Race-day fast and daily trainer tough, can the Saucony Endorphin Speed 5 really do it all?

If, like almost every runner, you have a variety of runs and races on your schedule, running shoe choice is mostly a question of compromise and overlap. Reviewed here is the Saucony Endorphin Speed 5, a shoe that is fast and responsive enough to race, but is also perfect for efforts and interval sessions which need to match race speed.

There may be a few very rich and very obsessive individuals who have different trainers for different races, speedwork, tempo runs, long runs, recovery runs and every other kind of run, not to mention trailies and spikes for those who like muddy tracks and racing tracks. But the rest of us need to find shoes which can not only multitask, but perform those tasks to a high level.

I wore the Saucony Endorphin Speed 5 on tempo runs and even some top-end-of-zone-two runs, and they worked really well over a range of speeds. I admit to initially thinking a fast pair of shoes that cost £180/$175 was overkill for recovery runs and the long miles of marathon training, but the Speed 5 seem to cope well for lots of different run sessions, boosting their value considerably.

The nylon plate

That high price point explains where these shoes sit in terms of performance, and also why they are so versatile. They’re more expensive and specialized than a general running shoe, but work well as a budget option compared to the very fastest carbon-plated lightweight shoes and as a bridge between racing and general running.

It’s why, if I were the kind of runner who had a shoe for every occasion, these would be my speedwork choice. They obviously weigh in a little heavier than the most thoroughbred racing shoes, but at 237g (8.4oz ), they’re still light.

The Endorphin Speed 5 are built with a semi-rigid nylon plate, sandwiched between two layers of Saucony’s PWRRUN foam. The nylon plate sacrifices a little speed and responsiveness compared to carbon, but the ride is much more forgiving, in fact I found the Endorphin Speed 5 very comfortable indeed from the start.

Fit and feel

The bounce and support of the sole made running in them a pleasure and I had no issues with fit. I have slightly wide feet, but the lightweight mesh of the body gave me a snug fit that never felt too tight.

Aesthetically, I loved them – the slight curve of the sole from Saucony’s Speedroll technology looks balanced (and also gives the shoe a nice, propulsive feel), and the graphics are understated and subtle. Unlike the citron/lapis colour scheme here on test, which I liked a lot.

If fluoro yellow is too much for you, Saucony have five other more conservative options: white/citron, white/mutant, black/VO2, black/white and white/gum.

Overall, I enjoyed training in the Endorphin Speed 5s. They look great, are very comfortable, have good range and are fast. If you’re the kind of runner who does lots of different run sessions, they’re likely to perform well over a range of activities.

Meet our reviewer:

Edward Pickering is an experienced journalist, a former editor of Procycling and Rouleur magazines and the author of Ronde, The Yellow Jersey Club and The Race Against Time. He has covered 18 Tours de France, the Olympic Games and most major international bike races on the ground, and he’s interviewed pretty much all the biggest stars in cycling in the last 20 years.

A keen endurance athlete, Ed has been competing in bike and running races since his teens. He’s run a sub-three marathon, a sub-17-minute 5k and sub-5-minute mile, and doesn’t know where his obsession with round numbers comes from. 

Saucony Endorphin Speed 5 specs

Price:	£180 / $175
Available from:	Saucony
Sizes:	6-14 (UK men’s), 3-10 (UK women’s)
Stack height:	36mm / 28mm
Drop:	8mm
Midsole:	PWRRUN foam midsole, winged nylon plate
Weight:	237g/8.4oz