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Shoe Selection for River Run Backyard Ultra

Oct 20, 2025

When it comes to a backyard ultra, the most important thing is simple: your shoes must be comfortable. It doesn’t matter how expensive, technical, or fancy they are — if your shoes aren’t comfortable, you’re going to have a horrible day.

Understanding the Course

At River Run, the course is roughly:

  • 50% hard-packed limestone,

  • 25% four-wheel-drive track with some grassy sections, and

  • 25% well-defined singletrack mountain bike trail, mostly made up of riverside dirt and silt.

Because of this, traction is useful — especially if it rains — but you don’t need an aggressive, deep-lugged mountain running shoe. If the weather stays fine, even some road shoes can work well on this course.

Road and Hybrid Options

If you’re leaning toward road shoes, look for models with a touch of traction and cushioning:

  • ASICS Superblast

  • Hoka Clifton

  • Hoka Bondi

  • even an ASICS GT-2000 TR style shoe could work well.

 

For hybrid-style running shoes (part road, part trail), consider:

  • Hoka Challenger ATR

  • Salomon Aero Glide 3 Gravel

  • Hoka Clifton 10

 

Trail Shoe Options

If you prefer a dedicated trail shoe, some solid choices include:

  • On Cloudultra 3

  • On Cloudultra Pro

  • Salomon Genesis

  • ASICS Fuji Lite

  • New Balance Hierro

  • Altra Olympus 6

These all offer moderate traction and high comfort — ideal for long hours on your feet without overdoing the grip.

Rotation and Adaptation

For backyard ultras — especially if you plan to run deep into the event — having a variety of shoes available is key.
Here’s why:

  1. Weather changes: If it rains, you can swap into something with better traction to stay safe and steady.

  2. Muscle management: Changing shoes with different heel drops and stack heights can help shift load and relieve stress on specific muscle groups.

For example, I often start in a zero-drop shoe like the Altra Pursuit — it has good cushion and traction for the early laps.
If I start to feel a niggle in my calf or something feels off, I’ll switch into a higher-drop shoe like the Hoka Tecton X, which changes how load is distributed through the lower leg.

Increasing heel drop shifts some of the strain away from the soleus and Achilles and moves it slightly higher up the kinetic chain toward the knees. The reverse can help if knee soreness becomes an issue — going into a flatter shoe to reduce knee load.

My Shoe Choices at King’s

At the King’s Backyard Ultra, my shoe rotation looked like this:

  • Started in: Altra Pursuit (zero drop)

  • Mid-event: Hoka Tecton X

  • Later laps: Altra Mont Blanc (5mm drop)

Backup options:

  • Altra Olympus 6

  • ASICS Superblast

In hindsight, I’d also have had:

  • Hoka Challenger 8

  • Hoka Clifton 10

These are slightly more stable and suited for the “plodding” rhythm of backyard running, where you’re not moving fast but need all-day comfort and support.

-Coach Kendall

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