Saucony Kinvara 8

The shoe looks great and feels super comfortable when you put your foot in it. The cushioning extremely soft an comfortable. Very lightweight shoe. Great for someone with good biomachanics. The low drop makes it uncomfortable for those with Achilles problems. The bottom of the shoe only has hard rubber on the inner portions of the bottom. If you are an underpronator there is nothing to protect the bottom of the shoe from wearing on the outside. Outer portion of the shoe wears very quickly, not a very durable shoe. It is a fast and light shoe for fast runs for efficient runners.

Initially, I was an adidas freak. I wore them throughout college and loved the feel that they gave to my feet which ran wide near the toes. Unfortunately, I suffered two stress fractures in my later years in the same foot that, along with severe cases of hammer toe in both feet, left me spending precious time away from the team and in the pool crosstraining.

After I graduated, I continued to train lightly in Supernovas. I would occasionally run with an athlete I coached in HS who was beginning her freshman year at LSU. These shoes continued to hold up, even after I was struck by a car while running last August (fortunately, no major injuries there. Just a concussion and seizure at the scene). So my Supernova obsession lasted through the accident and into the fall, when I was running low on my shoes' mileage and needed a new pair. I just happened to have a $50 Fleet Feet gift card. At the store, however, I was informed that they had no Supernovas available in my size. Rather, the associate suggested Kinvaras in a full size smaller than what I was accustom to. Not about to pay more online for a brand, I decided to give the Kinvaras a try to see if it was time to change.

Sure enough, they fit perfectly and allowed me to amp up my post-graduate mileage moreso than I had ever reached during my college years. I've been wearing them now for almost a year and have yet to suffer a significant injury.

With my foot strike being more inward, the outsides of the shoe wear down a lot quicker than I would prefer. But otherwise, these shoes are flawless. And I am truly grateful for the chance encounter to switch into them and to continue my dream.

Perfect for a mid-foot striker.

Switched from a Kinvara 5 and found the 8 run a bit bigger by about half a size.

decent shoe for neutral lovers

I used Kinvara 8 to:

run road and trail up to 13 miles;

race 5-8k cross country;

train daily up to 55 miles per week.

They don't last forever. I tend to blow out the uppers at the toes. Offers a small amount of support, which is crucial for me.

This was the best shoe I've run in. Perfect cushioning for short runs, long runs, long interval sessions and for races from 10k to half-marathons. I've never done any marathon but I think the shoe is also suitable for that.

The grip is decent and the mesh is very respirable. It was able to hold the summer mileage without me feeling any kind of overheating.

The price of this shoe is also a plus. One of the best trades on the market!

Reliable, good degree of cushioning, not too heavy. Good multi-purpose shoe.

Love the feel of this shoe, can take it on long runs, tempo runs, even to the track and it never feels out of place.

This is probably a harken back to the older versions of the kinvara (2 and 4 being the best) with the typical lightness and flexibility across the arch while still providing reasonable cushion as an everyday trainer. Heal-striking runners may find that the outer heal tends to crush down due to the structure of the foam. Runs true to size and is extremely comfortable well up to 500-600 miles.