Trail runners or boots?

With less than 4 weeks to go until we start the trail we're beginning to really look hard at our gear list and we're definitely questioning whether or not we've made the right choice of footwear between trail runners or a traditional pair of hiking boots.
In fact we've probably spent more hours thinking and had more conversations about our choice of footwear than any other item on our gear list.

For us we've decided to go with a good pair of traditional leather hiking boots which from what we can tell is not the norm for the TA trail. I think there was a Facebook poll where 70% of people are starting with trail runners this year so we'll be in the minority on this one.

Emily trying out her Scarpa Delta GTX Boots

We've weighed up the pros and con's of using the boots and we just felt that the additional protection, stability and durability of boots is worth it even though they are heavier and slower to dry out.

Although we've never owned a pair of trail runners as such our old choice for hiking were lightweight hiking shoes. These were pretty good and provided some waterproofing but I did always find myself being extra cautious about foot placement in muddy/boggy/wet conditions and I felt that really slowed our pace down and made the day that much harder for us especially on long days. After switching to boots we can now just push through without worrying about getting a shoe full of mud with each puddle we step in.
I'm sure a lot of people would argue that you should just do that in trail runners anyway as they'll dry out quickly but for me I could never just get over it, I think subconsciously I was being more careful about foot placement than I really needed to be and since switching to boots I've found it much easier to keep the pace up.

The one downside of the boots that I am worried about is the weight. As your legs start to turn to jelly after 4-6 hours on your feet you can really feel that you have to swing the weights on the end of your legs to keep moving when compared with our shoes. I think we'll adjust to that pretty quickly on the trail though once we get going and our legs strengthen up.

The other thing we keep telling ourselves is that just because we start with boots, doesn't mean that we can't or won't switch out to trail runners as we go. We're flexible and will only find out what we really like once we're out there and doing it!