Icebug Shoes

I ran in these today at lunch and they worked great on the sidewalk (which had been plowed but still had from a dusting to 1" of packed snow), good on XC ski trails (which had be packed down by skis), and just ok on unplowed sidewalk. They are a great alternative to ice grippers or yaxtrax as you can run on the concrete as well (when there are clear areas or you were running across a road). I find that no one except the city in the Metropark really plows or shovels side walks so these will be a benefit. Some of the others also felt they would help on ice. I expect that they will last 3-4 winters as how often do you really need them?

Anyway, they fit pretty true to size and had a wide toebox. They are available from many online retailers and of course from my local running store - Second Sole, Rocky River, OH - in case any of you are interested.

http://www.icebug.se/Product.aspx?m=645

Cool. I didn't like Yak Tracks, because I felt very unsafe running on the clean streets and for us it seems like 1/2 of the people will clean sidewalks and the other half doesn't and between side streets is always horrible. I have stuck with indoor workout dvds the last few years because I hate running on the ice so much.

Although they have little "spikes" on the bottom, they didn't make nearly the noise on the pavement that Yaxtrax do and they felt normal. I understand that they do work well on the "icy" spots left when the snow melts and refreezes. We don't have that yet this time, but we will since it is supposed to get warm, rain, and then get cold again. I'll let you know.

Hey Michele, have you ever tried the shoe screw? It's a very similar idea only with the shoe screw you can put the screws into your favorite shoes. That way you're not bound to a specific shoe. Also, you can just take the screws out when they are no longer needed. I ran my first real run with the shoe screws about a month ago. It was a 20 mile trail run on packed snow and ice. I put 5 screws in each shoe and it worked great. I can't imagine what it would have been like without them. Next time I would probably put a few more screws in though.

http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm

Looks interesting, Tim. Might look at those.

Hmm, I would think that you may want to use those screws on a shoe that is in the middle of it's wear cycle. Otherwise, you may ruin a perfectly good shoe.