Shoe Test

Shoe                Peril Izumi – syncroPace

Event                2006 Australian 48 hour Track Ultra, Gold Coast, Queensland

Athlete             Kupa Hokianga, Ultra runner & Ironman Triathlete

Men's syncroPACE

Feet and Shoes before the start

I only trained lightly and infrequently in the 4 week building up to the ultra marathon doing about 20km a week on the road and 20 km a week on the gym treadmill.

One thing I did not enjoy was the performance in the wet or rain when training on the road. The sole tread (which are small rubber bulbs) seems to slip easily on road makings and smooth surfaces making me extra cautious during rain or even morning or evening dew.

The seamless mesh upper does allow any rain or moisture to move through the shoe and away from the feet and I do not recall stones or grit entering during any run. A fine gauze inner may protect the feet from the debris and act as a soft barrier too.

During training with new shoes I prefer to wear no socks on 10 – 20km runs, this allows me to find tender spots in my feet. I can then treat and prepare strapping positions during the race on parts that may blister after 100km of continuous running making it almost impossible to continue. Even after 20km runs the syncroPace only gave me a slight irritation on the instep of both feet, which I consider minimal and when wearing a sock, this was eliminated altogether.

The fabric and seamless construction is forgiving and offers greater foot shape variation to a runner while the toe box is big enough to reduce pressure on the toes nails and tips. I did replace the laces with elastic laces which also minimized pressure on the feet.

Overall stability was great and the heel support superb. The heel can be another critical point in ultra-running, but these shoes kept their shape and firmness around the heel.    

The construction and material keeps them lightweight and the seamless design is the Peril Izumi secret, no pressure points to irritate you and the shoes almost instinctively moulds to your foot shape

The race

Feeling Good

20 hours to go Kupa!

I covered 225km in 48hours, removing my shoes every 2 – 3 hours for about 10 minutes while I took on food and water. My strapping remained in tact during the entire 48 hours, I changed socks once. The temperature got to 25 degrees but the track temperature under foot got higher. Regardless of the conditions my feet always felt secure, cool and well protected

Several competitors suffered blisters which put them out of the race or severely handicapped their performance

I had one small blister on the end of one toe after 225km.

Conclusion

I was already a fan of the Peril Izumi, these are a great runners shoe, especially when getting into longer km’s, Ironman, marathon or someone with broader feet.

The seamless construction reduces pressure points on the foot and moulds easily while the stability is as good as any shoe I have seen.

The shoe holds it shape in the ‘toe box’ and ‘heel’ but offers great flexible and movement through the body.

The shoe has proven its performance in the tough conditions of Ultra marathons and would help any runner regardless of distance that finds foot pressure restricts their performance, running or jogging pleasure.

This is my fourth Ultra using Peril Izumi, I have had only 3 blisters during 1000km’s of racing in sometimes extreme weather such as typhoons and unforgiving road conditions.

I have used almost every brand during my ten years in Ironman and recent years in ultra running. Since using ‘Pearls’ I have been injury free and my performances and results have improved.

The SyncroPace is great example of a true performance shoe, a thoroughbred ‘that just does what it told to do without any fuss’

Kupa Hokianga