My left foot

I have a bunion on my left big toe. Properly known as a "hallux abducto valgus deformity" according to Wikipedia.

I am fairly certain that this is the result of genetics and not the result of wearing excessively pointy shoes, but whatever the cause, a " lateral deviation of the great toe" (and not apparently an enlarged or deformed toe joint - thanks again to Wikipedia) makes my foot a funny shape. I can't help but think that having "Morton's Toe", that is a big toe that is shorter than my second toe, in a world where all shoes assume that your big toe is your longest toe, has assisted in the development of my bunion.

But, whatever... I have a bunion on my left foot and the significance in the context of running, swimming and cycling is that it has an impact on the shoes I can comfortably wear. And to be fair it isn't much of a problem with swimming.

Because I need to comfortaly accommodate the bunion I need wide running shoes, and preferably ones that are made with quite soft fabric. This seems to be most difficult when it comes to off-road shoes which are often narrow and often have rigid protective welts directly over where my bunion goes. If the fabric won't stretch over my bunion, it is going to hurt. Sometimes some convenient stitching goes directly over my bunion; this won't stretch even if the fabric will, and it has the added benefit of often being abrasive.

So unless a shoe is really wide (and they may now exist, but as such shoes are a recent innovation, time will tell), it must be made of a soft stretchy fabric, with no welts and no stitching or seams in the area of  the bunion. And that is the sort of shoe I buy for trail running or fell running.

But all of this comes at a price; fell and trail shoes aren't made of strong fabric with welts and narrow fitting by chance. In particular the shoes I choose give little protection to the parts of the feet most likely to come into contact with sharp rocks (especially, you guessed, the bunion), they may also reduce precise control on very technical running sections, and most importantly they are not resilient.

Softer fabrics, stretched to an unusual shape, soaked with acid bog water and scraped against sharp rocks don't tend to last long. And if you look at the picture at the top of the post, the result is clear. All of the shoes have split at the point of the bunion, some after less than 100 miles use. The shoes in the picture are, from left to right, Inov8 f-lite 230, Inov8 x-talon 190 (both great shoes, but just too narrow), Saucony Peregrine, Inov8 terrafly 303 (disappointing as this is Inov8's new wider "anatomic" fit) and the New Balance 101.

I need to make it clear that I don't really blame the shoe manufacturers for failing to produce shoes suitable for one person with unusual feet, but I wish I could find comfortable, long lasting off-road shoes both for short technical blasts on the fell and longer days out on trails. Any suggestions?