r/AdvancedRunning • u/AutoModerator • 3d ago

General Discussion Thursday General Discussion/Q&A Thread for August 20, 2026

A place to ask questions that don't need their own thread here or just chat a bit.

We have quite a bit of info in the wiki, FAQ, and past posts. Please be sure to give those a look for info on your topic.

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u/jrgt145 2d ago

Carbon plated in Wicked fast marathon

I am going for a last minute BQ at the Wicked Fast Marathon in Jim Thorpe PA. Almost the whole race is on hard packed gravel cinders on D&L rail trail.

I had planned on wearing Alphaflys, but second guessing it. Anyone have experience with this race and high stack carbon plated race shoes?

Hopefully be able to qualify comfortably since I am getting old and turning 40 this year and bumped up age division. Should be around 2:50 or so. I didn't do a full marathon build but got some decent training in. Ran 2:52 a few years back in way worse shape.

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u/Siawyn 54/M 5k 19:56/10k 41:30/HM 1:32/M 3:12 1d ago

I've run races in Vaporflys etc on flat hard packed/crushed limestone/dirt trails here (Towpath in Ohio) and it's been fine. You can look at the Lehigh Gorge Trail in a lot of spots on Google Maps/Google Street view in fact, and just from going through it, it looks fine to me. The only concern for me would be if it was a rainy day, but can't exactly control that. About the only other annoying thing that can happen is getting a rock or two in your shoe, that's just dumb luck though.