One of the first things you will notice when comparing a trail running shoe with a road shoe is the outsole of the trail shoe. On road shoes, the outsole (the bottom part that hits the ground) is relatively smooth. Sure, there might be some sort of nubs to provide a little traction, but mostly, the outsoles are designed to help speed you down the road. After all, other than the occasional slight divot or loose gravel, there is not a lot of surficial variety on the streets of your town Trekking Boots, Hiking Boots & Trail Running Shoes.

 

Contrast that with an average trail. The ground is probably uneven, rocks and roots might pop up at any time, leaves might be covering the path, and so on. Any one step is seldom like the one before it. A shoe with a more lugged outsole - that is, a lot of little grippy things - is going to give you better traction so that you don't spend your whole run slip sliding away.

 

Trail running shoes are almost always heavier and sturdier than road shoes. Because even with the best balance, you are still likely to get tossed around a bit on such an uneven surface, trail shoes have stiffer heel counters to help minimize side-to-side motion (and in severe cases, sprains).

 

Added weight also comes from the extra materials laid over the uppers. These extra materials are meant to protect you from jutting rocks and sticks, as well as other parts of nature that might be nice to look at, but don't feel all that great when they scrape across the top of your feet. Finally, most trail shoes have waterproof materials added to the uppers, for the puddles and streams you will inevitably encounter. These, too, increase the weight of the shoe.

 

Do you need special trail running shoes if you are going to run on trails a couple of times per week? Unless you are running on highly technical trails (a lot of twists and turns and obstacles), unless you twist your ankles just walking down city streets, probably not.

 

Many runners believe that a good running shoes is a good running shoe, period, and that one with a decent amount of traction will work just fine on the types of trails that most of us are likely to encounter. Some runners go further, saying that trail shoes are so stiff that they inhibit, not increase, your feet's ability to react quickly to the varying surface of a trail. Trail shoes are certainly not as castlike as when they first became popular about 10 years ago, but they still are usually unnecessarily bulky. Among many runners, trail shoes have the same reputation as SUVs - made for the rugged outback, but most often used for expeditions to the suburban grocery store.

 

If you have heart set on trail running shoes, I recommend starting with one of the hybrid road or trail shoes that most manufacturers offer. These are a little lighter, and they are a lot more useful in situations in which you will be running to a trail via a road.