I took them to my regular trails, which are in a local conservation area. The trails have a great mix of hard packed dirt, mud, steep hills, roots, and rocks, so I was able to try the shoes over a variety of terrain. I found that once I started running, I didn't notice the stiffness nearly as much as I did when walking. The sturdy construction did seem a bit overkill on the tamer sections of the trail, but when I got to rough sections, I did appreciate how solid these shoes are. The best place to put that to the test was to let them really fly on a big downhill. I like going fast down hills, so when I got to a really rough downhill section, I let gravity take over and I flew, not worrying about the roots. These actually performed really well- they felt really stable, and I had no worries blowing through the roughest section of trails. The weight though is something that I never really got used to. I couldn't find any specs online about what these shoes weigh, but they definitely come quite a bit heavier than my usual trail shoes (Brooks Pure Grit). The only other complaint I had was that they were quite hot. The upper material is very solid- a densely woven cordura type of material, and there's a Gore-Tex waterproof liner- fine for cool weather, but in the middle of summer my feet were soaked with sweat.
In conclusion, I think this is a very solid shoe. It wouldn't be my first choice for trail running, but when I've been going out for hikes, I have been reaching for these instead of my hiking boots. If someone wants a sturdy shoe that can do double duty as a day hiker (I'd have no qualms even to use these for a weekend backpacking trip) and do some trail running as well, then these would be a good choice.