New to Trail Running - shoe choice

HI All,

I am new to Trail Running though have run a couple of marathons in the past couple of years. I run in Asics Gel 3200, or did anyhow. They are now knackered. However I have take on the challenge of the Speights Coast to Coast in NZ which includes a 33km trail run, mainly rocks, dry river beds and a fair few river crossing as well. Certainly no road and not a lot of mud. Apparently smaller lugs will help enormously for the grip.

The reason I am actually posting here is I am struggling to get advice. Innov8 are main sponsors of the event and therefore there branding is everywhere, but I am just not sure that I am ready to move away from a heel-strike technique in order to ‘fit into’ their shoes.

I purchased a pair of Mizuno Wave Ascents and just found my foot collapsing inwards in them. So then went for the Salomon XT S-Lab 5 which was great for support, and almost perfect BUT I do find the slim toebox is giving me blister issues so I need to review my thoughts. I like everything about them except damn toebox.

Basically I need a shoe that has support for over-pronation, a rock-plate is a must (so is toecap), and drains really well. I don’t care about colour, design, brand etc and in all honesty price isn’t an issue either. I don’t get to try many shoes out as I live in the Czech Republic and its not easy here to get away from the basic models so whichever make I go for I will need to get to a shop, try a similar model for size, order online (from UK or DE) and cross my fingers. A model that also has a Gore-Tex or wet-weather version would be good as the majority of my training closer to the event will be in the snow.

Any advice would be helpful. I considered the Asics Gel Kaji (sic?) and tried them on when over in London, but felt the lace structure to be really uncomfortable (the plastic bits that hold your foot in place).

This will be a shoe for the race and also for training.

Other info you may need?
6ft 84kgs
Size 11 US
Normal heel/midfoot size. Just wider toes that Salomon like.

I have used the Asics Trabuco 2's which give me a lot more support than minimalist shoes but of course they will have a bit of extra weight in them. They have a good balance of traction on the sole while also providing really solid support around the heel.

My partner has a pair of Inov8 shoes but she is pretty new to running and has not really tested them very well as yet. They appear to have pretty good soles while being very minimal on the top. My main concern with them is any lateral movement of the foot causing blisters etc.

I always use Asics as they work well with my feet, since we are all different I would suggets going in and seeing hoe the Trabuco's feel to you and hopefully you get some help in the shop which isnt trying to sell you the most expensive shoe and actually looks at what you need.

Best of luck for Coast to Coast. I haven't forced myself to do it yet but have heard it is a very challenging race.