Hi! My name is Allie Rykken. I'm going over to Ireland this summer for a cob cottage building class but I also intend to get in a lot of trail running with a pair of Vibram Five Fingers! I'd say they're shiny and new but on my first grand outing I decided to see how they performed in the mud... Safe to say it's lucky I didn't get the white ones! Instead I got the grey TrekSport version which are designed to be more effective for trail running. I'm all for toughening up my feet but if I can avoid keeling over every time I accidentally land on a particularly angry rock, I will. I'm pretty impressed with them so far! The grippers on the bottom are quite conducive for any tree climbing expeditions and judging by the fairly immediate soreness occurring in my entire calf region, they seem to be working some muscles that have been dormant for a while. All in all, I'm very excited about adventuring through the trails of Ireland with them. So far they have a really freeing feel to them and I can't wait to find out where we run away to!