCRs. It is my current main sport and the shoes I see most where I live and what the fast athletes use:
- Inov8: X-talon 212, Mudtalon Speed and some other models
- Saucony Peregrine
- Salomon Speedcross (less popular among the faster athletes)
- Brooks Cascadia (less popular among the faster athletes)
- VJ Lightspeed and Spark (Lightspeed is gaining popularity)
Salomon Speedcross 5 Trail Shoes ... went through MANY shoes before settling on these. If it's not a stadion race, you do want trail shoes. If it's a stadion, I wear Hokas. Trail shoes for outdoors and mud. Running shoes for stadiums.
I like the Spartan OCR speed shoe by Craft but the toe box is a bit cramped. For my trail runs, non-OCR, I wear Nike Ultrafly. I have tried Salomon Speedcross 5 and Inov8 mudclaw g 260 but went back to Craft and Nike.
Salomon felt too bulky and very heavy once wet. The inov8 felt too stiff on the bottom with each foot strike. The craft ones feel very light and the tread was great for Spartan or trails in general. The Nike Ultrafly is a super shoe but not too bouncy; it feels light, supportive, and drains easily when wet.
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