UKH

I'm after recommendation for shoes to wear on long mountainous ultra - up to 30 hours plus

I wear Inov8 Roclites and on both long ultras I have done my feet have been in shreds after 24 hours

cheers

In reply to iusedtoclimb:
From my limited experience...Try lots of shoes and experiment with different sock and insole combos until you find one that works and stick with it. Forever. After going through the above I'm currently on Salomon Fellraisers with the factory insole removed an inov8 insole glued in and another insole loose on the top with a Bridgedale liner sock underneath and a Bridgedale merino mix sock on top. There are probably other combos of shoe / sock / size / insole that would work but I happened on that one and I'm sticking with it.

In reply to DaveHK:
thats a bit of a frankensteins shoe going on there!

For me I find Injinji socks work well, even though they are thin I dont get any blisters.
Im yet to find a shoe that works well for me on mountainous terrain and for ultra distance.
Oddly enough I was just thinking of starting a post similar to this so Ill hop on here!.

how long are you talking about for 30h only asking as some people take 24h to do a 50 whereas others can do 100 miles in that time.
Broader based shoes work for some for ultras e.g new balance leadville, Hoka, or like my Saucony excursion tr8, but then you compromise sole comfort for grip and trail feel. Ive met others who can run an ultra in Inov-8 X-talons, so each to their own. as Dave said youll just have to experiment.

A decent website for reviews is runrepeat, but it still depends on what sort of mountainous terrain you mean, if in the uk then chances are itll either be wet rock or wet grass, or if in warmer climates you may not need wet grip.

In reply to iusedtoclimb:
Also, think hard about what's causing the problem. My issue is a very long, narrow, flat foot. When I get a shoe that's long enough to stop toenails bashing I need to make up the volume to stop my forefoot slopping about. Hence the extra insole and 2 pairs of socks.

In reply to DaveKerr - how on earth did you work that combo out?

What do you mean your feet are in shreds ? What do you need like? The original q is a bit vague - tried Hokas for example?

In reply to DaveHK:


I have this problem. It isn't so much that my feet are very narrow but that I have low ankle volume to fill out the shoe towards the back. For multi day stuff I seem to most usually get on better with mids as there is more options wrt lacing. In this way just above the talus section of the tongue can be firmed up to stop me slamming forward into the toe box on steep descents.

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

Whatever fits you best. Pretty rubbish advice but that's the truth!
I've always loved my inov8s but got fed up with replacing my 150s all the time so now I only wear my xeroshoes amuri venture and I love them...never going back to trainers.

In reply to wbo:

The problem I have is that the balls of my feet become one huge blister and it really hurt. I am planning about 50 hours in rocky Pyrenees!

Cheers

In reply to iusedtoclimb: hmmm. If you feel around inside the shoe is the cushioning under the ball damaged, compressed? How long for this to start? What socks do you use?

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

Sounds more like it's the condition of your feet that need working on.

For most of history people have had a limited option of footwear, and done way more than me or you will ever do (and I've done quite a lot of things that can ruin feet) with no problems.

The difference is their feet were better conditioned to the footwear they were wearing, rather than the footwear wasn't selected to their feet.

Of course, some footwear is better than others, but my recommendation is to invest more effort looking at your feet relative to a quest for the perfect shoe.

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

Funnily enough, I used to get this problem, and it was changing socks that remedied the issue. I'd used Thor Los for almost decades without any problem, but my feet changed profile (got stronger) and I started getting blisters under the balls with Thor Los, but not when wearing Patagonia socks.

Not a plug for Patagonia socks per se, but you should consider everything that's going on (for example the condition of your feet, taping, socks, lacing, etc) as well as the shoe.

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

I like New Ballance Leadville, not really a fell shoe, but works very well on spring to autumn runs in the UK and very comfortable.

In reply to Ander:

Thanks for this - what sort of thing do you do to improve the condition of your feet??

In reply to Ander:

Yes socks are on my radar - cheers

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

I have done a handful of 25hr plus events, all in Roclites, and except for the time I wore a gortex lined pair (huge mistake, feet destroyed), I hardly ever got blisters. I find its all about heat build up, so wear the thinnest socks, which are often the cheapest I can find. I change the socks every 6 or so hours, even if they are dry etc, but as they are thin ones carrying 4 spare pairs is no weight issue. I also avoid using the ankle gaiters, which would make the heat buildup issue worse.

In reply to Wainers44:

Cheers for that - what socks do you wear?

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

I use some Go Outdoors own brand ones at about £5 for 2 pairs, also some Oasics ankle socks. Really nothing special, I just find its all about keeping my feet cool. I pre-tape my heals and one toe (otherwise I always lose the toe nail!). If I can then I wash my feet about halfway through but that's not always possible.

Only time I ever got blisters on the bottom of my feet was a 90k run on Dartmoor in about 70deg C. I forgot my spare socks.....

In reply to iusedtoclimb:

I did a 108km walk in roclites. No blisters, despite it being a scorching day. I used about 4x pairs of Falke TK(2? 3?) hiking socks, changing after 6ish hours. I don't know if you'll have time to change socks, but I find that's by far the best way to avoid soggy feet. The other one was to rub in some sudocrem, which I find stops the skin from absorbing too much moisture.

In reply to iusedtoclimb: If I use thick socks I'm done for - thinner the better for me. Smartwool are ok, but my 'go to' sock is the Nike dri fit because they're cheap, thin, wick, don't get saggy when wet. Anything thicker than that, ie Thor Lo, and and I'm not going to be happy.

You need to experiment. What do you use now?