Gear Review: Ron Hill Trail Split Cap

I love hats.  Perhaps it's the lack of hair on large sections of my scalp that lead me into wearing a hat while running.  In the winter, I need the insulation.  In the summer (if I'm lucky), I need protection from the sun.  In between, I'm constantly removing/replacing my hat or buff.

Shoe Review: Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra 4 SG

One of the simplest joys in running is having the opportunity to wear a new (clean!) pair of shoes.  It's even better when you have no idea what they'll be like, and you find out they fit like a glove - which is what happened when I put on the pair of S-Lab Sense Ultra 4 SG shoes that Salomon sent me to test out (yes, they sent them free, and no, they haven't any input into this review).  I hadn't been planning to hit the trails when I put them on, but quickly changed my mind and added a little hill repeat session to my evening itinerary.

First impression - aren't they pretty!  And wow, the snug fit is impressive.

Unfortunately, it had been a pretty dry week, so I wasn't sure how much soft ground I would be able to find on my chosen route.  Still, I headed out to Broadway to find a little section of the Cotswold Way (and the Evesham Ultra route) that would give me a selection of terrain and gradient to play on.

A nice little boggy section helped test the Sense Ultra's water retention.

On the way to the hill, I managed to find some boggy mud to traipse through.  One of those little irritants that can ruin a good race is a shoe that holds onto water too well.  Even after submerging in sloppy mud a few times, the Sense Ultra let the water go quite easily - no quibbles there, then!

That weekend, I took them out for a more daunting hilly run of around 3 hours - not long in ultra terms, but long enough to get a feel for the shoe over mud, grass, rocky path, a bit of road, and various dirt and gravel tracks.  Over the next couple of weeks, I also managed to get them onto old quarry waste piles, wet and dry sandy beaches and some coastal trails, to give me a good idea of how they behaved on the wide variety of terrain that makes up most trail ultras in the UK.

The short review:  a very good shoe, with a slightly narrow toe box, snug fit, and reasonable grip.

The long review?  Carry on reading!  As usual, if the picture is pretty, it's probably Nic's.  If it's functional, it's mostly likely mine.

The Shoe

The Salomon S-Lab Sense Ultra 4 SG is a low-rise (4mm drop), light, sturdy shoe designed for long distances over soft/wet ground.  My Size 9.5 (UK; US10, EU44) weighs in at ~270g (+/- a bit of mud), which is definitely on the lighter end of what I'd want to wear for 8+ hours.  

Plenty of lugs, a really light mesh upper, and enough molding to give some lateral support and rock protection.

I know a lot of people have stopped talking about heel drop, and a load more don't really care about the distance from their foot to the ground - if you're one of those people, you should probably just skip the rest of this paragraph.  I trip a lot, and roll my ankles a lot, but I've found that I do less of both if my shoe isn't offering me much of a barrier to the ground.  Unfortunately, I've also got a long history of foot and calf issues, which is best managed over long distances by a reasonably elevated heel relative to the toe.  So, when I saw the 13mm heel (compared to 20mm on the Speedcross), I was really looking forward to taking them for a spin.  The toe still has plenty of cushioning (9mm compared to 6mm in the Fellraiser, and 9mm on the Speedcross), which comes in handy when you plan to be out in them all day.

The Fit

In a word:  glovelike.  The Endofit (TM) upper, which basically acts like a sock, is fabulous.  I'd be tempted to go sockless if I didn't want the extra protection from grit and grime that a sock gives.

The Endofit (TM) upper encases the foot by attaching at the insole. Soooo comfy!

On my right foot, I did find that top of the lacing system crossed just at a particularly uncomfortable spot on the top of my foot, which would cause real problems on a long run.  It's not an uncommon problem for me, due to the difference in length between my right and left foot, and it took a few runs to sort out.  Basically, if I pull the Quicklace (TM) tight in an off-centre position, then I can nail the fit.

See how the right foot has the tab pulled off-centre.  Little adjustments like that can make or break a run.

On steep descents, I will admit that I was happy to have recently lost my big toenails.  The snug fit was great, but it was even better to feel the front of my toe hitting the shoe without my toenail getting jammed.  For many of you, toenails aren't a worry anymore. For the rest, let this be a good reminder to try before you buy to make sure you are happy with the sizing.  If you want a bit more room to play with, I'd suggest the Fellraiser.

The Grip

The shoe is designed for grip, and it does an OK job.  I had some nice long, muddy hills on one test run, and was with a friend who wore Speedcross.  I faired alright, slipping a bit on some muddy ascents, but the soles did hold onto the mud a bit, so by the top I couldn't compete with him on grip.

Trapezoidal lugs offer a fair amount of grip on soft ground, but on muddy ascents, the Speedcross held better.

After a few checks of the soles and some different types of mud (we have plenty of variety around here), I'd say that the shoe releases mud well across the ball of the foot, where the shoe flexes most, but not quite as well as I needed it to under the toes, where you need the most grip running up a muddy hill.

The cutouts and lug shape don't seem to allow sticky mud to release optimally from my hill session.

 For more "normal" soft ground running, the shoe gripped very well.  Downhill, flat, wet beach, dry beach, all presented me with no difficulties.  Like with most (all?!) shoes, wet limestone is pretty slippery, but where the rock offers some rough texture, the shoe grips well enough.  On the loose quarry waste hills that make up a bit of the Cleevewold 14 trail race, I had absolutely no problems with control going down or with digging my toes in and climbing (slowly) up.

Soft ground, all right - and it all stayed on the beach.  The outsole released wet sand very nicely.

   

On muddy coastal trail, the grip was excellent and the mud-release faultless.

 Comfort

I've not taken the Sense Ultras out for more than 3 hours at a time yet, but my feet have come back from all of the test runs happy.  I would say that, if you don't normally wear shoes with a lot of flexibility and not a lot of structure, that you should be very careful to gradually up your distance in these.  After 3 hours of varied surfaces and lots of hills, my feet were a little tired.  Equally, if you're coming from a higher-heeled shoe, take your time getting used to the lower sole.

On hard ground, unsurprisingly, the shoe feels a bit under-cushioned (remember, this is the SG variety we're talking about!).  So, where there's a lot of road, sun-baked track, or hard rocky trails, you probably don't want to go with this soft-ground specialist.  On the springy moors, grassy fields, beach, and muddy trails, I found the shoe quite a pleasant ride.  Sharp rocks will let you know they're underfoot, but didn't leave any bumps or bruises on my feet.

 Things I Like

 Top of my list - the Endofit (TM) upper.  It's fabulous.  I love it.  I also really like the low ride and the quick release of water when you go splashing around.  The molded upper toebox is really light, and yes, it does protect nicely when you trip over branches or kick rocks on the trails (I tested it a lot...).

Things I'd Like to See Improved

It's minor, but it really bugs me that the lace pocket is pretty useless - it's under the top laces when they're tightened.  It offers nothing in its current form, so either lose it or put the opening at the top so it can actually do the job it's meant to do.  I'd also like to see a chevron lug instead of the trapezoid blocks, at least at the front.  It offers better grip, especially on contours, and seems to release the mud better.  I would like to see the cost come down, since it's currently listed at 40% more than the very popular Speedcross:   it's hard to decide to change shoe models with that big a price differential, but I'm hopeful that time and sales volume will help that to change.  And finally, as with all Salomons I've worn, I seem to get a squeak in the lacing of the left shoe - it would be nice for that to disappear.

Summary

It's a good shoe, a very good shoe.  After a few runs, I was dubious about wearing it for an ultra, because the snug fit doesn't give you much space to expand.  But, now that I've had a chance to put some miles in, I can't see any reason to worry.  I'd certainly be happy to go up to 40 miles in them in most conditions, and probably quite a while longer if it's properly wet/soft.

Brutally Tantalizing Trail Racing: The Cleevewold 14

Once upon a time, when I only owned one pair of running shoes, I started to leave the roads behind.  I bought some trail shoes, mostly because I found the wide outsoles of the road shoes had my feet rocking on the hoof-scared paths in the area.  I even raced a couple of trail events, which were really just runs through the woods on really nice tracks with the occasional bit of mud.  Then, in March 2009, I ran the Cleevewold 14.  Snaking its way up, down, and around Cleeve Cloud and the Sudeley Estate, and many points in between, the race has been a local favourite for more than 20 years.  It has 2000+ feet of ascent on rough trails through quarries, paths through grassy fields, an optional stream crossing, and a few seemingly smooth tracks of crushed limestone (which is great, until you find out it's really just a lot of rocks that aren't so crushed or so smooth).  After that 2009 race, I was hooked on trail running.  Unfortunately, the race also seems to coincide with a load of other events and activities that have kept me away from it ever since.  Until this weekend, when I made sure to set aside the time to revisit the race and find out if it really is as breathtakingly exciting as I remember it.

The joy of a 14 mile race is that it's simply a case of hitting that effort level right below where you feel like your lungs and legs want to explode and then holding on to it.  The difficulty lays in not over-reaching and blowing up.  Add in a gut-wrenching series of short, sharp hills early on, and you have the makings of a great challenge.  Since I have zero goal races planned for the rest of the year, and I haven't done much speed work since September, I decided to race from the gun and see what would happen.

EVRC chilling out before the fun begins.

The race starts with a deceptively gentle descent, to help get the legs moving.  But after that opening half mile, it turns into a 200ft climb over the next quarter mile (~1:8 gradient).  The next four miles continue in a similar vein.  Up, down, run past golfers, repeat.

Just a little hill...

Early on, I tracked my EVRC clubmate Richard Slater and Nick Spice, of Almost Athletes, who were heading out a bit faster than me.  I know from experience that if we're all running well, the three of us will be fairly close together through most of a hilly race.  This time, though, I was having to work a bit harder than I'd have liked to keep them in sight.  After 5 miles, Nick had started to reel in Richard, and I decided that if I wanted to have any chance of keeping in touch, I also had to close the gap.

I chased for the best part of 2 miles before finally catching back up to Nick.  We encouraged each other to keep running strong and steadily left Richard feeling the effects of a tough running week at around 8 miles as we raced our way down to the lowest point on the route at Waterhatch.  By this stage, we were among the top female runners - always a sign that the race is going well.

From 9 miles, the course climbs 600ft over 2 miles, in a relentlessly runnable (nearly) climb up to Belas Knapp.  By the time I reached the top, I had lost a good 30 seconds on Nick and Amazing Feet's Sarah Armstrong (3rd Lady).  The losses continued across the top of the hill (the only flat part of the route), and down through the wooded gully on the other side.  I had plenty of strength left, but my leg speed was clearly elsewhere.  The final two short hills finished me off and left me having to sprint the final 50m to avoid losing my position.  So, although I didn't overtake anyone in the final 5 miles, and the gap to those in front just seemed to grow, I did manage to hold off those behind me,

I finished 7 minutes better than that 2009 time (2:07:43), absolutely exhausted, and overjoyed to find that the race really was as much fun as I'd remembered.  It hurts almost the entire way around and tests your speed, strength, and resilience to the limit.  With great views and a good friendly field, I can't really ask for anything more in a short race.

The finish line - Postlip Hall

Gear Review: Ultimate Performance Malham Waist Pack

One of the great joys of reviewing new kit is that you get to try out stuff you wouldn't ordinarily buy (in my case, because I have a multitude of waist and back packs already).  When Lou from Run Stuff asked if I'd take the Malham Waist Pack out for a spin, I'll admit I wasn't really looking forward to it.  I've been running with incredibly light-weight gear lately, and the Malham looks a bit bulky hanging on the peg in the shop.  But, the idea isn't to review stuff I think is pretty, it's to review new lines, so I packed the bag up into my suitcase and headed to Texas to try it out.  (OK, I was going to Texas anyway, but it seemed like a good idea to take it out in the warm weather).

The pack is a bit bigger than I usually wear, but it somehow matches our club colours very nicely!

When I started to pack up the bag with stuff just to test it out, I started to notice its features a bit more.

Two zipped main pockets, one with a 1L bladder (included), and two side mesh pockets give plenty of storage space.

First, the 1L bladder that comes with the pack is square, so it fits reasonably comfortably against the back.  The main pocket, which holds the bladder, has quite a lot of storage space for food, rain gear, lights, etc.  An inner, waterproof zipped pocket has more than enough room for a smartphone, and the outer zipped pocket will comfortably accomodate a few bars, a wallet, and keys (and it has a key clip).  So, for most runs, everything you need will fit easily in the pack.

Loads of space in the main pocket.

I threw in an extra 600ml of water, just to make the pack extra heavy for my test run.  At this stage, I looked at the pack in dismay - how would something this deep be even remotely comfortable for the 2 hours I was planning to be out?  Then, I noticed the compression straps, and tightened them to prevent those extra water bottles bouncing around.  Without those straps, I'd have to say the bag would be unusable.  What a difference they make!

The little blue compression straps make all the difference on this pack!

I popped a few bars in the side mesh pockets and headed out for a nice long run to see how the Malham fared.

The Fit

The Malham has a centre-buckle with a fit adjustment on either side.  The left side of the belt is your "static" fit - get it right the first time and leave it alone.  It took me a little work to get the sizing adjusted the way I wanted, but once I did, it didn't move.  The right side of the belt is for on-the-move adjustments (like when you've eaten/drunk most of the contents of the pack and it needs tightening).  It was easy to tweak while I was running or walking.  To my surprise, the pack was quite comfortable and didn't feel particularly bulky, in spite of the 1.6L of water I had in it, although the extra water did cause a bit of bounce on the run.  Once I'd removed the extra water, the pack sat well and bounced very little.  I was out for over 2 hours on a warm, sunny day, and never had any comfort issues with the belt, bladder, or pack.  I also took the pack out for the day while crewing Nic's Rocky Raccoon 50.  I wore it for the best part of 8 hours, including a few short bike rides and a lot of walking and standing.

The pack is comfortable for wear on the front for a while, too, like when you're crewing someone else's race and they ask for the can of fizzy water you've cleverly stashed away...

Things I Like

The pack has a lot of pockets, so it's easy to divide up your kit based on how much access you need to it.  The compression straps are easy to adjust, so as you re-arrange things due to weather, eating, drinking, etc., it's easy to keep the contents from bouncing about and causing problems.

I expected this to be a bulky, bouncy pack, but found it sat very well and was quite comfortable.  In its basics, this is a well thought-out and well designed piece of kit.

Things I'd Like to See Improved

There are 2 zippers on each of the main pockets, which makes them easy to open/close.  Unfortunately, it also means the 2 tabs clap together as you run.  That kind of thing irritates me to distraction, so I managed to find a way to tuck them away into the mesh pockets.  I also often see 2-zip pockets at races that aren't as closed as runners think they are, which is less of a problem than you get with a single zipper.  Using the zips was very easy and convenient, but I think a single tab would be a big improvement.

The bite valve is great if you're not wearing a jacket over it with a lot of junk in your pockets.  But, I found that when I had pockets of food/water sitting on top of the valve, it wasn't too hard to accidentally pull it open and cause a slow trickle of water down my leg - really disconcerting if you forget you're wearing it!  I've had another bladder of the same construction, and I prefer a bite valve that twists open rather than one that simply pulls.  It's a pretty minor complaint, and wouldn't put me off using the pack, but it's worth bearing in mind when you decide where to place the valve during your run.

It would be nice to have some mesh pockets over the sides of the belt, to give more easy access to food, but that's definitely a nice-to-have.  The current mesh pockets are pretty easy to get to, and getting into the main pockets is not a problem, especially if you quickly turn it around so you have everything in front for a couple of minutes.

Overall

Much to my surprise, it's a pretty nice pack.  I expected to hate it, but in the end I appreciated that it's a comfortable and efficient way of carrying a lot of kit.  I would certainly say it's more comfortable than some of the Inov-8 packs I've got hanging in the closet, which was a real shock.

Would I Recommend it?

If you're after a small belt for fast and light racing, this isn't for you.  But if you want to have everything you need for a comfortable few hours out on the run, this is a really nice pack.