Now that winter is upon is, we have several months of slippery running conditions to look forward to. There are a few ways to give yourself a bit of extra traction, whether it's running with trail shoes on the road, putting sheet metal screws into the sole of your shoe, or using a slip on traction aid. For trails that have deeper/ sloppier snow, I like to use MicroSpikes (http://kahtoola.com/product/microspikes/) which are very popular among trail runners in areas where they run on really nasty terrain in the winter. The only downside of those is that they're overkill and a bit uncomfortable when you're running on smooth but slippery surfaces, such as a road that has just been plowed.
The Due North All Purpose Traction Aid (http://www.surefoot.net/) is great slip on traction device that works really well when you need something to give you some traction in a bit in less gnarly conditions. This morning I had my first opportunity to try them out. We got about 3" of snow overnight- not much, but enough to make the roads and trails slippery. I headed out for one of my usual routes, which is about 10km, with 4km of road and 6km of trail. The snowplows had just gone by, so the side of the roads were packed snow, which is very slippery when wearing road shoes, not too bad when wearing trail shoes, and no problem when wearing these. I felt very solid, with no slipping at all. The spikes on these (picture below) are small enough too that you don't feel them pushing up into the bottom of your foot when you're running on a harder packed surface, so it doesn't feel like you have anything other than your shoes on your feet.
When I got up to the trail I could feel that these were giving me a bit more traction than if I hadn't been wearing them, but still was slipping a bit as the spikes just aren't quite long enough to dig in to deeper and sloppier snow. I also lost one of the spikes, I think happened when I stepped on to a log buried under the snow and kind of slid along it a bit. They come with extra spikes, so I can just pop one of the replacements in.
The Due North All Purpose Traction Aid (http://www.surefoot.net/) is great slip on traction device that works really well when you need something to give you some traction in a bit in less gnarly conditions. This morning I had my first opportunity to try them out. We got about 3" of snow overnight- not much, but enough to make the roads and trails slippery. I headed out for one of my usual routes, which is about 10km, with 4km of road and 6km of trail. The snowplows had just gone by, so the side of the roads were packed snow, which is very slippery when wearing road shoes, not too bad when wearing trail shoes, and no problem when wearing these. I felt very solid, with no slipping at all. The spikes on these (picture below) are small enough too that you don't feel them pushing up into the bottom of your foot when you're running on a harder packed surface, so it doesn't feel like you have anything other than your shoes on your feet.
When I got up to the trail I could feel that these were giving me a bit more traction than if I hadn't been wearing them, but still was slipping a bit as the spikes just aren't quite long enough to dig in to deeper and sloppier snow. I also lost one of the spikes, I think happened when I stepped on to a log buried under the snow and kind of slid along it a bit. They come with extra spikes, so I can just pop one of the replacements in.
One of the up-sides to this product is the price- they sell for about $35, which is less than half the price of what you might pay for some of the other traction products on the market, and they're available not only at running stores, but also at regular stores such as hardware stores etc.
In summary, these are perfect for runners who normally stay on the roads and sidewalks, but need some traction for when it's snowy or icy. They're lightweight, comfortable, and give you a real sense of stability where you might otherwise be sliding all over the place.
In summary, these are perfect for runners who normally stay on the roads and sidewalks, but need some traction for when it's snowy or icy. They're lightweight, comfortable, and give you a real sense of stability where you might otherwise be sliding all over the place.