Tech and Spec
What Scott Say
"Designed for ultras, long training miles and everything in between when in the mountains. The SCOTT Supertrac Ultra RC's All Terrain Traction outsole has been created for superior forward and breaking traction on a variety of mountainous terrain. The Swiss-made schoeller®-dynamic fabric delivers high levels of comfort and durability, both essential in ultra running."
Heel: 29mm
Forefoot: 21mm
Drop: 8mm
Weight: 340g
Features:
All Terrain Traction
Full Rubber Outsole
AeroFoam+
eRIDE Midsole
Schoeller®-dynamic Upper
Engineered Lace
Racing Footbed
Kurim Polyurethanes Protection
Toe Guard
Performance Tongue
First Impression
From a distance you would could be forgiven for thinking that these would be Scotts answer to a Hoka with a thick cushioned sole due to the spikey toe protector that runs all around the shoe to protect both your toes and shoes against rough surfaces.
Looks: I like the bold colour of Yellow on Black that is clearly the colour scheme of choice for Scott at the moment. The outsole looks very aggressive with nice deep lugs. On the whole the shoe looks like it should be big and clunky on your feet.
Weight: Picking the shoes up, you can feel the weight of the 340g. This is considerably heavier (40g) than I would normally go for.
Feel: The shoe feels true to size. Walking around the built in rocker feels like it wants to help propel you forward.
First Run
The first thing I did not notice was the weight of the shoe. This could be partly to do with the 'rocker', the midsole which is meant to retain energy or just the fact that the shoe just feels very comfortable.
My first run in these was a 16 mile run in Snowdonia, a real baptism of fire for any new shoe an done which could have really backfired on my feet - fortunately this was not the case. The route was a recce of part of the UTS100 route from Capel Curig to Nant Gwynant and consisted of hard pack tracks, open fells, rocky paths and little bit of road. For a first impression the Scott Supertrac Ultra RC held up very well on every terrain on which it was tested, and a real contender to be my shoe of choice for the UTS100.
250 Mile Review
My initial feelings after the first run remain the same and the Scott Supertrac Ultra RC is my go to shoe for long trail or mountain runs where I know that grip from the aggressive lugs will be required.
My shoes have now done over 300 miles, including one 100km run as well as several long days out in the hills of Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons, and they are still going strong. The lugs are starting to wear down in parts from where I have had to run on loads of pavements and a few of the 'teeth' on the toe protectors have started to come away. Other than that they show little sign of significant deterioration of failure.
The only real issue I have had with these is when running through farmers fields or on ground that was particularly muddy and clay-like making the mud stick to the bottom of the shoe between the lugs making each shoe feel as if they weigh 3.40kg.
If the trail was going to be hard packed and mostly dry without mud I would opt for the Scott Kinabalu Ultra RC.
If the trail was going to be particularly muddy or pure fell I would opt for the Inov-8 Mudclaw.
For everything in between or anything that covers mud, fells and hard trials this is my current shoe of choice.
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