For those of us who like to be able to run (or walk for that matter) all winter, this involves figuring out how to get decent traction under foot when snow has fallen or ice covers our streets and sidewalks.
I wanted to share some of my findings & experiences to help runners find what suits them best.
I’ve personally tried both Yak Traxs and Get-a-grips. While the Yak Traxs (available at Valhalla Pure Outfitters) really helped with dog-walks around Alice Lake, for example, they collect can snow and would not be my choice for running because some of the “coils” cross under the arch of the foot and I found this quite painful on hard-packed snow. This probably work OK if you had some softer snow but I felt like something was digging into my soft arch- no good.
The “Get-a-Grips”, available from Amazon.com (not super convenient for us in Canada with the border crossing fee…) but these are more comfortable for ice and running combined. Not good for deeper snow because the spikes are too short.
A very similar product is the Spiky’s, seems like this could be the more convenient Canadian option to the “get-a-grips”, product almost looks the same but more readily available for us. Check it out here (well priced to at $30).
There were some rave reviews online about Icebugs, shoes that are insulated and with spikes embedded in their soles but HOW TO FIND THESE??? Some searching lead to this link, for the women’s version, at least. This sounds perfect- but is it the Holy Grail of shoes?
Lastly, I stopped in a Valhalla Pure Outfitters yesterday, here in Squamish and they had one set of spikes that you screw into the soles of your runners- sounds perfect! Don’t know how hard these are to install, yourself though, and at $45, it makes me think going to home depot and trying to create my own version for $4.50 might be worthwhile…hmmm.
Anyone have some experience to share with any of the products listed above? Would love to hear from you in the comments section.
Happy trails!
Sue Shalanski BScPT
Lady Foot Locker sells Icebug shoes online only. But they will ship the shoes to any store in the US for free. There’s a Lady Footlocker in Bellis Fair Mall.