We are constantly striving to improve our service and advice to customers and we feel that a recommendation from somebody who has actually used one of our products is one of the best endorsements possible. We also use these comments to feed back to manufacturers so they can get an honest assessment of how their product is performing.
The area you run in: Perthshire
The shoes: Inov-8's Mudroc 290
I was training for my first Lowe Alpine mountain marathon (LAMM), so a mixture of fell, trail and road running at varying distances. I have also done two long hill weekends covering about 30 miles on each walk. I chose these particular shoes after research on the internet and from magazine articles. I chose them due to the mid range sole and the capability to use them on hills as well as on tracks and some limited road running (less aggressive sole than the mud claw).
It felt a bit strange going to the hills in a pair of trainers at first, my previous experience has always been in boots! Generally I was very impressed, the shoes were light yet comfortable and provided good grip in all conditions. I competed in the LAMM 2009. The shoes performed well and I had no particular foot problems or blisters, they were as comfortable on the second day as the first. They provided good grip on a variety of terrain and were comfortable on tracks and some limited tarmac use as well as paths, across the hills and through rivers and burns.
Pros:
- Comfort
- Grip
- The ability to drain water and dry off quickly
- The fact that the laces stay fastened even over rough ground and through heather
Cons:
Prolonged contouring on one aspect led to sore feet from lack of support but I’m not sure that any other shoe of this type would have been different.
- After a few days of going through heather there was evidence of wear and fluffing on the shoe material so I am not sure of their longevity if used extensively through heather.
Overall thoughts:
I think that these shoes are ideal for a beginner or intermediate fell runner and I have been impressed by their performance. Time will tell on the value for money front.
Would you buy these again?
Yes on the evidence so far.
Buy the shoes here or view Inov-8's full range of shoes here