80 Mile review of the Mount to Coast H1's

Lacing:
Mount to Coast uses what they call a TUNEDFIT dual lacing system.  Towards the upper part of the foot it is a standard lacing system.  Towards the forefoot part of the foot, it is a quick lacing system (think Salomon).  The idea behind this is that if you are using this shoe for an ultra distance run, your foot could swell, and this system allows you to make quick adjustments to open room for your foot to expand.   

My experience with the lacing:  I have never really noted any foot swelling to this point in my running career, so I didn't get to a point to need to create more room, however I had no issues with the lacing during the run.  My only challenge was while doing some down hill work on trails, I did have a bit of foot slipping forward experience on my first run.  On my next trail run I tightened up the front quick laces a bit and that did seem to solve the slipping experience on down hill runs where I have to do some stops to avoid roots/rocks etc.   

Tongue:
The tongue is gusseted and I love that design.  I love being able to put a shoe on and not worry about readjusting the tongue.

Heel:
The heel cup is supportive, nicely padded and not over bearing at all.   It is exactly the way I like it.

Upper material/fit:
The Double-layered Jacquard, 40% recycled Polyester is nicely breathable and comfortable.  The shoe has a very nice step in feel overall.  The toe box has plenty of room for toe splay to begin with, so the dual lacing system is a great combination with an already accommodating fit.

Design: totally subjective
Their design is a modern and streamlined design.  It also feels like a bit of a throwback design to me, I am a fan.

My only negative on the uppers are that you may have to adjust the tightness for downhill work on trails and that I am showing some odd where at the collar and tongue intersection of the left shoe.   I saw some people note this issue on the R1's (Road shoe by MTC), but did not have that issue on my R1R's (Same upper).  I am wondering if when the upper is in a bit of a looser fit, there is rubbing happening with the tongue moving, but that is just a theory. 

If you have done trail runs, you probably have done some road running where the shoes feel like running on Cleats with larger lug patterns.  The challenge on a hybrid shoe is finding that medium where you have enough lug that it does some good on trails, but also feels good on a road surface. 

The H1's in my opinion do a very good job with this balance.  I did runs on surfaces that vary from Black top, to concrete to loose dirt, wet trail, dry trail, roots, rocks, grass and just about anything in between.  On dry surfaces, this shoe performed great on all types of surfaces.  It is not a shoe I would pick for muddy/gnarly wet surfaces as the 2mm lugs just don't have enough bite to securely grip.  However, I don't think that is the intention of the shoe.  For it's goal of being a shoe that can do well on road and go hit light trails, the outsole delivers at a high level in my runs. 

I like all the aspects of this shoe, but for me the star of the show is the midsole.  

CircleCELL foam is derived from renewable feedstocks, including organic waste and residual biomass.  Made in collaboration with BASF, the output of this foam is something you would not expect from a "green" foam and it is also durable.   Great kudos to MTC and BASF for this collab as I really enjoy the foam and hope they put it into other road models

The foam and geometry of the midsole give you a very nice, forward guiding experience underfoot.  It is truly a very nice experience underfoot.  

I ran anywhere from 5 miles to 14 miles on dry conditions and wet conditions, on Black top, Concrete, loose dirt, grass, compacted dirt and your typical single path trails with roots/rocks and sand.   The only condition the shoes struggled in were the wet muddy conditions, which was expected, but I wanted to test it anyway. 

The shoes performed well at all paces for me in all conditions. 

This shoe is currently in pole position for a 100K run I am running soon.  As long as the conditions are dry, they will probably be the shoe I start with.  I think they are more than capable of doing the full 100K, but I am taking other pairs in case the course is more technical or it rains for better traction in we conditions. 

They are also in strong running for a charity endurance run I am doing on New Years.  It is a .7 mile loop that you have 55 hours to run as many times as you can.  It is a mix of pavement and limestone.  With the lightness, protection and great underfoot feel, these shoes are in a prime slot to be the starter shoe., 

So far, I really get along with all Mount to Coast shoes I have run in (R1R, T1 and now the H1)
Review for the R1R here: https://www.weeviews.com/reviews/3968/mount-to-coast-r1rReview for the T1 here: https://www.weeviews.com/reviews/4094/mount-to-coast-t1

I would recommend these and other shoes of theirs to pretty much anyone.  This shoe is a shoe I would run on the road in, on most trail conditions (unless very technical or muddy) and would take on travel.  

If you are in the Houston area and are interested in these shoes, check out Good Times Running shoe store in the Katy area of Houston.  They are the only local store carrying Mount to Coast at this point in time and they are a great store in supporting the local running community. 

I am not associated to them in any formal way, I just really like they way the support the local runners.