Review: Adidas Response 20 Trail shoes

In the last few years I have learned that, just like pigs, all shoes are equal but some, in the eyes of some, are more equal than others.  I have friends who use incredibly expensive trail running shoes as everyday shoes (good for them that they can afford it) and I know some people that use normal road running shoes on the trails (I have done this too).  Magazines only review some shoes and they all tend to be the most expensive ones in the market.  After an in between fase when I was running a few trails in my road running shoes I started hunting for a new pair of trail shoes.  After having used New Balance, Saucony, Nike and Adidas in the past I have found in the last few years that the Adidas brand suits my foot better.  I have friends that swear by the other brands but I think you need to get something that will suit your foot.  I ama neutral runner and a not-complete natural runner although I tend to run on my forefoot more than my heel.  I have had problems with my heels in the past as I have bruised both a few years ago during a fall.  With all this in mind I started shopping for shoes.  An aquaintance of mine tried to get me to try the Newton brand.  He swears by them and I tried them on but was not completely convinced.  So I in the end went to what I knew best, which is Adidas.

Trying to find a review of an Adidas shoe is difficult though.  The big running magazines do not do any reviews on them as I think they do not think them good enough or frankly they are not in the snooty price bracket that the magazines cater for.  So, here I am doing a review of the Adidas Response 20.

Lets start of with the superficial.  They are good looking shoes.  I wore them to work for a few days to just get my feet settled in them and I got a lot of compliments.  Weirdly so as I never get compliments when I wear running shoes to work (I work in the fashion industry).  So for the looks I rate them a 5/5.

The cushioning is soft enough to keep my feet comfortable.  At this point I have only done 20km with them on trails but they keep my feet comfortable and more importantly I dont feel every single pebble I step on through my shoes.  They are also quite strong in the middle meaning they dont have too much flex to stretch the bottom of your bridge. They can be a bit hard when you come down a big slope and your footfall becomes a bit harder but not more than any other shoe I have worn.   The main thing is I dont feel the individual studs on the bottom of the shoes which is a big thing for me.  It is also very stable so the chances or your foot moving around inside the shoe on the downhills are also minimal which means less chance for injuries.  So for comfort I would give it a 4/5

The breathability of the shoe is a bit ok but could be better.  There is a lot of plastic fusing with material used in the top which does make it a stronger shoe but does cut down on the breathability of the shoe a bit. 3/5

The grip of the shoe is very very good.  It has wide studs on the heels which gives you lots of extra braking power going downhill.  They do mean though that I wont wear these shoes on the road though as those studs will wear pretty fast and also be very heavy underfoot.  But then this is a trail shoe and not a road shoe. 4/5

Overall I am very happy with the shoes and give it an overall score of  16/20 or 4/5.  Not the perfect shoe but then I dont know if that even exist.

Hope this helps all those out there who dont pull their noses up at Adidas.  Please note that I did not get these shoes for free and in no way do I benefit financially from this review.

Eden and back via gravel road and single track.

This is a bit of climbing followed by a nice bit of technical downhill to put the smile back on your face.


Distance 4.8km
Elevation: 148m
Water Available: None
Dangers: There are the odd vagrant about here so dont run it alone.
Terrain. Half gravel road, Half single track.

This road starts off from the Eden parking lot, situated just above Paradyskloof.  Park your car here and start to run.  You will get your first fork in almost 50m.  At this point make sure to turn right.  You will now continue on a slow and steady climb untill you get to a some kind of prefabricated building standing empty.  Keep right here.  You will now get a little bit of a climb before you start the days first major climb of more than a 100m.  Keep on the gravel road and keep on straight, heading for the top of the blue gum forest on the opposite slope.  You will get to a fence/hedge.  Here you turn left to keep on going to the blue gum ridge you can see at the top.  At the top you will see the road turning right over the shoulder of the mountain.  Here you will find the single track.  Go on it and continue downwards.  PLEASE BE CAREFULL HERE.  It is very easy to lose the trail here.  If you do go off trail make sure you step carefully as this is an area where there will be some poisonous snakes.  The single track is going to bring you back to the opposite slope again.  Here the track will join a wide burn path where timber has been used to stop erosion.  Up you go again for a climb of another 40m in elevation.  At the top run through the burnpath to get back to the road just below the burnpath.  From here you will be able to see a downhill bicycle path that runs through the forest.  Get on this path and continue down.  You will drop 150m in the following 1.2km so the going should be fast.  The park does fork quite often and it is your choice which one you want to take. In the end it will bring you back to the bottom and that is all that  matters.  These paths down can be very fast so be careful.  There might also be some cyclists coming from behind so be mindfull of them so that they dont run you over.

Route 5. From Park Rd and back via the Bergpad

This is a very nice route.  Not a lot of single track but well maintained gravel road with very nice views.

Distance 4.1km
Climb: 105m
Water Available: None
Dangers: Horsey people making you choke on dust.
Terrain. mostly gravel road, a bit of single track.


We start off at the fence ladder at Park Rd.  From here we continue straight on behind the cowsheds up the road.  This is a road used by equestrian types that go do things to horses somewhere in the Bluegum forest so be aware that you might not be alone on this piece of road.  This can be a pain in the middle of summer when the road is very powdery and a car speeding past can leave you choking for a few minutes.  You will run uphill for about 0.7km in a straightish snaking road until you come out of the bluegum forest with an open slope in front of you.  You will also see the dam.  Turn right here and continue upwards for another 800 metres. Congratulations, you have now climbed more than a 100m in one km.  When you get to the top you turn left and go down a sleep slope with the road.  You will see a single track on the other side of the dry river bed.  Leave the road, cross the riverbed and go up this single track.  There are some steps cut into the road that are liable to screw up your rhythm.  Continue with this track until it joins the big gravel road 300m later.

You are now on the Bergpad.  When you join it turn right at the first split in the road.  You can continue straight but it will bring you back to your start very quickly.  Continue left and you will go around the bottom of the bight into what is called the Serpentine.  Run now back in the direction of the Blue Gum forest.
When you get to the dam run over the damwall back to the forest.  You will now join up with the road again.  Turn right again and within 200m you will be back to the powdery road the horsey people use.  Continue down it and you will be back to the Park Road fence ladder.

Route 4. Route44 Parkrun

I recently did the Parkrun at the Route44 market just outside Stellenbosch.  Lots of fun with quite a kick in the middle.

Distance: 4.8k m
Climb: 47m m
Water Available: None
Dangers: Apart from the odd stream of bad BO that you have run through it is all fun.
Terrain. All gravel road.

I am not really one for mass participation events and my wife would say I am not what someone would call a "joiner".  Yet I found the Parkrun quite a bit of fun. 

For those of you not in the know Parkrun aim to get as many people as possible to a timed run without paying for it. Cool concept.

Before you go and do it make sure to first register at the Parkrun website, then check your email and print out the barcode they sent you.  You will need it to get a time at the race.

Make sure you are at the Route44 market but about 0745.  No need to register or anything, all you need is your barcode on you somewhere for when you end.  The starter will call you to the startline and off you go at 8am sharpish.  Quick note.  If you are someone that do a km in the low 5m/km range you need to be close to the front of the bunch otherwise you will be passing people for the first 2km.

Back to the trail.  It runs through the vineyards at Laibach farm and is quite beautiful and serene apart from the 300 odd people running.  From the start the road goes up and down a few times along gentle inclines.  It is only at the start of the 3km that the road gets a serious kick, and with serious I mean hang on here, this is about a Cat4 climb and you gain 50 meters in elevation in 70 meters of road.  Dont be ashamed to have a walk here.

The nice thing about this is that this is that when you are at the top you will be going downhill almost the whole way.  A long meandering fall through the vineyards will get you back to the start/finish.  When you get the the finish grab the little card they gave you and take it to the register desk with your own barcode and thats it, your race is done.  The results usually get emailed to you within 24 hours.  

The route is gentle apart from that 1km of crazy uphill but the general vibe on the run is good and there is lots of chitchat and laughter.  Dont be scared to mingle.  It wont kill you.  I think the Parkrun is definetely something that I will start including into my monthly running program.

Here is the Strava segment for the parkrun.  It might differ from week to week as they change the route (this weeks was 200m short).  See you there (I am the guy with the very very old camera)

Route 3. From Doc Craven, up the high road and a fast path down

This route starts off from the Doc Craven statue at the Danie Craven stadium and back down again.

Distance: 4.1k m
Climb: 148 m
Water Available: None
Dangers: Cyclists trying to break land speed records on the descent and the Cat 4 climb
Terrain.  3/4 gravel road.  1/4 single track.


This route starts off from the Doc Craven statue.  Proceed all along the rugby fields and river to the cricket clubhouse and past.  After about 1km you will get to a big Pine tree standing at a turn in the road.  You now turn right and go up the toughest part of todays road.  This is the dreaded Category 4 climb.  You will now climb steadily for the next 1km.  When you think you are almost at the top turn to your left, go around a corner and let the climb continue (Its ok to walk a bit here, you are only human afterall).  You will soon get to an old broken down building.  This is the top of todays climb.  Take a breather and look at the view.  You have earned it.

The view from the top.  Not too shabby Nige.

Now go down the marked path to get to the stairs.  Take the stairs until you get to the bottom when you will now be on a single track.  Continue on the single track for the next 1km over two ridges.  When you get to the top of the second ridge you will meet up with the gravel road.  Turn right here and start your descent.  Keep on going down straight running in the direction of the dam you see in front of you.  When you get to the dam keep on straight, go off the road and go past the rubbish bin making a beeline for rugby fields between the Danie Craven Stadium and the US Gym.  Pretty soon you will find a cement and rock flood canal.  Turn right again and run down the flood canal until you get the steps at the top of the stadium.  Down the steps you go.  Then run under the stadium until you get back to Doc Craven.  Well done.





Other Strava segments you will get is.


Coetzenburg flat Jeep track
Jonkershoek Rd Climb (Cat4)
Stellenbosh berg sprint
Stairway to Heaven
Rocky Section to top of Extreme Climb


Here is a short video of the run.

Route 2. Quick turn off the R44

This route is for those that are running on the R44 between Stellenbosch and the Strand and just want a quick turn off the very busy road.

Distance: 1.4km
Climb: - 27m
Water Available: None
Dangers:  Dogs and People
Terrain:  Mostly dirt track. Will be muddy in the winter.

I hate running on the R44.  The fumes from the cars cannot be good for you.  So I routinely take this little route to get away from the busy road.  It is a short downhill run next to a little river.

The entry point is on the R44 just before you start getting to the top of the Die Boord housing.  It is halfway between the Parmalat robots and the Stellenbosch Golf Course.  You will find an open pedestrian gate down a steep embankment.  You run down here and follow the river.  You will get to some small farmworker houses in after about 800m.  You can choose to up and follow the road over the top of the houses or just cut through the bottom of the set of  houses.  To avoid the yapping dogs it would be best to run round the bottom of the first house.

Continue on this road until you get the tar road where you turn right and will find yourself at the bottom of Van Reede and Lovell.  You can now get back to the R44 by running straight up Van Reede.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL.

*The dogs here can be quite aggressive.  Try to avoid them.
*They sometimes spray the vineyards.  If you see a tractor spraying turn around and run back. The spray wont kill you but it might cause severe allergic reactions.
*You are running on private ground.  Please be mindful of that at all times.

Route 1: Eden Paradyskloof to Park Rd Ladder

Distance: 5km
Total Climb: 198m
Water Available: None
Dangers:  Very loose rocks descending down the Chicken Run
Terrain:  About 1km is dirt track.  Rest is Single track, very rocky, lots of gullies.

Start off from the Paradyskloof Eden Forest Gate.  Keep on the big road.  Take first left and after that and then stick to the right to make sure you keep on going up.  You will pretty soon be running out of the pineforest into an area where you will have an open area to your left with two dams and a pine forest to your right.  Keep on going up.  At the end of the stand on your left there is another cross.  Turn left here and follow the jeep track over the next shoulder.  Pretty soon the jeeptrack will become single track.  Follow the single track through an Eucalyptus stand only a few metres thick.  Regular undulating track continues through the stand until the road turns to your left.  You will now be at the top of a hill and will be able to see clear views to Simonsberg.  Continue down the trail called "The Chicken Run".  Be careful as the cycling path is full of loose rock.   Regular forks will occur at intervals.  Make sure to keep left to stay inside the Eucalyptus stand.  Single track now meets up with regular farm track.  Go around left of farmworkers houses and go down to flat.  Turn left at cow paddocks and run another 200m to get to Ladder at the end of the track.

A link to the complete STRAVA segment is below.



Other  STRAVA segments in the trail is as follows.

Paradyskloof Forest Climb
Eden Top Contour Ascent
The High road from Eden to Coetzenburg


A short video of some of the terrain can be seen here.