It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that one of my favorite shoes, the La Sportiva Raceblade is being discontinued. Yes, the only trail shoe that I’ve worn out in less than a year since spending the summer of ’06 in Park City, Utah is being deep sixed. I am deeply saddened, as this has been my go to shoe for all my trail races and much of my pacing this year. The Raceblade is light, responsive, and just works for me. Fortunately, the La Sportiva Fireblade is also many of these things as the Raceblade and Fireblade share the same last, midsole, and outsole. (Also, long time iRunFar readers may recall that I fell in love with the Fireblade before the Raceblade.) I’ll take consolation in the fact that the Fireblade is an awesome shoe. It’s essentially the Raceblade with a slightly more protective and supportive upper at the cost of only a few grams.
However, if the Raceblade’s are your shoe, my advice is to go hunt down a couple pairs for your closet and then consider the Fireblade as a replacement when you run out of Raceblades. Later this year, I’ll be trying out the even lighter La Sportiva Skylite (less-lugged version of the Crosslite) and will let you know how that compares to the Raceblade.
We should also take a second to dispel any rumors that iRunFar is collapsing a la Lehman Brothers. That rumor is 100% incorrect – iRunFar is still alive and kicking. I should have let y’all know a few weeks ago that I’d be posting less frequently for a little while. You see, I’ll be running the Iroquois Trails 100 this coming weekend and, despite a busy schedule, I am and have been committed to getting to bed at a reasonable hour since I returned from the GORE-TEX TransRockies Run on September 1. I had a non-stop schedule for July and August that wrecked me and thought it key to rest up physically and mentally before trying to tackle my first 100 in over two years. (I’m quite nervous about it.) First off, let me take a second to dispel any rumors that iRunFar is collapsing a la Lehman Brothers. That rumor is 100% incorrect – iRunFar is still alive and kicking. I (Bryon) should have let y’all know a few weeks ago that I’d be posting less frequently for a little while. You see, I’ll be running the Iroquois Trails 100 this coming weekend and, despite a busy schedule, I am and have been committed to getting to bed at a reasonable hour since I returned from the GORE-TEX TransRockies Run on September 1. I had a non-stop schedule for July and August that wrecked me and thought it key to rest up physically and mentally before trying to tackle my first 100 in over two years. (I’m quite nervous about it.) All that said, later this week I hope to post a full report on Day 5 of the TransRockies Run and a course preview of the Iroquois Trails 100, and I will posting Tony Portera’s TWIR.
More Trail Running Shoe Options
To find more options for trail running shoes, check out our Best Trail Running Shoes article.
