I found out about the toe caps from reading some ultra-runner's blog, and she mentioned buying some. We don't typically have a lot of sharp elevation changes here, I mean, it's Florida. It's pretty flat. But we are at the very tail-end of the Appalachians, so there are some ravines and hills and stuff. Around where I live most of the hills are of the gentle, rolling kind, which means as you're walking (or running) up them you have plenty of time to wonder how long this stupid hill is.