Wear tester review of Patagonia Release trail shoes with Vibram soles.
Summary:
I was asked by Vibram to take a pair of Patagonia Release shoes for a test and share my feedback. I took these shoes for a 17 mile trail run through single path, gravel road, rocks, roots, leaves, pine needles, mud and grass. They are a substantial trail shoe and they performed well. I had no issues with them and could see using them in an ultra. Good, sturdy, solid shoes. This seems to be the type of shoe you would get if a hiking boot company decided to make a running shoe!
Human Specs:
- Size 12D (normal width)
- 190 pounds (abnormal width)
- High mileage (30-50 Mi per wk)
- Neutral foot strike with a little heel transition.
- Experienced technical trail runner – up to 50 mile races
- Mid-packer
- Old pair of Ingenious low-cut tech socks for test
Shoe Specs:
Figure 1 - Actual shoes – post run.
- Patagonia Release
- Size 12D
- MSRP $110
- Avg. Weight (pair) 1 lb. 13 oz.
- Boot/Shoe Type Trail Running Shoe
- Upper Synthetic, mesh
- Midsole EVA
- Shank TPU
- Outsole Vibram® TC5+ rubber
- Outsole Flex High Flex
- Ankle Height Low Cut
- Ankle Support Minimal
- Terrain Rough
- Waterproof No
Detail Story:
I ran with a bit of dead legs on these shoes on Sunday. I had been out on an epic mountain bike ride with Anthony (the sponsored) the day before. We road 4.5 hours, 38 miles with 3100 ft of elevation gain. It was an excellent suffer-fest for me trying to keep up with Anthony. I spent much of the time on my back looking up at the trees and my bike losing blood!
Sunday morning I met Brian and Devon for a long trail run. I figured “what the heck? Why not test out the Patagonias?” Usually it is not recommended to take new shoes out of the box on a long run. I’ve got enough miles on my body to ignore some of the better known rules of thumb, but still, no sense being miserable!
It’s really just common sense. Sometimes you can get a pair of shoes that doesn’t fit right or has a manufacturing problem, like a bad raised seam on the inside. You don’t want to be 10 miles from your car in the woods with a huge blister.
Reason overcame impetuousness and I pulled the new Patagonias out of the box Saturday afternoon to wear around the yard for a couple hours to smoke out any weirdness.
I have to tell you they are pretty awesome shoes to do yard work in! I wore them digging in the garden and mowing the lawn. They have a great sturdy feel to them like work boots – and the stiff Vibram sole was great for standing on the spade when turning the soil that will spawn my tomatoes this summer. The wide spaced lugs didn’t pick up as much mud as my old running shoes do when working in the garden.
You right away feel the hiking boot heritage. They fit and feel like a low cut hiking boot when you’re walking around in them.
Theses shoes have an excellent lacing system. It’s really “sticky” – I don’t know what the correct term is – but when you tighten them they stay put and don’t loosen up. There was a very good fit around the top and sides of my foot, not too narrow, not too wide, snug and comfy.
I put my orthotics in them – I use very thin orthotics just to get a little extra heel lift for my achilles, but my mechanics are getting to the point where I probably could do without them. I don’t remove the insole that comes with the shoe – I insert my orthotics over them.
Sunday morning I strapped them on again for our trail adventure. It was Brian, Devon my dog Buddy, Brian’s dog Pickles and I. We started out on the asphalt rail trail and local roads. After a mile or so we were into the woods churning through the rough and rooty single track up the “Hill of Death” to a nice look out view of Western Mass.
The lug system and materials on the outsoles has great grip. No slippage at all on wet rock and roots. The outer sole is soft enough to grip on the dicey stuff. The lugs are large and widely spaced to get good stable traction in the mucky stuff without picking up clods. I really liked that. I hate having to run with big, heavy, wet clods in my shoes.
We continued in the woods and on the power line roads for the next two and a half hours. I had no problems with my feet. No rubbing, no blistering, felt like I could run an ultra in these shoes and my feet wouldn’t suffer. I had no knee pain or hip pain or any other pain that would point to ‘over-control’ or ‘unbalanced’ shoes. I think these shoes will end up getting 500 miles worth of Chrisrunner and a couple years of yard work after they get retired.
I purposely avoided going totally under water with them until we were getting close to the end because I don’t like to run with wet feet!
What do I think? What did they feel like? The best descriptive word I would use would be “Sturdy”. They felt heavy when I first put them on. At 14.5 oz - they aren’t overly heavy. I think they felt ‘heavy because they are so ‘sturdy’.
The Vibram outsole is a wide, super-stable platform. With the rugged shoe, stable platform and snug lacing system there was no way I was going to roll my ankle in these puppies. In the technical trail parts, (loose rocks, steep down hills, unstable camber) they are terrific. If you have ankle fears, these are the shoes for you.
The specifications say that ankle support is ‘minimal’, but I disagree. Maybe it was the stability of the Vibram platform that gave me the stability, not the boot. These dogs were stable as rocks when the trail got weird and technical.
The outsoles are on the stiff side. I didn’t ‘feel’ the rocks/trail elements that I was treading on. I felt one rock that pointed right into the midsole, but it was nothing special or bruise-worthy.
I had no problem with these shoes/soles and I could slot these into my collection as a high-mileage-technical option. I like them. I wouldn’t wear them on a short or less technical race – I’d wear a lighter less technical shoe for speed – but I’d run an ultra or tackle the Appalachian Trail in them.
What I liked:
- Excellent Lacing system and fit
- Rugged construction
- Great grip and lugs in technical trail conditions
- Superb ankle role support and stability
- Good for long haul, technical trail running
- Probably awesome hiking/cross training shoes – (really comfortable to do yard work in!)
Feedback:
Since I want to help improve the shoe – here’s my personal feedback on areas of improvement.
With my more neutral midsole strike I could have used more camber in the sole to make an easier transition to the toe-off. The midsole/platform seemed a little flat. It didn’t bother me but could be a drag if I was racing.
The angled lugs were great for traction, but in sandy conditions they tended to scoop up the sand and throw it against the back of my legs so that some would fall down into the shoe.
I finally took them under water when we got close to the cars. They ran well wet, but the insole seemed to sponge up and pool the water under my forefoot. I don’t know if that is the sole construction or the midsole material. That could cause foot pickling in a long race if they don’t drain.
Comparison to other trail shoes I’ve run in recently:
I’ve been running in a pair of New Balance 874’s and those are really light. I don’t think I’d risk an ultra in those. Comparing the New Balance to the Patagonias is like comparing a Mazda to a Humvee. The New Balance are light and fast, you feel the trail and are at risk of rolling your ankle. The Release shoes are like tanks – go through anything. It just shows that one company’s heritage is track shoes and the other is hiking boots!
A better comparison is the Saucony GRID Omni TR that I trained for and ran the ultra in last year. They are about the same weight and sturdiness and around the same MSRP. Ironically I thought the lugs could have been better on the Omni’s and the outer sole composite fell apart on one pair after 100 miles or so! I’d say the Saucony’s had a softer ride and drained better, but the lugs, grip, outsole and lacing on the Patagonias is better.
I appreciate the folks at Vibram giving me an opportunity to test these shoes. If you know runners, you know there is nothing we like better than new shoes to play with! I think Patagonia and Vibram are headed in the right direction. I’m looking forward to future generations of these shoes as they continue to make the transition from hiking to running.
I’ll see you out there!
Chris,
Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com. Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners. ChrisRunner@runrunlive.com