Altra - Timp Series

I like Altra Timp 5’s

I've put over 2000 miles into a couple pairs of Altra runners. I have boots I use for more rugged adventures with lots of ankle rolling risks, but for 90% of trails, runners are too comfortable and light to not wear.

Go to REI and let them Guide you. I ended up with Altra trail runners. They’re great

3 in rotation. Brooks Caldera for most of my trail runs; a pair of Timp 4’s hybrid road/trail (bumped down from 1st string once the tread started to wear) and Solomon Speed Cross for extra traction when it’s wet (rare, since I’m running in the Sierra foothills mostly).

Hello everyone! I am a broke PhD student who trains for and runs ultramarathons, so I don't own multiple pairs of shoes at this point. I run roughly a 60/40 split of road to trails in my training, but all of my races are on trails. I've run these Altra Timp 5 trail shoes for 1,100 miles now, in training and races, on road and trails. I live near the East Coast and I run on gravel roads, paved roads, soft sand trails, hard pack beach sand, technical trails in Appalachian mountains, and rooty dirt trails. I ran a 50 miler in these that was raining the entire time. Also recently did a 6 day vacation where I did ~70 miles of super steep and technical trails in Shenandoah National Park in these shoes. I don't have a ton of performance comparison points, since I have only run in Altras (I have wide, flat feet and the 0 drop works for my strengths and natural running patterns). But, I can say that I am thoroughly impressed with how these shoes have held up. Despite running them on paved roads pretty regularly, the lugs held up enough to get me through this past 6 day trip with 0 falls. Though they don't drain super well in the water, I haven't had any durability complaints from the waterloggedness. Primary damage is that the tread is pretty much gone, around the ankle there is a lot of wear, and the sides are losing integrity where my feet fit. Obviously the foam is completely compressed at this point. I honestly prefer these to my old Olympus 5's, even for 8-10 hour runs. Feel free to ask me anything!

i have a pair of gore-tex shoes (altras) that i would only wear for short runs in very wet conditions. the shoes themselves aren't durable (the uppers cracked pretty quickly) and they're not as comfortable. the upper feels very plasticky, not like a supple fabric. would def not want to wear every day, and never in summer. even in wet conditions, i would wear them only when under 40 deg. even if my shoes get wet, if i'm wearing wool socks they still stay warm. and it's better for the shoes to drain.

Have you tried the Timp? To me they have a little more squish than Lone Peak, but not quite as much as my moon shoes (Olympus, lol) I’ve also become interested in trying the MtC shoes but just haven’t branched out yet.

+1 for the Altra Timp 5. I would say I have somewhat wide, very boxy feet. Although the Timps don’t have as wide of a toe box and as square of a frame as the Lone Peaks, I didn’t have any issues and the added cushion was a little better for me as a heavier backpacker. I did have one hot spot at the outside of my big toe (like where people get bunyons), but I think it was more of the socks and when I switched to Darn Toughs that issue went away. I also got the Xero Shoes Z Trail sandals and really like them, so I’m interested to check out their shoes. But yeah in the end you gotta just do the research on all the main contenders, understand your foot shape, figure out what level of cushion/drop/grip you want, and try a few things. And then once you find the least annoying pair, just try and keep buying those or the closest things you can get (don’t get lost in the sauce).

I had a pair once and find them overrated.

I would maybe recommend the Altra Timp or Olympus series over the Lone Peak for your use case. They are certainly comfier for walking in (especially Olympus for a wider foot), but great for running too.