Just a quick note about the magic 12 oz shoes that were really 10 oz. The actual weight of the shoe depends on the shoe size as well. Thus the 10 oz shoes were likely a smaller sized shoe than the “standard” shoe size that is referecned when they advertise as 12 oz.

Great review. Want a pair!

I just got back from the MOOSE (Marathon of Ontario Summer Edition), a 6-day / 300km stage run. It went along the northern end of the Bruce Trail in Ontario, from Tobermory to Blue Mtn. I was carrying a 15lb pack food and gear, and wore a pair of fresh Stumptown 10’s for the duration. The trail was extremely rocky in places (much like Massanutten), with crappy footing and running on the tops of rocks for much of it. There were also overgrown farm fields, gravel and paved roads, and even sweet pine-needle laden single-track (!).

Anyways, the shoes were overall great once again. The uppers broke in instantly because the fabric is so flexible and there are no extraneous doo-dads on teh outside, and showed little wear from the 44 hours of pounding. The outsole did get some heel wear, but overall the shoes held up extremely well given the tough terrain.

Fit? Quite good. I found that the lack of rigidity in the sole was great for riding the rocks, and curving my foot around them for better traction and launch. A stiffer footplate would probably have slid a lot more. I did get one fit-related blister on my pinky toe, though I had the shoes tied pretty tight to avoid any sliding around on the undulating trail surface.

Cushioning proved to be fine, and definitely helped on the hard rocks and road surfaces. Midsoles survived the route just fine, with no noticeable compression.

But let me stress the light weight – carrying 9.5 oz on each foot over 300km was a blessing compared to something in the 13-15oz range!

As for the END Stumptown 12 oz, we are on the same page. I hope to try the lighter version of the trail shoes sometime soon. However, these days I do most of my running on roads, so it’s fortunate that I’ve got preliminary version of the END YMMV… I ran the Trail Runner Magazine Uphill Challenge in them on Saturday and also had a good run in them yesterday. Looking forward to many more.

Finally, congrats on the awesome run at Hardrock!

Thanks for the shout, I should be posting a Hardrock follow-up on the ST 10’s pretty soon (with pics But briefly, they wore really well, were still lightweight even though wet for 34.5 hours (!) and most importantly, were comfortable and supportive through the entire run, with only two tiny blisters.

I’ll be doing a 6-day stage run in Ontario starting this Sunday, so we’ll see how the ST10’s fare there as well!

cheers,
Bruce