Advice for Trail Runners: Are you doing door-to-trail runs? If so, the HOKA Women's Challenger 7 Trail Running Shoes in the Evening Sky/Drizzle colourway should work well for you.
Underfoot Feel
The HOKA Challenger 7 Trail Running Shoes feature a lightweight compression moulded EVA midsole. As a result, it should offer a soft and comfortable ride on hard-packed ground - including the road.
Based on a gravel bike tyre design, the outsole performs on a range of surfaces. To explain further, tightly packed lugs in the centre of the outsole reduce the chances of you being overly aware of the lugs on hard ground. In contrast, larger and more aggressive lugs at the perimeter enhance grip on more uneven terrain.
Upper Fit
The HOKA Challenger 7 Trail Running Shoes' upper should feel very comfortable. This is because it features a soft and highly breathable engineered mesh.
An extended heel pull tab makes it easier to slip the shoes on and off.
Ideal Run Type
If you're running exclusively on technical trails, you'll probably benefit from opting for a gripper option. However, if your trail runs include significant stretches of road, there are few better options than the HOKA Women's Challenger 7 Trail Running Shoes.
These should also perform very well on light forest trails, gravel paths, and coastal routes.
Technical Features
- Approximate weight: 218 grams
- Drop: 5 mm
- Forefoot stack height: 24 mm
- Heel stack height: 29 mm
- Durabrasion rubber for enhanced durability
- Moulded EVA sockliner
Sizing Advice
Shoe size is a personal preference and everyone's feet are different, but we want to ensure you avoid any pain or discomfort from bruised toenails, rubbing, blistering or pins and needles.
Your running shoes should have enough width to allow you to spread your toes and should have some space at the front (we recommend having a half to one thumb's width of space from the end of your longest toe to the front of your running shoes).
This usually means that your running shoe will be at least a half size bigger than your regular shoe size though this can vary from brand to brand.