Forgot to report back. The Challengers are great - would definitely recommend them and the 8 was just fine. A little bit of an odd feel at first due to the amount of cushioning (which I was plainly unaccustomed to!) and also the width of the sole. I'm now used to that and have used them for all my runs for that couple of weeks. Grip is good but it has been so dry of late, it hard to tell what they will be like in the wet. Still thats not why I bought them.