The North Face Summit Vectiv Pro 3.0 is a top-tier carbon trail shoe built for taming mixed terrain with the cushion to tackle long-haul off-road adventures. It uses a dual plate system that’s been tweaked to prevent the discomfort some runners had from the wings in the last edition. There’s a big stack of PEBA-blend Dream foam with an extra 1.5mm over the previous generation, a pronounced rocker, seamless uppers and a one-piece Surface CTRL outsole with 3.5mm lugs. Run Tester, Kieran, headed to Gran Canaria to take on the Trans Gran Canaria Marathon to find out if those updates stack up to a winning trail shoe. Hit play to find out.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
0:00 – Intro
0:11 – Trans Gran Canaria Marathon Pre-race
2:12 – 7 miles in
5:29 – 21 miles in
7:58 – The race review
11:36 – Verdict on the shoes
16:20 – Now watch this: ASICS Metafuji Trail Race Test
[Music] [Applause] People welcome to the Run testers and Welcome to Taha here in Grand Canary I'm Here at the start of the trans Grand Canaria marathon it's part of the trans Grand Canaria series I'm doing the Little kind of baby one today on my feet I have got the North Face vective Pro 3 Shoes almost fresh out the box diding Them yesterday I be taking them onto the Trails here to give them a race test Ahead of us we've got about 1,800 M of Climbing we've got more than 2,000 M of Descending on some quite technical Trails we are going to head back down to Mas palus so yeah could be 600 to 8 Hours maybe longer we're going to go and See we will check out how these shoes do So let's go get ready to race [Music] [Applause] N [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Give give me [Music] [Applause] [Music]
So I just drew a station One watch says 7 and 1 half miles or So Dowing on some sweets Banana done a couple climbs don't know How big or which ones they are but Was a fairly Big Y Papa Hill a minute Ago so in the First 7 and a half we've done quite a Lot in the shoes we've done Road done some quite Rocky technical Downhill bits some big yumps uphill now Through Forests and I think First Impressions When I put these shoes on yesterday just How wide the 4ot platform is and how They are quite soft that dream foam is Really quite soft Under Foot which Obviously probably a good thing for Longer Ultra races at the moment I'm Just feeling like there's a little bit Too much softness and not enough Precision in the Forefoot on the shoes I'm lacking a Bit sort of been know and maybe they're A little bit long in the toes I don't Know whether I'm just tired I've been Clipping my back foot a little bit or Clipping my toes as I'm going over Stepping up and it's kind of fine but I've just felt a little bit sluggish so Far stability actually though feels Fine on those Rocky Downs so and when You get onto the run over bits like this It's really nice they're smooth
Transitions are nice and smooth there's A bit of energy to them and all of That's really good I just don't know how Much there's going to be of this there's Not much it's more ups and downs so I'm Obviously comparing these cuz I came off The endurus 4 for four or five days back There into the effective Pro 3 to me the Endurus 4 feel a little bit more direct There's a bit more ground contact than These ones which that bigger stack Obviously gives you a lot of protection From lumps and bumps it's nicely Cushioned but it is for me just taking a Little bit of the road connection or I Should say the trail Connection away and that in combination With the wide Platform just mean I'm having to Concentrate a little bit more on where I'm placing my feet and how I'm picking But there is a big caveat to this I'm Already running quite tired so anyway we Going to get moving to the next aid Station and uh Yeah we'll update later on [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Come on [Music] Kieran so we've just come out of the Final aid station done about 21 miles I
Think 14ks to go um I think we've got One little climb up now and then we're Going to be going down down down towards The coast it's been a bit of a battle to Be honest yeah stomach went about 15 Mi Sat on a rock for a bit so I'm nuring a Bit of queasiness but that a station Hopefully has helped just walking on Walking off some Coke and some other Bits and pieces hopefully once the Energy goes in I'll be all right to move And just take it home but yes sort of Quite technical steep Downs lots of Rocks and yeah not easy running for some Stretches some bits that were really Nice onto the shoes then and I have to Say my thoughts from the early miles Have sort of carried on into the later Miles Basically there's loads of softness here There's loads of cushion this exactly a Kind of shoe that I might pick up to go And run like the temps 100 m or it would Be a great shoe almost for Berlin 100 m More runnable easier kind of terrain and It's great on the bits where you can Kind of let loose in the forests and Whatnot I personally find it a bit Tricky because of the wide platform and The softness on the bits where it gets Stony it's not quite as precise for me Picking my way through those bits you Have to take this with a bit of a caveat I'm not a very good sort of descender
I'm not very good at going downhill and Picking up way and other more gifted Runners might find this shoe works Perfectly well but because I'm not so Good at picking my way I tend to like a Shoe that's a bit narrower it's a bit More precise I've clipped my toes a Couple of times in this clipping rocks At the back and bits and pieces but when I get onto the runnable stuff it's Actually a dream it's just this race Doesn't have as much runnable stuff as It does at least for me but we've got a Little bit to go and yeah I'm hoping can Get it done in maybe an hour and a half Or something couple hours and we'll be By the pool let's go and get it [Music] [Music] Done so it's the morning after the trans Grand Canaria Marathon which as all Mountain marathons it was actually 48 km About 18800 M or so of climbing more Than 2,000 M of descending bus out to The start was interesting big windy long Hour and a half bus ride that made me Feel a bit nauseous don't really get Travel sick dly but that did but then You get into this beautiful little town Of TOA which is in the center of the Island I think it was about 1500 Runners So it felt manageable it was nice found Some public toilets did all of that Stuff so it was quite a calm start in
Many ways although you had to be up Really early to get your breakfast and Then the start has brilliant atmosphere Set off in three waves which sort of Breaks it up because it can get narrow From the very beginning and then from The moment you're set off you are sort Of in a battle it starts with a really Kind of steep downhill which when I say Steep it's one of those where you're Putting the brakes on and your quads are Feeling it straight away and then you Start to climb from the early climb and To be honest I just felt from there on In uh I was in a battle earlier than I Wanted to be in this race and it was a Challenging race super technical terrain Really Rocky at times it kind of threw In everything lots of Pebbles lots of Loose Stones really steep descents with Cobbles this was one where you really Had to pay attention to what was going On with your foot placement and ankles And all of that kind of stuff so it was A challenge I think there was probably About three big climbs uh maybe longest Climb for me was about 40 minutes or so Something like that most of those I was Kind of power hiking but really the Challenge here I think is in the Steep Descents and then you've got the heat it Was probably about 25° by midday after Sort of 3 hours of running good Aid Stations along the way approximately one
Every 10 km so those are well kind of um Stocked as well usual Mountain stuff but Catering for the heat as well so lots of Water lots of coke lots of oranges lots Of fruit nuts crisps all those things That you really want at the Aid Station Really helpful people who filled your B And they were very chaotic though lots Of Runners it was a bit of a melstrom Particularly the middle one I didn't Spend long enough at that middle second Aid station I think I went out a bit too Quick should have taken a bit more time Stomach went at 15 mil and I struggled For the remainder of the race managing a Bit of Nausea but overall I think this is a Beautiful challenging technical race It's a battle it's one of those where You're in for a stunning day out but You're going to have to to fight for it Which is probably the best thing that's Why we all go we want it to be a bit of A struggle but we want it to be stunning Some of the scenery when you're up high Is just breathtaking incredible so yeah I think if you've not done a trail race Before this one is probably a big step Up kind of challenge in terms of what You're going to face underfoot Particularly if you're coming from the UK where you might not have uh taken on Terrain like this in terms of the Steepness of the up and the steepness of
The down but there were plenty of Firsttime Trail Runners out there today Doing this race and they managed find Got round I ran about six and a half Hours I think some people did up to the Kind of seven or eight hours I would say You're going to need to be familiar with The trails a little bit before you came And did this Marathon but it is a good Test very well organized uh brilliant Finish uh all the good things you would Look for in a trail race and if you're Looking to step up maybe from uh a Marathon into a trail kind of ultra Distance because you've only got those Extra three miles this is one that would Probably work it's a beautiful location And uh yeah it's been it's been magic to Be Honest on to the shoes then and I Obviously ran in the north V effective Pro 3 pretty much fresh out the box I Done a mile up and down here before the Race as I said on Route there's a few Things that really stood out for me that I think some people are going to love I Think some people might not find this Shoe the shoe for them and it's really Going to boil down to personal Preference so one thing you're Absolutely going to need to like is that Bigger stack in a trail shoe it's very Soft I found you've got a big broad Platform which is cushioned it is
Protective it does eat a lot of the Trail underf foot I think it means that This shoe could potentially be a great Shoe if you're going to be going long Long haul if you're looking at like 100 Mile trails in this shoe it's going to Give you that protection deeper into Those miles but something like yesterday In the marathon where maybe I was going To be running a little shorter I think I Would have preferred something that was A little bit more direct where there's a Little bit more ground feel I wanted to Feel a bit more of the trail Under Foot There's a trade-off for that softness Under Foot and that is really in that Ground feel and the immediacy there is a Bit of sink and you do wait for the shoe To come back and as a personal Preference I think I like something That's a little bit more direct Particularly on some of the trails where Although it's really Stony and you might Think I want the shoes to eat up those Stones and not have that feeling bashing Up through the bottom of the foot these Shoes absolutely did that I didn't Notice a lot of that kind of Rocky Nastiness that was underfoot but also Then but with my foot placement because I'm not so gifty on those kind of Technical Trails I found the wide Platform and the softness meant I wasn't Being quite as precise at picking my way
Through I did clip my feet a couple of Times on Route running on very tired Legs I wasn't really at the races as Well as I might have been and so I Noticed that if I was running something Like a North Downs Way or a South Downs Way or I was going to go and do like a t 100 mile where you've got mix of Trail And Road Or things where you're going to get lots Of nice kind of runable sections this Shoe really came to life when we got Through one Blissful section of forest Where it was kind of rolling this shoe Was loved it absolutely loved it then it Really came to life I also think that Kind of more gifted trailers are going To enjoy this shoe more when it came to The overall Comfort on the foot I felt Well held in the heels I had no slipping The lace lock laces locked down really Nice gave me good midfoot security the Other thing plenty room at the end of The toe box here I had good clearance Across the top so even though we're Coming down lots of really quite harsh Kind of steep descents I had no toenail Bashing I've got my toes are absolutely Fine today little bit at times into the Little toe here cuz it's it was a little Perhaps a little narrow or when I was Tilting on the softer platform I did Have a little bit of squashing on my Little toes but I always suffer that and
It wasn't anything particularly uh Terrible yesterday absolutely fine and Manageable underfoot though is where I Think you get the real benefits of this Big stack soft smooth cushioned my feet Don't feel like they've had the impact Of a 48k you know hammering on the down With 2,000 M of descending through them Yesterday that bit of me is fine my Quads are absolutely mashed but that's Just because I hadn't really trained on Anything steep on the downhill so Overall it was a big thumbs up for the Comfort and the roominess and the way These shoes felt under foot I think if I Was splitting it I think if you can run In a higher stat shoe with a bit more Softness and you want that this shoe is Definitely going to deliver it there is A bit of energy as well and if you've Got a faster Pace or you can really make The most of that kind of spring and Return that you're going to get back From the shoe then I think this shoe Will work really well for you if you Prefer a more connected ride that's a Bit firmer maybe a bit more immediate And a bit more ground feel narrower and Precise maybe these shoes are not the Ones to choose the shoe that actually I've been running in up until race day Was the uh effective jurist 4 that one Feels a bit firmer there's a bit more Ground contact it's got a little bit of
A lower stack and actually I think for My preference that shoe probably would Have done better yesterday on that Terrain for this one though I think if I Was going to go and run the 100 mile in Berlin for example where it's going to Be a mix of trails that are runnable but They're flat can be kind of hard compact But then you get onto Road sections this Is a really good crossover shoe for that Grip was also excellent on the Downs it Was obviously super dry in this climate But I felt well controlled on all of Those Downs grippy on the stones so it Was a big thumbs up there for that as Well so there you have it that's been my Race test of the North Face effective Pro 3 at the trans Grand Canaria Marathon beautiful race tough beaten up But happy uh hope you found it useful as Ever don't forget to hit like And Subscribe do all of that stuff ring the Bell if you're interested in trail shoes That have got good crossover or good for Racing I'm going to put a video up on The channel you can go and watch now Otherwise thank you very much for Stopping by hope to see you again soon On the the Run testers in the meantime Happy running people
