while apparently this has been used by many folks for a long time, it seems that few runners and triathletes from snowy regions seem know about it. so to spread the word, since the snow has begun to fall in north america, i will repost this. i have personally tested this for years on nearly every snowy and icy surface imaginable and the traction you get on these normally slippery surfaces is downright amazing. i have a dedicated pair of (older) running shoes set up like this all winter (they work great for walking and plowing too). but a few cautions: i would not recommend that you do this to running shoes with so-called “air” soles. i would also warn you that, while these are excellent on nearly any surface outdoors, they can be quite slippery on indoor tile or any super smooth indoor flooring (like those in some locker rooms). the photo shows the screws and a suggested pattern:
The photo of the screws makes them look longer than the packaging. Have you ever had trouble with the screws being too long? I need something like this desperately!
the screws are the shortest ones i could find at the local hardware store. and i’ve never had any problems with them being too long, but the trick is to place the screws deliberately.
for example, i avoid putting them in the blue cross-hatched area below because the midsole tends to be thinner and the forefoot puts more pressure in that spot. the keys for traction are the heel (stopping) and toe (push off), as well as both the inside and especially outside edges of the foot.
Thanks for the photo. I was hoping to get away from the treadmill this winter but was leery about ice so was thinking about screws/bolts but imagined them with the points sticking down. I’ll go with your plan.
Thank you for sharing your idea. I just bought a new pair of running shoes so I can try this on my old pair. And, as luck would have it, we got several inches of snow this morning with more on the way.
You’re in Milwaukee? I would love to hear some input on good places to train while I’m there. I’ve already hit up JSA for some ideas too. I don’t want to be on the dreadmill! PM me if you have any good running routes or masters swim teams.
Thanks Greg for the reminder…we’ve been running in lots of snow and normally I do this for our annual Winterlude Triathlon where we run on a frozen canal, but I might just have to do the same for a pair of day in day out shoes for running on snow!
I’ve been doing this for years, but am nowhere near as precise with the spacing! In my experience, significantly fewer screws will do the job too. Maybe 1/2 dozen or so up front and a little less on the heel.
That is a great picture to help people out. Nice job.
they work great on cement or asphalt if you don’t put in too many screws. that way the rubber of the shoe can still stick to the bare suface. but i prefer to run on the snowy parts of the asphalt because i get better traction and it’s less impact.
about the yaktrax, they are 20 bucks, and being the cheapskate that i am and the screws being only a couple of pennies a piece, you can see where that leads …
