About 19 kilometers is enough to hide the rustic blue of the Altra King MT 2 behind a layer of mud. Can this shoe compete with the Superior?
It was a very busy week again, at the beginning of the second semester and the many information literacy instructions that are connected to it. Also, ever since the trail marathon I feel a bit tired, there is a strong wind that keeps the Me-Mover in the barn, I have nocturnal hypo’s and there is flu going around. In other words: my training is a bit behind at the moment. But the new Altra King MT 2’s arrived on Monday and had to be tested.
I've already built up a nice shoe collection since I started running. For the trails I have the Topo Terraventure, Raidlight Responsiv Ultra, Altra Lone Peak 4 and Altra Superior 4. In order of moderate (almost not) to much used. Still I needed a few more: this summer we're going to Skye again. And none of the previous shoes is very good on the more slippery terrain. Ergo, last year I slipped twice on wet stone. Luckily I have good reflexes.
The choice for the new shoes obviously fell on a wide-nosed Altra. The King MT 2 has Vibram soles that should offer better grip in the mud and, because of the slightly softer rubber, are probably also sturdier on wet stone. Bonus point for those who didn't get their lacing diploma: there's Velcro on it. Ok, it is an addition to the laces and is actually meant to easily adjust the shoes to fit a little firmer or looser if necessary; a trick that is especially useful for uphill versus downhill in the mountains. But perhaps it also solves the biggest annoyance among Altra users: most models have longer laces that easily untie themselves while running.
Petzl Night Trail
I am always dying to test out my new shoes. Unfortunately, there is only little trail-worthy terrain to be found in Pijnacker. And the easily accessible areas like dunes and beach (and the train station to station NS MST routes) are not so suitable to try the grip. Luckily nearby in Bergschenhoek – only 8.5 km cycling – MST has the yearly Petzl Night Trail. I couldn't participate in the last two editions, but I know the track guarantees a load of mud and tricky climbs. The only question mark: am I allowed to run the course outside the race? I decided to test it out with the 20 km long route.
I have crossed the area near the former garbage dump and Outdoor Valley a couple of times with hill training at De Koplopers, in marathon training and with a short reconnaissance for last year's night trail (not continued because of an ankle injury). In my head the area was quite limited in size, so I was very curious about the route. Knowing Marc Weening, there must have been some ‘fun’ bits in it.
Outdoor Valley
A little way into the woods. It doesn't look like a path, a bit further on there is one, but it says on my watch that I have to go here. This is such a typical piece of trail that Marc has thrown in for fun. It takes only a 100 m stretch until I am up to my knees into the mud. And shortly after I am on that other path. The many footprints in the mud – the race was a week earlier – take away all doubt: I took the right turn. Great, playing outside. Of course I had to relive it a couple of times for the picture.
I came across the first mud just one kilometer after the start at Outdoor Valley. It is the busiest point on the route, mountain bikers and hikers start here from the parking lot. And of course there are a lot of boot camp clubs from the sports centre itself. From across a ditch I could just in time warn a desperate hiker who wanted to follow in my footsteps that the mud was quite deep. She wisely took a different path.
Flat
The first kilometers of the route were not disappointing in terms of trail. Nice parts along the wide ditches. Lots of green. Sneaking over a golf course. And here and there a piece of horse trail so you didn't have to take asphalt anywhere. Now I have to say: it is no punishment to run on asphalt with the King. Unlike the Superior, which is a bit more flexible, you don't feel a pinch on the King. And the grip in the mud is indeed a lot better. My shoes weren't once sucked loose as the Velcro was strong and the laces stayed put well; normally the laces get loose through wet mud. Still, I don't see the King as a preference for all kinds of terrain. If it's not very technical terrain, Utrechtse Heuvelrug or Veluwe for example, then the Superior is preferable because of its flexibility and softer fit.
During the run I passed many areas known to me. I even go by the Rotte, to which I often drive the Me-Mover in summer. The network of horse trails, extends the trail enormously compared to what I thought possible before. At Outdoor Valley, I often stay closer to the garbage dump where there are very nice single tracks for climbing and downhill practice. So the flatness of the trail surprises me a bit. The first few kilometers I am also happy that I can run anywhere, nothing is closed of or forbidden.
MTB routes
The closer I get to the starting point, the more difficult the route becomes. So now those famous little hill climbs do come. Although I have to say: it is nowhere as slippery against mud as on the route I did last year with the test run of the nighttrail.
It's annoying that the mountain bike sections start here. During the race it's evening and the routes are closed. Now it is daylight and there are quite a lot of cyclists present. Even with the stronger wind from storm Dennis that would be in the country tomorrow (the reason I'm running Saturday instead of Sunday).
In general, runners and cyclists go reasonably well together. But there are also stretches where it is hard to see oncoming traffic and where it is even forbidden to run the route. So I had to adjust a few pieces for safety reasons. Although I suspect that Marc himself would not care.
It was a bit of panning and zooming in and out of the watch to change the route. On this part I was very happy with the maps of the 5x. Besides the route adjustments, every now and then I had to run where there was no official route which is a lot easier when you see where there are paths. The last part of the route had to be redesigned as well: the fence of Outdoor Valley that lead to the finish line was closed of.
In the end I was quite tired for the bike ride back home. But satisfied. I didn't run fast, I definitely played with the mud. The route of the night trail is really worth it, although you have to adjust a bit here and there when you run it during the day. Hopefully next year I can join the real race at night.
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