FALL TRAIL SHOES & ADVOCACY

Mt. Rainier National Park. Taken by Art Bromage, July 25, 2014. On flickr.com CC 2.0 license https://flic.kr/p/oBjHxd

TRAIL SHOE REVIEW AND BROOKS NATIONAL PARKS COLLECTION
CompetitorRunning.com posted 2 articles recently that highlight trail shoes.  The review, “10 Best Trail Running Shoes of Fall 2017” by Lisa Jhung, is especially helpful in that the feel and best purpose of each featured shoe is included in the discussion. I love the look of many of the models and must force myself to pay attention to the qualities identified as important by testers.

Shoes that can transition from road to trail fit my usage pattern. I don’t want them to be highly inflexible or heavy. Although I am attracted to flashy appearance, wetness protection is more important.  I want to buy shoes I will wear up to the mileage limit.  Reviews from a trusted source are an important starting point for later shopping. Based on what’s written, the shoes I would like to try on are: Inov-8 ParkClaw 275 GTX, New Balance 910v4, Brooks Adrenaline ASR 14, and Saucony Koa TR.

The second article announces the debut of Brooks National Park Collection, officially launched in early August and available at REI stores and online.  The collection includes limited edition Brooks Cascadia 12 trail running footwear and technical t-shirts. The company added an incentive for runners to purchase the gear, by announcing it will donate 5% of the wholesale cost of each item to the National Parks Foundation. 

The four parks honored with themed-color shoes include: Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Mt. Rainier, and Yosemite.  The fifth salute goes to all National Parks generally; the clothing/shoe designs for it were inspired by “the look and feel of park ranger uniforms”, according to the article. Each shoe has an identifying round-edged, wedge-shaped heel ‘patch’.

Trail runners interested in learning about REI corporate efforts to take responsibility for sustainability and to advocate for protection of public lands can click on a “stewardship” link on the REI.com webpage that advertises the Collection.  The Competitor.com article has a link to another piece which describes the effort being made by a group of trail runners to play a meaningful role in influencing legislation effecting public lands.

Perhaps advocating for the great outdoors can become part of trail-runners shoe buying strategy.

RUN HAPPY!
 
http://running.competitor.com/2017/08/shoes-and-gear/best-trail-running-shoes-fall-2017_167657
 
http://running.competitor.com/2017/08/shoes-and-gear/brooks-new-national-parks-collection_166744
 
https://www.rei.com/b/brooks
 
https://www.rei.com/stewardship.html

http://running.competitor.com/2017/05/trail-running/behind-initiative-advocating-public-lands_164356