Running or Walking On Ice

The Washington, DC area has been inundated with usual amounts of snow and ice this year. Since I was in the middle of training for a 10k race, I needed to keep running outdoors, and that meant running on ice and snow. I have tried two different traction systems, and would like to share my experience with them.

YakTrax

YakTrax are a system of steel coils wrapped around a rubber framework that fits over your shoe sole (shown at right on a pair of sneakers). The steel coils do a good job of gripping on ice, slush and wet snow. Although you should be careful, they're not as damaging to flooring as spikes would be. I have tried these on a variety of shoes, and they work well on gripping frozen surfaces. Unfortunately they tend to deform the shoe, since the rubber squeezes the shoe lengthwise.

In the picture you can see a little bit how the toe of the shoe is pulled upward and back. This effect was even more pronounced when I had them on my running shoes. It felt like I was wearing shoes a size smaller, with a much more crowded toe box. It wasn't a comfortable feeling, to say the least. Also, it adds an odd kind of mushy feel to each footfall that I didn't like while running. They are great for walking, and when installed on boots.

Pros: Excellent traction. Easy on and off. Fits any shoe. Stays in place once it's on.
Cons: Deforms flexible shoes. Spongy feel when running.
Bottom line: Recommended for work boots or firm soled shoes. Not recommended for running.

Icespike

A trick that lots of runners use is to insert screws into the sole of their running shoes to improve traction on ice. The idea is to use a hex-headed screw (like a sheet-metal screw) with sharp corners to grip icy surfaces. A more sophisticated version of this approach is the Icespike system. It consists of a number of screws specially designed to function as ice spikes, along with a hex-socket driver for getting them into your shoe soles.

For $25, you get enough spikes to treat one pair of shoes, plus extra spikes to replace all of the ones in the heel region (which tend to wear out first). You also get a 1/4" hex driver, which is needed to drive the screws. Finding your own screws at the hardware store is certainly cheaper, but the screws from Icespike seem to be better designed to grip the snow. You buy direct from the company, and shipping was very quick and efficient (in my experience).

It took about 15 minutes to install screws on both of my running shoes. There are 6 in the toe region and 6 in the heel region on each shoe. In the picture, it's a little easier to see the ones in the heel region. When inserting the screws, they should be evenly spaced, about 3/8" from the edge of the shoe, and should be on the bottom (flat) surface of the shoe, not inside a ridge.

Running with these spikes felt very natural - it didn't affect the feel of the shoe much at all. There's a crunching sound when you run or walk on bare concrete or asphalt, which can be a bit disconcerting. You should definitely not walk on wood or tile floors with these, just as with any spikes. The grip on ice seemed to be excellent. For wet or packed snow, they were slightly less effective than the YakTrax, but still much better than ordinary shoes.

Pros: Grips well on ice. Natural feel when running. Minimal weight, no distortion of the shoe.
Cons: Not quite as grippy on packed snow. Permanently modifies the shoe, piercing the sole. Kind of expensive for what you get.
Bottom line: Recommended for running (especially if you install them on an older pair of shoes). Not recommended for shoes you wear year-round.

Those are my findings. Everyone is different, though, especially when it comes to running. So your results may vary.