Trail runners…I keep wanting them to work for me. So far, all of my attempts at wearing trail runners have ended up in falling down, blisters at the ankle, and plantar fasciitis flare-ups. To be fair, I have a lot of boot drama as well, but have found that Salomon Quest hiking boots to be a win for my feet.

So, why try again? For one, I would like to find a nice alternative to hot waterproof boots in the summer months. In addition, trail runners are lighter than hiking boots.

When backpacking, my camp shoes are an old pair of Altra Superiors and they are perfect comfy shoes for after hiking all day and they double as nice stream crossing shoes since they dry quickly. I did not intend for the Superiors to be reserved for camp only…originally purchasing them to be used for regular hiking. However, one 5-mile loop at Sugarloaf Mountain had my plantar fasciitis flaring up like nobody’s business! Trail runner dream squashed! 😀

The old Superiors, though, have enough positive features that I recently started looking at Altra’s again. I found a new Altra design that looked promising, the Olympus 4. These were not carried in my local REI store, so I ordered online…didn’t fit…returned and reordered…didn’t fit…returned and reordered 😀 😀 😀 ding, ding, ding…a winner at size 9.5 ( 1 full size larger than my boot size). I wore them around town a few times. Felt great!

Yesterday I took them out for a trail test. I headed down to a local trail at Monocacy National Battlefield Worthington Farm. This trail has a good hill with rocks, a steeper decline, and some muddy areas down by the Monocacy river. A good intro trail for a test.

The Olympus 4 did a good job! My skinny ankles stayed put, my heels were cushioned nicely when walking over rocks, and in general, it was a successful first run! Even better than the shoes, I was given a show by three cool birds, a Carolina Wren, Belted Kingfisher, and a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker! And to cap off my hike, the moo cows came trotting across the field to say hi!

The next trail I take the Altras out on will be longer, steeper, and rockier. I am not sold yet…but I am optimistic that I may have found a trail runner contender! Hike on!