REVIEWER: KARL FORCEY Ultra cushioned, ultra comfortable, ultra versatile. So says the marketing tag from Swiss company On Running about their new max-cushioned, long-day-out trail shoe, the Cloudultra. Sounds promising, right? I thought so, too, and was happy to give these a trial. Do they deliver? Let’s find out. All shoes from On Running have one thing in common: the distinctive Cloudtec sole. This gives the shoes not only a unique appearance, but…
Review: Coros APEX and APEX Pro
REVIEWER: KARL FORCEY OK, so the APEX Pro has just turned one, and the original APEX is three years old now. Hardly a new release, so why are we reviewing them? Well, firstly because for some reason we here at Trail Run Mag haven’t had a chance to write about the APEX yet. And secondly, it sets the scene for the awesome new release from COROS that I will be reviewing in depth…
SHOE REVIEW: ALTRA LONE PEAK 5
REVIEWER: KARL FORCEY The Lone Peak is now 10 years old (the same as this magazine!), and it has come a long way in that time. Previous models have been reviewed on these pages before, and this shoe still has a legion of loyal fans. It is Altra’s flagship trail shoe, mid weight and tough as nails. But does this latest iteration, the Lone Peak 5, still deliver the goods? I took them out to see for myself. Before lacing…
SHOE REVIEW: LA SPORTIVA HELIOS III
REVIEW BY KARL FORCEY Someone once advised me that you should never race in a new pair of shoes. Wise words, but to hell with that! My La Sportiva Helios IIIs arrived the day before a night-time 21km race in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, which included the notorious “Dungeon”. It was too good an opportunity not to put these shoes through the wringer! La Sportiva is an Italian brand that started way back in 1928. They originally made hand-crafted wooden…
Shoe Review: Hoka One One Mafate Speed 3
REVIEWER: TEGYN ANGEL I’ll be frank, I’ve never been a fan of maximalist shoes for trail running. I spent years being a Hoka Hater before I ever laced a pair up. With that said, I do try to keep a relatively open mind and avoid letting unwarranted bias colour my experience. It just took me a little while to realise I was being the sort of close-minded, self-important zealot I would otherwise write off. You see, I love mountain running and…
GEAR REVIEW: TRAIL BREW
REVIEWER: LAUREN SHAY Trail Brew was a godsend at the Scenic Rim Ultra 110km in 2019. If it weren’t for the ample supply of this electrolyte mix at the checkpoints on that hot (unusually hot for October in south-east Queensland) day, I’m sure the DNF rate would have been much higher. Trail Brew is an Australian-made endurance sports energy drink and all-in-one nutrition source. There are various other all-in-one electrolyte and energy drinks on the market, some of which I’ve…
Take a hike!
As we slowly start easing out of self-isolation, we need to get our bodies out of hibernation mode and start exploring again. Get ready to gear up for your next adventure and get KEEN for cardio. Whether it’s an urban exploration or a wilderness escape, it’s important to keep on moving, especially in times like this, as it’s beneficial not only for your physical health, but your mental health, too. Exploring the outdoors is a great form of ecotherapy. Taking…
Shoe Review: The North Face Flight RKT
Did I just kick a skunk? Or eat licorice allsorts and throw up on my feet? Or did someone just inject heroin between my toes? Without wanting to glamourise drugs of addiction, it must be the latter because 1. I love animals (so I would never kick one, plus there are no skunks in Australia to kick); 2. I hate licorice allsorts (especially the black and white ones that would have resulted in such a vomitus display); and 3. my…
SHOE REVIEW – SALOMON S/LAB ULTRA
*Review from Edition 28 Trail Run Mag available at www.trailrunmag.com/subs How do you follow up a hit record? That is, the original Salomon S/Lab Ultra (this new one is, well, new, even though it has the exact same name- they dropped the ‘2’ designation) was the best-selling S/ Lab shoe of all time. It obviously hit the mark on trail and on the showroom floor. So when something’s working what do you change in the quest for never-ending improvement? With…
Watch Preview: Suunto 9
TRM get a sneak peak of Suunto’s 9, their next-gen Multisport GPS Watch designed to go very, very long. Two years on from our preview of the Suunto Spartan Ultra, we’re proud to announce the Suunto 9 (S9), the next generation of Suunto GPS Smart Watches. In keeping with Suunto’s long tradition of producing premium quality tools for the outdoors, the S9 builds on the Spartan’s refined, suit-and-tie aesthetic with a spread of upgrades, improvements and function-focused new features tailored…
