orienteering runners

tippgod

was looking for advice on purchasing runners

i started orienteering at the weekend and really liked it. find it great training for things like geal force west and the achil roar.

would anyone recomend a good pair of outdoor runners. looking at the salomom speedcross and also the range of invo8's. there are so many to chose from. i want a good all round shoe. one that would be suitable for orienteering and events like geal force as i plan on doing that again next summer

thanks

Peterx

Not be going all Imelda Marcos on you but from my limited experience of orienteering I think you could do with at least two pairs of shoes.
Salomon Speedcross are great for the likes of GaelForce but maybe not brilliant for orienteering.

http://orienteering.ie/builder.php3?Home is their website and they may recommend a certain shoe type.

Orienteering Shoes

http://www.jalas.com
http://www.inov-8.com
http://www.vjsport.fi
http://www.icebug.se
http://www.walshsports.co.uk

Git101

I've used these for Gael Force and Achill Road.
I bought the Gortex version but I won't next time.
While Gortex is very good at keeping water out it is also very good at keeping water in.
There is a fair chance that in the adventure races you will have to step into water at the kayak stage or find yourself up to your knee is bog.
The shoes can feel very heavy after that.
Having said that I find them extremely comfortable for off road running and I have even used them for some road running.

tippgod

thanks for the advice.

Was looking for an all rounder type shoe. Was using road runners at the weekend and at geal force and found my self sliding every where.

sean_84

In my experience the majority of people at orienteering events are just using old runners. But it does get very slippy especially with recent weather

Orienteering is very hard on runners. They get torn up from brambles and they start to really stink if you don't wash/rinse them after being in a bog.

I don't know anything about Gael Force, but for orienteering you should look for a light runner some sort of studs. Ideally they should have a tear-resistant upper and shouldn't soak water to avoid getting heavy. Lots of courses involve crossing small streams, so gore-tex is useless. Suitable runners that I've seen in shops (John Buckleys and The Edge in Cork) are Walsh's, Adidas Swoop, and Inov8 Mudclaw.

There are also specialist orienteering shoes, with metal studs, which are great for grip on wet rocky terrain. I don't know if they can be bought in Ireland, but you can get them from http://www.ultrasport.co.uk or http://www.compasspoint-online.co.uk . If you see someone with a pair at an orienteering event, they might let you try them on for size

carav

I've been using the Inov-8 Flyroc 310's for the past 8months or so for orienteering. They've gone through a lot of forest, been through rivers, muck and even gotten wedged between two rocks, and they're still going strong, no wear showing on them. I love them. They give good grip, are very light (and flexible) and good on the support. The only negative I would have on them is if I'm running on very stony ground, they're not the most cushioned (I'm heavy enough on my feet in running) but as most of the orienteering running tends to be off trail this is only a minor issue for me. I've put the quick release locks on the laces so they can be easily adjusted when out on the course if the laces are stretching through getting wet!

When these eventually wear out, I'll be buying another pair. Got them for about 80eur in the outdoor shop in the Killarney Retail centre. They are available I think through order in the Edge in Cork. Don't know where you might find them in Dublin.

Stark

Innov8 mudclaws should be good all-rounders for most terrain. Very little cushioning if you find yourself on a course with lots of road/track though. You can get specialist orienteering shoes but they take a bit of getting used to with the hard leather and the metal studs mean they're at their best on 90% off-track courses. The Innov8s would be more suited to non-orienteering activities as well as orienteering. Adidas Swoops are also very good I find, but the soft rubber studs tend to wear down quickly.

tippgod

thanks for all the advice .

have narrowed it done to either the salomon speedcross or the inov-8 roclite 315/285. there is such a choice in the inov8 range its hard to chose. just seen the rocklite 310 post there now too.

i saw the mudclaws today first hand and thought that the studs were a bit too long for general use.

thanks again

Stark

Tbh, I've used the roclites quite a bit and find the grip very poor on slippery terrain. Not significantly better than road runners.

tippgod

o right i thought judging by their website that the rocklites were inbetween the flyrock and the mudclaw.

all i can say is that the nike air pegasus have no grip whats so ever. found out the hard way:)

Coach Ed

Go with the Inov8's. I'm up to my 10th pair and have pretty much stopped using my Jalas except for really rocky West cork type terrain.
The Mudroc 290's are a good intro shoe, decent grip with a bit of cushioning, with hard wearing materials (better than my mudclaws anyways)

If your near Bray go to Amphibian King they have a few in stock and what they dont they will order in for you.

Like Peter said, you will have different shoes for different places!


Just for the record: most good orienteers do not wear old runners, just good ones covered in mud.

Enjoy!