12 Feb 2010

Flyrocs old and new


Thought I would give a few of my impressions of the new Flyroc 310s now that I have been out in them a few times. The toe bumper and the rand are more substantial on the new version. The sole pattern is exactly the same but it does seem to be made out of a harder rubber compound. This may however be just because of the age of my old pair and with time the new ones may soften up.


On both edges of the ball of the foot there is some extra protection with is helpful for running on rocky ground. The same textured rubber coating is around the heel, which is slightly higher. As far as the weight goes they are supposed to be the same but I have not check as this would entail cleaning the mud off.





Apologies for the photos the front and back of the shoe are in fact in perfect proportion :)

Overall the new version feels like a more substantial shoe but still make a comfortable light off-road running shoe. I have mainly been running in the new ones but my impression is that they will be a better walking shoe than the old version.

4 Feb 2010

Stickler plus a bit

The idea was to meet up in Shillingstone and do the Stickler route in reverse plus a bit because we all wanted to do more than the 10 mile. What is the definition of a bit? It turned out that a bit was another 9 miles.

We started up Hambledon Hill and had beautiful view down the River Stour. The conditions were freezing and the ground was rock hard with frost. Next was Hod Hill and down to Stourpaine.

We left the Stickler route at the top of Norton Lane and headed through Turnworth. Doubling back on ourselves from Oke Breacon we ran through Blandford Forest and back down to Durweston. Rather than run along the road we decided to cross over and run along the old railway track.

As is obvious to anyone who can read a map this was not a good move but to 4 tired runners the gap where the railway bridge was before Dr Beeching came as a bit of a surprise.



So we headed back towards Hod Hill and eventually Shillingstone. 19 miles in about 4 hours. Home for a fry up.

For the full route click on the map below.