The mainstream running shoe industry has settled on a direction, and it is up.
Saucony just dropped the Paramount Max, built around what the brand is calling the softest foam in the industry. Stack heights on new releases this month are hovering around 40–42mm as a baseline. The Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 — their flagship race shoe — launched on June 1 with 40mm of IncrediRUN foam underfoot and an $290 price tag. Puma's new Deviate Pure Nitro promises a super-trainer ride at a lower price point. The releases keep coming and they keep going up.
Nobody is arguing this isn't what most runners want. Soft, tall, forgiving — it sells.
What's interesting is where it leaves the conversation about foot strength. One editor at Outside Run noted recently that they know too many podiatrists who recommend every runner keep a minimalist shoe in their rotation — even as they themselves run in 40mm trainers. That tension doesn't get talked about much in mainstream running media because there's no shoe to sell on the back of it.
There is one new brand worth watching: Notace, which is trying to bridge the gap between maximal cushioning and zero-drop minimalism. Whether that actually means anything in practice or is just clever marketing positioning remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are over here running in shoes most of the industry considers a novelty.
What are you training in this week? Hit reply and let me know.
Run light,
Lachlan