26th January: Cheviot

A couple of years back after the chastening experience of running my first official trail marathon with footwear that turned-out to be somewhat less than ideal, a subscriber offer came-up on a magazine that I was looking to subscribe to and I became the owner of a pair of More Mile Cheviot trail running shoes.

I eagerly began running the winter trails in these and they soon became a firm favourite of mine… They are by no means the ‘perfect’ trainer, as they are somewhat lacking in the cushioning department so I require an insole to be fitted, but for free they were fantastic… So much so that when they died I bought another pair, even though they have been superseded by the ‘Cheviot 2’.

This second par has now bitten the dust and when I spotted a deal on at the More Mile stockists Start Fitness, I ordered pairs number 3&4!

Since using Strava to record my runs in detail I am able to track the mileage on my trainers quite accurately and the Cheviot's are good for 200 miles before dying. These miles though as a rule are trail marathon miles through the winter when the need for the very aggressive lugs on the soles are required… So in effect they are good for me to get around 7-10 trail marathons in the most tricky of conditions.

So below is my long term review of the More Mile Cheviot having tested 2 pairs to destruction!

Introducing the Cheviot…

Named after the range of hills found on the eastern border of England and Scotland, the trainer’s monicker is a giveaway to their nature: one that is at its happiest in the rugged wilds of hills, fells and the harsher of the trails.

In the box.

In case you have never heard of them, the Cheviot’s manufacturer More Mile are a British maker of sporting goods, both clothing and footwear, primarily aimed at those who run, cycle or partake in triathlon and the company has built up a deserved reputation for value for money over more established ‘premium’ brands in the marketplace. They are also the kit suppliers to the English School’s Athletic Association.

For me, the colour of a trainer is not a really important consideration, as this does not impact performance in any way, shape or form - unlike with cars where everybody knows that red cars go faster!.. With the Cheviot’s at present you have 3 options available to you in lime green, grey with yellow flashing and grey with blue flashing. I opted for the former!

No danger of not being seen from a distance!

Their construction seems to have been based on an almost indestructible sole and worked upwards from there. The lugs on the sole are the deepest I have seen out there on the market, affording tractor-levels of grip that would happily allow you to play rugby in them and still remain poised on both feet. The problem you could face with very deep lugs is the aggregation of mud between them, building up to a level that the grip is reduced over a long-run to almost zero. With the wide spacing of the Cheviot’s lugs the chance of mud building up is minimised to the point that you would have to be in a really sticky clay-based mire for a significant loss of grip to occur and with the flex of the trainer’s sole, once out the other side, the claggy chunks of mud are soon kicked clear through the normal action of running and any lost grip is restored.

Get a load of them lugs!

The toe-box has a heavy-duty rubber toe guard around it to protect against stubbing on rocks and tree-roots, with the rest of the upper being made from synthetic mesh-like fabric that allows for easy and rapid draining when you do have the misfortune of immersing your foot entirely whilst fording a stream or ploughing through deep puddles. This also ensures your feet do not overheat through these uppers being naturally breathable.

Turning your attention to the inside, the padding is quite minimal. Outside of the heel padding which is high and holds you quite snug and guards agains the ingress of small rocks, the only other noticeable area of padding is the underside of the tongue - whilst having minimal padding inside the trainer does denying you the sensation of having your feet cradled by warm purring kittens, it does mean there is a lot less in there to soak-up water and add weight through absorption rather than draining away.

I have found that I personally need to add a layer of cushioning to the insole, as it is very spartan, with the addition of sorbothane shock-absorbers to increase the comfort and reduce any jarring my body may experience… But that is something personal to me.

Taking them out on a run, you can tell these are definitely at their most happy in the more extreme conditions. The wide spacing between the deep lugs when on tarmac or other hard flat surfaces gives you the impression of your feet rolling around over a series of points on their underside so is not the most comfortable of experience - but as soon as you hit dirt they come in to their own, affording a good even grip over the entire sole and keeping you firmly on your feet able to carry on running where other trainers would have you on your backside… The only times these trainers are not 100% happy off-road is over the 2 types of ground that all trainers do not like or manage a perfect grip on: wet rocks and ice!

When testing them to destruction, the weak-point that develops is the just behind the toe-box, where through the creasing action on the material through the foot flexing in the shoe, the uppers seem to give-way at roughly the same time on the corresponding location on both shoes, and on both sides of each shoe.

The value for money on these shoes is phenomenal. You can pick them up for around £20-£25 a pair - which is 3-4 times cheaper than the nearest equivalent soled Salomon or Inov8’s. When you extrapolate out the mileage and pound costs, you could go through 3-4 pairs of Cheviot’s before you have reached the cost of the Salomon/ Inov8’s, but would these two brands have survived the combined ‘hard’ mileage of 600-800 miles of the Cheviot’s?.. Especially when you are recommended to replace your trainers between 300-500 miles, and let’s face it, trail running is particularly tough on trainers!

I would recommend these trainers to anyone who is hard on theirs when trail running over the winter months when grip is at a premium. They are comfortable and capable enough to be running marathons and ultras in them over the sternest of courses… And for those out there who are worried about damage/ wearing to their premium brand of trainers, you can’t go wrong by getting a pair of these to do your winter training miles in and save the more expensive pair for race day, although I bet you would soon be converted to using the Cheviot as your race shoe by the time that day comes.

Price £20-£30
Longevity 3/5
Comfort 3/5 (with an additional insole) 4/5
Value for Money 5/5

Overall 4/5


Eat pies.
Drink beer.
Run far.