I tested these out hard right away taking them out for my weekly trail runs (my long runs) which are pushing about 4 hours at a time. I was a little concerned at first as they seemed a little too long in the toe, but I soon found that the extra room was welcome as I went crashing down hills (figuratively crashing that is). On that note, I am used to taking a tumble on the trail every now and again. In these I have tripped a few times but so far I have stayed on my feet. I am sure that I will fall some time but they do seem to help a bit with stability. The real test will be in November when I take these into my first 50k which will be hills, trails, streams and mud. Perhaps I will have an update that will earn them an extra star,,,