[pct-l] Trail Running Shoes so great?

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Feb 20, 2009, at 6:29 PM, <ned at pacificcrestcustombuilders.com> wrote:

> Ok.  It seems evident that trail runners are highly spoken of and  
> their negatives are either not talked about or lived with.
>
> What I want to know is what are those negatives? All I've heard of  
> is wet and/or cold feet for days. You mean the following don't  
> occur with these shoes and no one has ever had an injury or had to  
> leave the trail because of shoe problems?
>
> Slip and Falls
> Frostbite
> too many rocks in the shoes
> Plantar Fasciitis
> Achilles Tendonitis
> ripped or torn uppers
> sole separations/delaminations
> Sprained/Strained Ankles/Tendons
> jammed toes from soft uppers
> numerous blisters from too roomy a shoe
>
> Just curious....
>
> Mtnned
>

Who is to say that those things cannot happen with boots?

Seriously, the PCT is not the frontier wilderness. It's not Alaska.  
You're not climbing Everest. You're not going to get frostbite.  
You're walking a very smooth, very well-maintained foot path in the  
summer and fall. The part that is done in spring may as well be  
summer. I swear it hurts more to do the road walks into town.

If you prefer boots, wear them. Lots of people do. But you do not  
need them because of frostbite or severe conditions. Nothing is  
really that severe. By the time you get to the High Sierra your feet  
will be like leather and being wet all day will have no effect. You  
can sleep in your spare socks and your light shoes will be dry by  
morning. Nice to have shoes that drain quickly, too, if you are like  
me and just plow through the creek crossings.

About the only negative I can think of is that everybody I met had  
blisters between the big toes and the second toes by about the 2nd or  
third day of the hike. I did too, and I've never had that happen. I  
can't tell you what causes that.