Trail Mates.

   I have dug out my Mizuno Wave Harrier 2 trail shoes to make sure that they are good to go for this weekends trail race at Castle Bolton. The shoes are now seven years old, in human years they are probably verging on ninety years. That's the excuse I will be using if I feel the need to treat myself to some fancy new ones. To be honest they haven't seen much action because any off road races that I compete in normally require fell running shoes.  I once had a pair of New Balance trail shoes but for some reason or another I took a disliking to them. I ended up using them one winter as I was short for a pair of training shoes. I would use them for the long Sunday run which would be on and off road, on getting home I would chuck the muddy wet things near the back door and leave them there until the following  Sunday when I would put the soggy things back on. This carried on through winter and spring as I mistreated and neglected them, the funny thing was when summer came they took some getting on as the mud had set them solid. The winter after that I started to love my scruffy little trail shoes and instead

Me and the New Balance Trail shoes in action,
2008 James Herriot Trail Race.

of leaving them out in the freezing cold each night  I started to chuck them in the garage after I had used them. Spring came and the cheeky little things had been promoted to the number one choice for multi terrain / trail races. Unfortunately they didn't last long as the tread was about non existent, they may have gone but they have not been forgotten. I found a picture of us, in action off road and funnily enough it was the James Herriot Trail Race in 2008.