The South Downs are home to some of the UK’s favourite trail events. Many of which are hosted by local running clubs and have become popular local events.
Organised by Lewes Athletic Club, the Lewes Downland 5 & 10 Mile event is one of those. The course heads out from the town of Lewes and covers a series of tough climbs and some enjoyable downhill sections.
Tom took on the race for the first time to test out the Saucony Xodus Ultra 3.
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00:00 – Intro
01:06 – The Lewes Download 10-Mile
05:22 – Saucony Xodus Ultra 3
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Hey Tommy from the Run testers I am in Lewis today doing the uh Lewis 10 Mile Downland Trail race um haven't done it Before but is the first bit of the M man Which I did earlier on this year I'm Going to be testing the sakon Sodus Ultra 3 trail running shoes I've only Used them couple times so far So fast session seem very comfortable at The moment that's it right I'm going to Go ahead and start and I will talk to You in a bit Oh [Music] Okay so I'm back now from the Lewis 10mile downland race uh if you're not Familiar with Lewis it's a very very Nice town uh in Sussex that has the Downs surrounding it so lots of big Hills around it and it has some Fantastic views it's an amazing place to Run and I always run around that area uh When I go and do Long Trail runs I uh I Haven't done this race before but I have Done the mo man which is a marathon that Takes place earlier in the year starts At the same location and takes in some Of the same route as the 10 mile race um So if you've done that before you will Be aware of some of the route if you Live around the downs and you do trail Running you definitely covered a lot of The route that the race takes on um it's A pretty tricky race so the there's the
First part of the race is essentially Just one big climb for about 4K and it's Quite tricky it's quite a long gradual Climb so it's not really Steep and it's Fairly nice to do at the start there is Another really big hill at the uh Towards the end of the race so that's About uh the 10K Mark and there's a Couple of other Hills in the middle so It's quite a tricky Trail race um to Take on if you're not used to doing Hills it was a really lucky day to do it Because the weather was perfect it Wasn't hot at all um but it was there Was a little bit of wind um but it was Just really nice conditions so um it was Work out really well and I was a little Bit worried because we've been having Pretty bad weather recently the other Thing I was worried about was mud so the Last time I ran a race on the uh the Downs it was really really muddy um and I was slipping about all over the place So in this race there was hardly any mud At all there was it was a really dry Course uh which meant for some pretty Fast times so some of the guys who were Running in it did did some pretty Impressive times um so the rout the Route itself starts in Lewis and takes You straight out onto the Downs you Basically head straight up to the one of The higher Peaks uh around Lewis and Then you sort of go up and down across
The Downs until you eventually come back Through there's nothing on road it's all On Trails um and it's a bit of a mix so There's a little bit across Fields There's a lot of public foot path a lot Of gravel a lot of Rocky stuff so it's a Nice mixed terrain race when it comes to Trails and a good opportunity to test Out some um trail shoes as well uh Organization was absolutely fantastic um Some of the best organizations I've seen At a trail race there were Marshals all The way across the course they um any Point that there was a risk of somebody Turning the wrong way there was a Marshall there helping out there was um Water stations along the Route really Really well organized and a really great Uh course as well so really really Enjoyed that race definitely would do it Again there are two options there's the 10m version and then there's the 5em Version uh I've not done the Five Mile Version so I can't account for that but I think it covers pretty much the same Bit of the the first bit of the course As the 10 m race and it starts at Exactly the same time as well so all in All really pleased with the race very Much enjoyed it my performance today Pretty good I don't normally race Trails I normally I'm normally training for a Marathon or something a road Marathon so I don't like to go all that on a trail
One because I'm too worried that I'm Going to trip over and ruin my training For a couple of weeks but also I'm not That fast when it comes the trail so I Never go all out because um it's not Really my my terrain I like to focus on Road time so I tend to use Trails as a Bit more of an enjoyable race don't go All out but just get a nice steady pay Sometimes like to pick up the pace they Out it when I feel comfortable but I Don't worry too much about the time Overall um so I think I finished about 1 Hour 20 pretty happy with that um and Yeah finish feeling very comfortable at The end and helping my confidence for Training for uh for Valencia as well so Great race well organized well worth Looking at if you're looking for a trail Race uh around or near the South Coast It's pretty cheap you can get the early Bird uh entry to the rate of £20 and Instead of a medal you get a mug and I Really like getting mugs and pine Glasses and stuff at the end of races Because um I've got far too many medals And uh I don't have that many mugs right Let's uh jump in and see what kit I was [Music] Testing so just one thing I've been Testing today and that is the sakon Zodos ultra 3 now I've haven't tested Previous versions of this shoe um I'm Always a bit skeptical when I I pick up
A shoe that's classed as an ultr running Shoe cuz I'm not an ultra Runner so I Always think well maybe this shoe isn't Going to be for me but I think the fact That this is cast as an Ultra Shoe Doesn't negate its benefits when you're Not running an ultra there are certain Elements to this shoe which lend itself To uh running long distances it's meant To be quite stable um it's also got a Nice uh level of padding in it and Cushioning uh inside it's got power on PB which is designed to give you a Little bit more energy return and also It's got this really stable base um of Uh foam as well that surrounds that Power on PB uh and I really enjoyed Running it it's a really really Comfortable shoe it reminds me of Something like the paragen range a nice Balanced shoe so it does have a nice Level of cushioning not loads it's not Soft it's not wobbly in any way it still Feels very very stable to run in but When you're on those harder sections and There were quite a lot of harder Sections today just felt really really Comfortable really nice to run in you Probably run on the road in this as well Quite comfortably um and had no issues At all the lugs on the outside of this Are 4 mm so not massive pretty similar To what you get on something like the Paragen um but on the ground that we're
Running on today and I said it wasn't Very muddy so it wasn't wet mud not sure This would do amazingly well in wet mud Because the lugs are only 4 mm um but on The ground which was quite soft uh in Certain places there's a lot of running Across Fields those logs did a great job It felt like a very grippy outsole on That sort of condition um And just felt very comfortable Throughout it's definitely a shoe that That stability is really noticeable when You're you're running um out on the Trails there was quite a lot of uneven Ground uh on on the course and um I Didn't at any point feel like I was Losing stability and I do sometimes when I test trail shoes that don't have uh Good level stability in them so all in All really solid allr uh Trail shoe and I think even though is classed as an Ultra Shoe I think a lot of people would Get on with this completely fine uh and You could use it for different distances Because it's definitely got a nice uh Level of all the things you would want From something that does long distance But you also want those things for more General running as as well uh the upper Is very comfortable there's a nice bit Of padding around it uh there's there's Probably too much padding on the tongue To be honest it's quite a thick tongue Didn't have any issues with it felt very
Comfortable uh wearing it but it just Seems like it's unnecessary to have this Level of padding on a tongue um and the Upper very comfortable it's um it's got A nice sort of uh structured design to It uh one thing I would say about it is It's it does feel quite narrow it Definitely sort of goes up to this sort Of pointy shape at the top um I was fine For the first half of that 10 miles but Later on I did feel a little bit of Rubbing around the side of my foot Because it just get a little bit narrow As you start to come up towards the toes That's the one thing I would say about The fit of this shoe um and um yeah I Might might want to size up half a size In this um to get a more comfortable fit But all in all really solid shoe for That sort of running I was doing on Those conditions today um but probably Is limited to to those sorts of Conditions if it was on wet ground um Boggy ground I think this probably would Not deliver as well as it did on that Course but um as a long distance Comfortable um balanced Trail shoe I Think it was really really good looking Forward to doing some more runs out on The Downs in it so that's it for me on The Lis downland 10 m r thanks a lot for Watching don't forget to like subscribe Click that little bell and if you go Into the caption below you can find a
Link to our podcast which comes out a Couple of times each month thanks a lot For watching catch you next [Music]
