Spikes!

3 watchers

DeeGee Jan 2015 1:13pm, 7 Jan 2015 16,274 posts	0 DeeGee I'm going to captain my club at Cross Country for the first and only time at the Nationals in Feb. I do not run cross country and don't know why I've ended up doing this. I've been told, though, that Parliament Hill is a course that really requires spikes. Can someone either a) suggest a decent pair of spikes for little to no cost; b) send me a pair that they're planning on binning?
ndellar Jan 2015 1:24pm, 7 Jan 2015 3,046 posts	0 ndellar I've run at Parliament hill (Nationals course) a few times. I know this is not the point of the thread, but I've never worn spikes there. I'm not at the fast end of the race, but I've run many, many XC races, and in each I am legging it along to the best of my ability and I've found my Innov8 Mudclaws have never let me down in terms of grip and stability. I even wore them for the slop fest that was the Alton towers National XC and survived without slipping over. So if you already have anything of similar level of grip (they are quite aggressive) I'd wear those rather than invest in spikes if you are only going to do an XC once. See you there!
becca7 Jan 2015 1:26pm, 7 Jan 2015 5,971 posts	0 becca7 shudders at the thought of XC Good luck you two.
tom_craggs Jan 2015 1:33pm, 7 Jan 2015 2,712 posts	0 tom_craggs I'd always wear spikes at Parliament Hill national - the course tends to cut at a lot more in the senior mens than the senior women's....something like mudclaws would still work fine though as ndellar said. Run in road shoes though and you'll spend more time on the ground than you do running. Personally I find heavy gripped trail shoes a bit clumpy but thats just me - could try a few things out....either way the course WILL be muddy. What size are you?
ndellar Jan 2015 1:35pm, 7 Jan 2015 3,047 posts	0 ndellar Big up for XC, I think it is brilliant fun and different - the same course can be completely different year to year; consistent XC running definitely improves my fitness and strength over winter. Thanks Becca Ha ha yes all the junior and women's races do cut it up for the final event!
Dave A Jan 2015 1:42pm, 7 Jan 2015 20,951 posts	0 Dave A I've always done XC in either trail or fell shoes. Fell shoes work perfectly for the mud, grass and f there are any really hard packed bits that a spike won't sink into, you will get stability from a fell stud.
Curly45 Jan 2015 1:49pm, 7 Jan 2015 2,471 posts	0 Curly45 I wear 15mm spikes for parli hill... It was muddy there in mid November, by Feb it will be disgusting! Especially as the men's is as you after all the other races! Start fitness always have a good stock of spikes at cheap prices. Make sure you select xc ones as they are different in sole construction to track ones which don't bend as much. Mine were £20, add in £5 for the actual spoke bit too as they tend to be supplied with 9mm. Fetch discount too.
sLickster Jan 2015 1:54pm, 7 Jan 2015 1,684 posts	0 sLickster Off-road shoes don't have to be 'heavy', take the X-Talon 190 (number depicts the weight http://www.sportsshoes.com/product/ino258/inov~8-x~talon-190-fell-(precision-fit)-running-shoes-~-aw14/ ). You can get more use out of such shoes other than just for XC races - I've got over 250 miles on my X Talons and the 'lugs' are still as good (and sticky) as new!
tom_craggs Jan 2015 2:01pm, 7 Jan 2015 2,713 posts	0 tom_craggs Agreed that off road shoes don't have to be heavy but I have used the x-talon and still find them clumpy compared to spikes - which leave me feeling lighter on my feet, but it's a totally personal thing. I have some size 8 spikes DeeGee if they would work.
DeeGee Jan 2015 12:17pm, 13 Jan 2015 16,282 posts	0 DeeGee I'm an 11 in Saucony and Brooks, 12 in New Balance. I have a pair of Saucony Xodus wiggle.co.uk which are my absolute go-to shoe for anything off-road, but I don't think they'd be anywhere near aggressive enough for Parliament Hill. I would far rather buying something that I could get decent mileage in next autumn/winter on the trails than a pair of spikes that I may or may not ever wear again - every local match in the XC league locally for the past few years has clashed with marathons that I really enjoy for either sporting of social reasons. I do need to see what Start can offer, though...