Equipment
Many trail runners use specially designed shoes that have aggressively knobby soles that are generally more rigid than road running shoes. The usually EVA compound midsole often contain a lightweight, flexible nylon plastic layer to protect the feet from puncture wounds from sharp rocks or other objects. Since trail running take place on softer surfaces (e.g., grass, dirt) than road races, cushioning is not as important so often the shoes are less 'cushioned' than their counterparts designed for tarmac. Additionally, trail running shoes are low to the ground which provides the best stability on uneven terrain.
Other equipment includes wicking garments, water bottles, sunscreen, sunglasses, gaiters, anti-insect spray, and ivy block. Some trail runners attach lightweight crampons to the bottom of their shoes to aid with traction in the snow and on ice. An alternative way to carry water is use a hydration bladder with drinking tube carried in a backpack or waistpack. Carrying the Ten Essentials may reduce the hazards inherent in wilderness travel. Some trail runners use ultra light hiking poles (which are often not allowed during competition) to increase speed and stability.
Read more about this topic: Trail Running
Famous quotes containing the word equipment:
“Biological possibility and desire are not the same as biological need. Women have childbearing equipment. For them to choose not to use the equipment is no more blocking what is instinctive than it is for a man who, muscles or no, chooses not to be a weightlifter.”
—Betty Rollin (b. 1936)
“Why not draft executive and management brains to prepare and produce the equipment the $21-a-month draftee must use and forget this dollar-a-year tommyrot? Would we send an army into the field under a dollar-a-year General who had to be home Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays?”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“Pop artists deal with the lowly trivia of possessions and equipment that the present generation is lugging along with it on its safari into the future.”
—J.G. (James Graham)