The Mount to Coast H1 is comfortable for most of my runs, especially when I’m going from my front door to the trail. The foam has a fun bounce, and it doesn’t feel dead on long, flat roads. I’d wear it on smooth dirt even if there wasn’t any pavement.
On steep, rocky descents, that bounce can feel wobbly. I also got hot spots in both feet about three hours into the 50K, and by mile 25 I could tell I had blisters. I’d still be fine running that course in the H1 again, though I’d lean toward the Norda 005 for more stability on the first-half trails. For the runs I do most often, I’d buy the H1 again for the $160 I paid.
I bought my pair and started running in them on October 6. I’ve put 183.7 miles on the shoes, including the 50K, a three-hour easy run split roughly evenly between road and dirt, and a run up and down Black Mountain in Henderson, Nevada.
Nitty Gritty
- Tested size: Men’s US 10
- Measured weight: 260 g per shoe in my size 10
- Mount to Coast’s listed weight: 242 g per shoe in men’s US 9
- Stack and drop: 35 mm heel, 29 mm forefoot; 6 mm drop
- Midsole: CircleCELL
- Outsole: VersaGrip with 2 mm lugs
- Lacing: TUNEDFIT Dual Lacing System
- Price I paid: $160
Fit and Lacing
My usual size 10 fit. I have wider-than-average feet, and in some road shoes my toes feel cramped and the edge rubs against the ball of my foot on long runs. I can spread my toes in the H1, and my heel stays put even on steep climbs. My feet felt fine during and after a three-hour, 16.5-mile easy run.
The speed lace lets me tighten the forefoot separately. On Black Mountain, I could feel my foot moving a little, so I cinched it down more than usual. That did help keep my foot in place. However, if I don’t fold the clip down tightly, it smacks against my foot and makes a weird clicking sound.
Road to Trail
The H1 is quiet on pavement, and I enjoy it more than my Nike Vomero Plus on easy runs. The Vomero feels a little clunky to me, and my size 10 pair weighed 91 g more per shoe than the H1. On a mixed road-and-dirt tempo run that averaged 8:30 per mile, I really didn’t wish I was in a different shoe. For faster tempo work or intervals, I still prefer the extra pop of my Brooks Hyperion Max 3.
The shallow knobs held on hardpack, gravel, wet pavement, and dirt that got tacky in the rain. On sandy climbs, I’m not having big slips, but the smaller knobs don’t bite enough to give me a solid push-off. I feel like I’m working harder to move forward. I don’t get that sensation on hardpack, or when I’m running on flat or downhill sand.
I slipped briefly on slicker sections with more clay or rock in the rain. On a different run, I slid almost immediately while walking down a muddy slope to a creek. I don’t know whether taller lugs would have helped on that slope. If I regularly ran on trails that get slick in the rain, I’d look for a shoe with more grip.
Black Mountain
On Black Mountain, the dirt was damp, and the rocks were dry. The outsole gripped well, but the foam felt bouncy and wobbly on the uneven surfaces. Even after I tightened the forefoot, I slowed down on the descent and watched where I put my feet.
The toe bumper protected my toes when I caught the front of the shoe on rocks, and I didn’t feel any sharp rocks through the sole. I was surprised how well the H1 handled it. I was happy to be in the H1 again once I reached smoother trail and pavement. If most of my runs were on steep, rocky trails like Black Mountain, I’d take the Norda 001A for the extra stability.
The 50K
It was 27°F at the start. I took off my windbreaker and gloves around mile three, and by halfway it had warmed to roughly 50–60°F. I finished in 5 hours and 40 minutes.
The H1 felt steady through the early trails, including a moto trail with whoops and loose rocks. That terrain was more runnable than Black Mountain, and I could hold the pace I’d been running from the start. On the flatter fire roads later in the race, I could settle into a rhythm, and I appreciated how easily the H1 turned over.
Around miles 16–17, about three hours in, I felt hot spots just under the ball of each foot toward the arch. My feet felt dry, and both hot spots showed up at almost the same time. By mile 25, I could tell I had blisters. I felt some pressure and movement where the shoes rubbed. I tried both loosening and tightening the TUNEDFIT forefoot lace. I could feel the shoe tighten over the top of my foot, but I wanted it tighter at the first eyelets closest to my toes. I had a hard time getting it to tighten there.
My feet were tired on rocky hardpack around miles 24–27. The foam felt stiff, and the uneven footing made the pain more noticeable. My feet felt better on the pavement for the last four miles or so. I suspect the pressure I felt near my arches had something to do with the rubbing, but I’d also run faster than I’d projected and hadn’t been on my feet longer than about three and a half to four hours in training. I didn’t have that rubbing on my three-hour easy run.
I wore the same socks for my 50K in the Norda 005 and didn’t get those blisters. The dirt and rock were similar, but I climbed and hiked more and spent more time moving slowly. If I ran this course again, I’d be curious to start in the 005 and switch to the H1 around halfway. Once I got onto the flatter fire roads, I liked how easily the H1 turned over, even with sore feet.
Wear at 183.7 Miles
I first noticed the grooves wearing down on a few heel knobs at 120 miles. There’s a little more wear now than there was at 152 miles, but I still have to look closely to see it. A few knobs along the heel edge have smoothed out, and most of the tread still has visible grooves.
The foam looks about the same as it did at 152 miles. The cuts along the bottom edge are from Black Mountain, before the 50K, and they still look like surface cosmetic cuts. I haven’t noticed any wear on the upper.
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