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River crossing during a trail race

aarar
aarar Posts: 684 Member
edited November 22 in Social Groups
I've got a trail race in late September and will have to do a total of 4 river crossings in waist to chest deep water in the last 18kms of the race. Has anyone ever had to do a river crossing during a race before? How did you approach it?

Also I usually wear Hokas on the trails but they aren't that great when wet, does anyone have any suggestions for good trail shoes that will dry quickly? I might bring a 2nd pair for that last portion of the race.

Thanks!

Replies

  • briebee7
    briebee7 Posts: 224 Member
    I had to do this for a trail half marathon a while back. I didn't care about time and thus I just took my shoes off to cross the river and put them back on once on the other side. The river in this case was perhaps more of a creek - about waist deep (with me being 5' 7") and only about 20-25 ft across. Crossing was no problem while barefoot. The only difficult thing was that you had to run up a long, steep hill right after the river both ways and my legs were cold!
  • taeliesyn
    taeliesyn Posts: 1,116 Member
    As for shoes, really depends. I love my inov-8's, but their minamilist approach is the polar opposite to hokas, Altra's may be ok, although I haven't taken any of mine through water yet. My Cascadia 8's were pretty good too, unless it's a lot of hard smooth rocks then they suck for grip once wet.
    I haven't had river crossings like that in a running race, but have had several in various OCR's.
    Crossing barefoot is an option, although if your shoes drain well, I don't think it will keep your feet much drier overall and depending on the rivers could open you up to cutting your foot etc. Shoes that drain well, and socks that can handle being soaking wet are the best way forward IMO, then you just push through and keep on going. Chest deep water, may be easier to actually swim, using sidestroke or however you feel comfortable.
  • litsy3
    litsy3 Posts: 783 Member
    I did this race once. We mostly just plunged through the water as quickly as possible (it was November). I wore road shoes because that's all I had but if I did it again I'd probably wear Inov-8s.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    I have some Merrell Trail Glove that I've gotten soaked during trail runs more times than I can count. I just wear really thin socks if I plan on getting them wet and they seem to dry out really quickly. Dry or wet these are by far my favorite trail shoes.

    I do have a pair of Altra that I prefer if there's mixed concrete/asphalt and trail. The Merrell feel weird on concrete. I did a half marathon trail race that ended up being 6 miles of streets. Still okay but not the best comfort. If it's 100% or mostly trail then the Merrell is my jam.
  • runfoorun
    runfoorun Posts: 314 Member
    I wouldn't worry too much. Within a mile after each crossing your shoes will dry enough. Actually the river crossings are so frequent for you, your feet are just going to be wet the last part of the race. Most trail shoes have a meshy top so they all drain pretty well after a bit. Good luck on your race.
  • Stoshew71
    Stoshew71 Posts: 6,553 Member
    I did the Warrior Dash with a couple of water crossings like that. I just wore shoes that I was getting ready to retire. It was more of a fun thing than competing for time, and it was only a little of a 5K worth of running.
  • jchite84
    jchite84 Posts: 467 Member
    You might just pick up a cheap pair of water socks. I have run whole races in them. I had a pair of Body Gloves that cost me all of 9 dollars and lasted about 400 miles before the sole completely blew out.
  • aarar
    aarar Posts: 684 Member
    Thanks for the advice everyone! The race organizers did a practice run of this loop last weekend. I just wore my regular shoes (Hokas) and they dried surprisingly fast. I expected them to absorb a lot of water but they really didn't.
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