Track/Cross country shoes

billyhead

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a quality pair of track shoes that I could purchase. I would be planning to use them for cross country races aswell. I know I woul have to change the spikes. I am looking for a top performance pair. Cost is not really a factor here.

Rgds
Billyhead

Fast_Mover

What track races do you run OP?
If you run anything from 100m-400m you need sprinting spikes (ie:have no heal as your always on the balls of your feet) and such shoes are not appropriate footwear for XC therefore you would have to buy another pair of spikes. (Exception: 100m and 400m Hurdles-you need spikes with a heal.)

If you run 800m+ then you need a spike with a heal, which would be appropriate for XC.

Someone may be able to recomend a spike for you but rememeber what's great/comforable/nice for one person might not be the same for another.
Everyone's foot is different (shape,width) and this may be a factor when you try on/run in a pair of spikes of a certain brand.
I know myself that I never bought Adidas spikes as my feet just felt odd in them for some reason.

Have a look on www.johnbuckley.com.
I'v always gotten my spikes there (Im from Cork though so perhaps someone else may know of other places around the country that one can purchase spikes in).
Best thing to do is go into the shop and try on loads of pairs of spikes so you'll get the feel for them and find what suits you and your all important feet.

I must say that I believe there is no such things as top performance spikes..top performance spikes to me are fancy/shiny/expensive ones. At the end of the day it's down to the person in the shoes that will give you the 'top performance'. I always had normal average priced spikes..but they did they job, they fitted me perfectly, I felt comfortable in them and im fortunate to have several gold All-Ireland medals to my name.

Is this your first pair of spikes? If not, then I would suggest getting a pair like your last pair. This is what I always did anyway, boring it may be but it was what I was used to/could break them in quicker..no blisters,sore feet:)

billyhead

I was thinking of getting a pair of spikes that I could use for speed session on the track i.e 800s/1000s etc and then that I could use for XC races etc. I would be a mid to long distance runner so would not need them for short track sprint races

Rgds
Billyhead

Fast_Mover

Yup, just make sure they have a heal and your away-you can use them for both your track sessions and XC* races!:)

Note: you may want to invest in a pair of marigolds while your at it as your spikes may get destroyed from XC--mud and cow dung,nice!:D