Winter Spike

I'm lucky enough to have had a friend at the Mountain Equipment Co-Op store when I was researching my running shoe strap-on devices! (not that kind of a strap on: Kovas, Adam, Chris, Shawn, Jamoosh!)  (He's now a floor manager at Canadian Tire so I'm outta luck unless I want to test drive some windshield washer fluid!)

In looking and quizzing about different strategies for running in the snow, we decided to try out a quick snow run on King Street in Toronto with several devices.  Here's my review of the ones I tried.

[Nota Bene: I'm about 235 lbs, 5' 11", I usually take choppier steps than marathoners, and I land flat footed, or a little on the ball and toes - I also underpronate (supinate) my feet during my running gate.]

device	~price	good	bad	application
Gripons	$12	available at lots of different stores don't need a lot of strength to put them on your shoes funny Chinglish on the packaging grip well on ice	rubber loses stretchiness in cold weather and heel slides off do not grip well when spikes can't penetrate through to hard surface uncomfortable running on hard surfaces no traction aid on packed snow	shoveling snow on the drive-way in the summer
Slide Grippers	$29	really really easy to slide onto a shoe feels like you're wearing nothing at all look good near curling rinks	really really easy to slide off of a shoe feels like you're wearing nothing at all look good near curling rinks	walking to tim horton's to buy 4 double-doubles and a box of assorted tim bits for your curling team
Yaktrax Pro	$25	no slippage on the shoe whatsoever good for ice, excellent on slush and snow, good on flat dry surfaces too makes a terrifying chain clanking when you run by dogs and children that won't get out of the way best road/side-walk/city trail combination	takes a little experimentation to figure out how to put them on your shoes need to remove them from shoes, after use, else shoes will crumple into little ball of goo if you put them on wrong the velco will rub the inside calf of the other leg during your gait	running in a variety of conditions like, dry hard tarmac, slush, icy-patches on side-walk, packed-snow tracks, and bridge-mix trails
Microspikes	$60	excellent on ice and difficult trails sense that the chains would not slide around on your shoe seems like it's meant more for terrain and track	felt like I was damaging the spikes on clear road and sidewalk a soft running shoe doesn't seem strong enough to resist the tension of the framework	walking from your BMW to the uncleared drive-way of one of your rental properties to see a bailiff evict dead-beat tenants from your money-maker

Along with my Garmin, the Yaktrax are going to go into my running hall of fame as facilitating an awesome run experience. There is no way to run fast without this shoe gear in the winter conditions I run in.

Don't forget about the 2-minute Burpee Challenge.  Only a few days left!  I'll post my video shortly!