If it’s not too technical, Craft CTM Ultra Carbon is a great shoe: https://www.craftsports.us/...tent=collection-page

Disclaimer: I’m affiliated with the company, but I have used the shoe for more than a year and love it.

HOKA Zinal. Put it on my feet and I knew. Raced a 5k parkrun on a technical slippery chalky hilly muddy course and knew even more. They're a FAST shoe, feel sweet on my foot (like rincon 3's fit) and have impressive grip for the depth of lug. Feel fine on road as well when required. Highlight for me was how light they felt after splashing through god knows how many puddles and turning onto the basically 1 mile segment at 5%; I went from 5th to 2nd on this hill even reeling in about 150m on the canicross runner who (along with his gorgeous and extremely rapid dog) was flying away from the field the rest of the time; and a part of that was for sure a pair of shoes that felt like they helped me drive up the hill rather than weighing my legs down

Recent thread with some suggestions HERE.

TL;DR - The only current carbon plated trail shoe is the North Face Vectiv but it sounds like several more options are coming out soon.

Based on the timing of your race, you'll have some interesting options later this year from Salomon (Pulsar Trail Pro), Saucony (Endorphin Edge), and Hoka (Tecton X). All of these will be plated and light weight. You can use google to see some videos/write-ups from The Running Event.

---

Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

I have the Hoka Torrent 2, which is about a year and a half old, but is pretty light and nimble for a trail shoe. There are probably faster options out there now.

---

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

I could easily be misreading something but the Speedland has been out for awhile and I think has a carbon plate (https://www.runspeedland.com/). Expensive probably to the point of being overpriced, but well received and does have a lot of positives.

I'm all for experimentation and options but am not sure high-stack springy shoes are necessarily what I want in a trail shoe? Maybe I'll change my mind.

I'm curious which 50k trail race the OP is doing. I'm itching to do that distance myself.

For racing, I don't think you can beat the Salomon S-lab Pulsar. Not going to suit very technical races as there's not as much grip as other trail shoes, and not as much cushioning but you could take it up to 50k on the high end. But man is it lightweight and responsive, and climbs like a dream! If you don't have a ton of technical or steep descents and are a decently fast runner, it might be the way to go.

Note- I haven't actually raced these myself but have tried on in store and know a couple folks with them, and I absolutely would love buy them for serious trail racing. They're kinda like the Vaprofly though in that the durability is short lived, so they're a raceday-only type shoe (which is why I haven't taken the plunge yet, chose to get Alphaflys as my reward for BQing and 70.3 Worlds last year).

Absolutely loving The North Face Flight VECTIV!

My local running shoe store is owned by a former elite ultrarunner and he pretty much only stocks quality shoes. I would have never tried a TNF shoe as I've just never been a fan of their gear, probably stems back to ski resort uniforms that fit like a garbage bag and soaked up water like a sponge, I digress...

When I asked about a super shoe in the trail department one of the rock star runner kids that works at the shop grabbed the Flight VECTIV. I was dubious until I ran in them. Now they're my dessert trail shoes. Fast, light, stable, carbon plate, rocker, decent tread, lots of cushion, roomy but can be cinched down hard, give it a shot if it fits your foot. I went a half a size too big and regret it, but the shoe still feels like a dream on long days.

I went torrent 2 to zinal, basically a lighter, refined and more comfortable version of it to me. Brought the refined nature of the rincon 3 into an offroad shoe

Foam is what makes these shoes fast, not so much the plate. Brooks Catamount is basically a Hyperion Tempo without plate and with a trail outsole. Read up some reviews on those. Seem to be very positive.

It’s in upstate NY outside of Albany. Thatcher Park Trail Running Festival 50k. Also has a marathon, half, and 10k option

https://www.areeventproductions.com/events/areep/trf/

This is interesting. Seems like a big stack would be bad for a trail race that’s moderately technical.

It's not a high stack shoe

Definitely depends on the type of trail / terrain as well as individual preference.
I have run in ............. you name it ........ road shoes and never thought I'd ever be RUNNING in a pair of Skechers but I picked up a pair based off a suggestion and they are my go to shoe for an upcoming trail race. THAT SAID .................. it will be a very soft trail. If it was rocky / hard / etc.. no way the shoes I picked up would work!

6 months from now "I broke my ankle what do I do now?" . Light shoes with spikes is the way to go. I've seen runners in real xc races do poorly using super shoes

did you actually just suggest doing a 50km trail race in a set of XC spikes? Agree in having a lower stack shoe so you can run using the feel from the trail, but it's rare a 50km ultra is laps of a muddy field with people bellyflopping into puddles

while a little off topic from the OP - If I was still a decent runner I would pick something like the nike waffle racer if I was going to run a serious A race up to 50k. In the past I normally maxed out on trail races at the half/15k distance, but always wore something like the older New Balance 101s or Nike Waffle Racer and had great success and would have run 50k in those - if I ever would have been in shape to run 50k that is... Nowadays, I would probably just use the Nike Kiger for any distance and call it a day.

Fair enough. I will run in the zinals for all distances of trail and speeds, from 3:45/km hilly tempos to 6:00/km all morning explores, just hit that specific sweetspot of grip, a little cushion, lightness, weight distribution in the shoe, a nice hold of the foot and still good ground feel for me. Such an individual thing shoe choice for sure.

Some others to consider are the Salomon Ultra Glide and S/Lab Ultra if you want a smidge more protection for a 50K. Both are stable for their stack heights. I think your durability (especially if there's a lot of downhill running) is what will be the deciding factor for something like a Pulsar vs. those.

There are tons of great options from many different brands- Salomon, Hoka, Saucony, Brooks, Nike, Inov-8, etc. They all have different lasts and don't work for everyone, so for example some feet love Salomons and there are a range of awesome options, some can't handle their narrow toebox.

Non-technical trails, the Catamount is a great option.
Technical trails, the Evo Speedgoat
Very long distance, Caldera or S/Lab Ultra

The EVO speedgoat (& the 4) is discontinued and will be replaced by the speedgoat 5

As a young lad a raced the Dipsea in a pair of XC "rubber" spikes thinking it would help the uphills which they did. Coming down the other side I felt like a semi truck with blown tires.

The newest Saucony Peregrine feels great! Nice fit and good good sole protection while feeling one with the trail.

Altra are poorly designed imo and are sold with too many manufacturing flaws such as not sitting level. Many out of the box lean inwards at the heel causing unnatural over pronation. Hoka I feel too disconnected from the ground and often trip or turn ankle the second I don't have focus on every rock and root. The Hoka Speedgoat almost destroyed my peroneal tendon.

I just read Jordan's review of this shoe on the homepage. It's way out of my league, and I'm not a Boa fan for running shoes, but it looks interesting as a "cost-is-no-object" answer.

I'm also intrigued by the removable carbon insole. I have no idea how that would work, but I would like to see one in person to play with it.

---

***

the carbon plates in trail running shoes are made to protect your from a sharp rock or object piercing through to your foot, not assist in propulsion. I really cant say there is 1 all around trail shoe. It all depends on the course. pure dirt and grass I like xc spikes. cross country that has sidewalk and road mixed in the altra escalante racer (probably this is what I would default to if I do not know the course)