Trail or road shoes? How much does it matter?

[E27M14]

I’m away with work, I have brought my running things, but it turns out the Hotel is right on a coastal path that would be lovely to run along. I walked a bit of it this evening, watching the dolphins popping up out of the water. My trainers are road shoes though, I have only ever run on road with the occasional bit of grass here and there, but this would be all grass and earth track. It’s dry though, not muddy. Will I be OK with road shoes??

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

I think you will. Would be a pity to miss out on the opportunity!

[Deals1 Graduate10]

I'd say yes... Looks lovely 👌

[Hidden]

That looks absolutely fine for normal trainers. You only really need trail shoes for mud and wet rock, it's more about grip. I used to run cross country in normal/road trainers all the time, especially in summer. Go for it.

[Dowat Graduate10]

Enjoy the trail. Sounds like a lovely place to run. Feeling trail envy coming on! Have a great run.

[Granspeed Graduate10]

Try a bit and see? I use road shoes on a route that includes farm track and gravel path and it’s always been fine. But I am a slow runner & I do watch my step on those sections. If it’s steep and/or very rough, I wouldn’t risk it though, as a turned ankle would spoil your enjoyment for sure!

[Tasha99 Graduate10]

Yeah fine

[Madge50 Graduate10]

I run on all surfaces most of the year in ‘road’ trainers, only use my trail shoes if it’s muddy/slippery (off road only) , you should be fine, you might find it a bit of a work out for your feet/ankles, if you haven’t run off road much, so take it steady.

Mx

[Jay66UK Graduate10]

Just be careful anywhere wet or muddy. Looks fantastic.

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Yes I’m sure you’ll be fine, just take it steadily in case it’s slippy - you know, that dry dust that accumulates on a dried out dirt path.

Other than that, have fun. It looks like a fantastic place to run. 😍

[EB43 Graduate10]

Absolutely a it's so beautiful it would be a shame to miss out. I'd run it slowly to make sure you have a good foot fall but used to run trail with road shoes before I realised it was my favourite place to run so decided to invest.

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

I use my road shoes for almost everything. What you describe sounds like my normal running surface and ok for road runners. You will know the difference if you see it. This week I found myself on a challenging trail..really uneven, hard, massive ruts, steep hills, loose earth and rocks.....feet hitting the earth at a substantially different angle on every step ....turn an ankle in a second stuff. I was really glad that I had my trail shoes on. Hope you have a wonderful run; the scenery looks stunning.😊

[ArthurJG Graduate10]

Yes road shoes are fine for grass and earth track if the surface is reasonably dry and vaguely approximating to smooth. I don’t yet own trail shoes and my local parkrun features both those surfaces (as well as others). I’ve never had an issue except one day when the rain was so incessant that there was surface water on the whole course (and even then it was the tarmac bits that were slippiest).