Dynafit storms into the market. Mainly known in Europe for its winter products, the trail running shoes to date have mainly gone under the radar.
The initial thought when you open the box is, ‘well that’s different. Not my normal style of shoe. Being a traditionalist in trail shoes I like a wide toe box, decent depth lugs and the feeling of the ground under the feet. The Ultra 100 shoes are definitely different, Slightly stacked and the laces are covered with a fine mesh which they call the invisible lacing system. A slightly heavier shoe than I would normally run in but I’m an ultra runner and not a speedster, so does this matter?
When you put them on, they feel like modern day road shoes which, I haven’t fully adapted to the new technology yet and definitely do not feel like trail shoes. When you look at the online promo on the Dynafit website for the Ultra 100 shoes, they show lovely mountain routes, with a light trail, slate, gravel and sand but not much mud, so for testing, there were 2 main goals.
How did they feel across all terrains and over big distances? Did my feet suffer from any blisters or pain? Dynafit state that the “shoe boasts a precision fit while leaving sufficient room to guarantee ideal blood circulation to prevent foot swelling on long runs”. One thing I was advised by Dynafit was that I needed to go a half a size up than my normal running shoes.
So for me being an 8.5 a size 9 was a nice fit. The toe box had plenty for me and didn’t feel squashed at all and the liner was very comfortable and almost moulded around my feet.
The first couple of runs were short jaunts to wear them in and to see how I would get on with the slight stack on. During these runs, I had no issues at all and didn’t feel like they needed wearing in at all on the light dry trail which is unusual as I normally take a good 50km to get used to any shoe (even when I am using a new show in a brand I used before).
The next test of the Dynafit Ultra 100 was to take them out across tarmac, gravel, grass, sandy path and then mud on what was a 20km route. What I did find a benefit was the fine mesh covering the laces, meaning you can do away with gators. I’ve got to say these were super comfortable to wear across the light trail and gravel terrain.
I could have got away with road shoes but I liked the stability around the ankle especially on the farm tracks that were slightly rutted and on the switch from the terrain on the tarmac to trail there was no struggle. Now the downside as I found out when I hit heavy mud (clay by a river), there was just not enough grip and found myself having a few slips and slides to keep upright, but as soon as I was through that part of the route and back onto light trail they came back into their own.
A few more big runs were covered in these to get a full overview and to be honest, they surprised me. I really didn’t think I was going to like them and were potentially a marmite shoe, but they grew on me.
I could imagine using these on a race such as GB Ultras Snowdon 50/100 or Pennine Barrier 50, where the mix of terrain from the path to slate or limestone with some boulder scrambling would mean these shoes would protect your feet and ankles from the buffeting they would take.
In the modern world of running most runners don’t just have one pair of trainers and I know that the Dynafit Ultra 100s will be going onto my shoe rack collection for when the conditions are right. Especially in the dry summer months or during a trek on the sparse mountain tracks but come winter they may have to go into hibernation. I would recommend these to anyone who wants to add to their running shoe collection in the same way, you wouldn’t be making a bad purchase.
Test and Review by GB Ultras ambassador David Killick.