2024 Running Shoes Preview: What’s Hot and What’s Not

What is The Running Event?

For those not familiar with The Running Event, it’s essentially a trade show originally designed to host running shoe and apparel brands, in an effort to showcase their upcoming product for run specialty stores and buyers. Since its inception 17 years ago, the event has grown and expanded and taken on an identity as an all-encompassing “place to be” for the who’s who in the run space. 

Held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, the 2023 version of the event was the biggest one yet, seeing a 20% increase in floor space to accommodate 314 brands showing the latest footwear, apparel, technology, nutrition, and more. Over 4,000 specialty retail professionals, brand representatives, and media personnel attended the event.

And while the event still centers around product, it has now grown to a full-on hub of run culture. Your favorite Instagramer or shoetuber? They’re probably there and you’ll probably run into them five times. Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum? Also there, snapping photos at the Nike booth. From expert panels to after parties to group runs, it’s a nonstop whirlwind of running, making it one of the most exhilarating experiences for runners, but also the most tiring. Suffice it to say, we were happy when our heads hit the pillows on our own beds at home on the Friday evening after it was all done.

For Believe in the Run, it was our sixth time at the event, and in many ways it was the best. Not just because of what’s coming in 2024 (though there’s plenty of awesome stuff), but because of the people we met, the friends with whom we reunited, and the new memories we created over the span of 72 hours in Texas.

What’s Trending

Before we get to what was most and least exciting at The Running Event, let’s get into some of the themes that sort of rose to the surface over the course of our meetings. 

➤ Drop-in midsoles

There are two shoes we can’t mention in this section that will receive even more hype than the two we’ll mention, but we’ve seen enough to know that it’s a trend. One that Speedland kind of set the standard for a few years ago with the first SL:PDX, but is seeing variations on the theme in a handful of 2024 releases.

A drop-in midsole essentially means you can customize a shoe to fit your feel. While Speedland used this method to switch out carbon fiber plates, Nnormal announced their most innovative shoe in the Kboix. Still in its testing phase, but slated for a 2024 release, the shoe will allow the consumer to select one of three custom midsoles (soft, reactive, or bounce) that will drop into the shoe. 

They’re not the only ones, though. Behind the scenes, we saw two other shoes on the road side of things that are attempting to use the same method. It’s an interesting and exciting concept, mainly because it could be the first truly sustainable shoe design. Is your ride flattening out but the outsole still has traction and the upper is fine? Just replace the midsole and you’re good to go. In fact, I’m not sure why more brands aren’t doing this and leaning into it. Maybe they will, but that also means you don’t have to buy a new shoe, and we all know how bottom lines on balance sheets work.

➤ Building on successes

Over the past couple years, bouncy midsole foams (i.e. non-EVA, supercritical and Peba/TPU-type foams) have become a bit more accessible in running shoes; what was once a corner held by Skechers Performance (supercritical) and Nike (Pebax), is now a standard for most super trainers and race day shoes. Everyone has pretty much caught up at this point, even Mizuno. Everyone has a super trainer. Everyone has a max cushion shoe. They’re all pretty solid, (not counting the first version of the Altra Via Olympus, which was a brick).

Hoka 2024 Lineup (Rincon 4, Mach X 2, Arahi 7, Mach 6)

Even the shoes using some form of EVA (Hoka) are bouncy and fine-tuned enough that they’re gonna feel great on the run. So while we’re not seeing a ton of innovation in terms of midsoles and technologies, we’re seeing more minor adjustments on past models. Maybe the upper is improved, maybe the foam durometer is tweaked, maybe there’s slightly more outsole rubber because all of those exposed foam midsoles were getting wrecked.

The trail side of running keeps getting better, which makes sense– the trail scene is having its moment with no signs of slowing down. A lot of the performance gains we’ve seen on the road side in the past five years is now making its way into every aspect of trail, with every brand.

➤ Super trainers are everything

Following in the footsteps of the New Balance SC Trainer, it seems like every brand has or will have a Super Trainer, sometimes a couple different ones. New Balance themselves are coming with the Fresh Foam Balos ($200), a super trainer without a carbon fiber plate but features a combination midsole of FuelCell, Fresh Foam, and Peba. Mizuno finally has a super trainer with a fiberglass plate coming in June, which both looks and feels promising. Brooks is pulling a quick turnaround with updates in the Hyperion Max 2 and Ghost Max 2, and they both look amazing.

All-new New Balance Balos

➤ But The Tide May Be Turning

Yes, max cushion is still hotter than a marshmallow on the end of Satan’s s’mores stick. Super trainers going up to 50 mm in stack height are still selling out at $300 (Adidas Prime X 2 Strung). But there are slight cracks in the face of the foam mountains, and we expect to see a pullback in the coming years. From race day designs that disguise the high stack to the return of lower stack racers (Altra Escalante Racer 2), there is a disturbance in the force that Hoka created over a decade ago. Shoes like the Adidas Samba are making a huge comeback (was it ever really gone, though?), and don’t be surprised if you see a similar shift in running.

Altra Escalante Racer 2

➤ Price points are … still high

Inflation has hit us all in every way (have you seen the price of Christmas trees??), and I’m sure you’re well aware that it’s been the same with running shoes. Most shoes have stayed the same price as last year, with a few exceptions (the $50 increase on the Hoka Tecton X 3 is wild). Some have even gone down, which is cool (kudos to Altra). But nevertheless, shoe prices are high and we’re seeing even more premium models coming to market, like the all-new New Balance Balos ($200) and SC Pacer 2 ($200). Don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

That said, the Nike Vaporfly has pretty much kept the same price point for five years, so I guess we should be… grateful? Or annoyed. Choose your own adventure.

➤ Everything is kind of pretty great

There was a time, like 5 years ago, when it was really easy to hand out bad shoe reviews. There were a whole bunch of bad running shoes, and only a handful of great ones. Asics sucked, On seemed like it should put a letter ‘c’ in front of its name, and Adidas was hanging onto Boost like you do with that box of random power cords and phone chargers in the corner of your basement. 

But with the democratization of foams and carbon plates and lightweight materials, pretty much anyone can make a decent shoe. I mean, for god’s sake, we gave a pretty good review to a NoBull running shoe this year and Topo Athletic made one of the best tempo shoes (maybe the best) of 2023. Across the board, running shoes are pretty damn good.

So keep that in mind as we put out our reviews in 2024. Even if you buy a mediocre running shoe, it’s likely not going to be all that bad.

The Running Shoes We’re Most Excited About for 2024

We’ll make a more in-depth version of this list in the coming weeks, but for now, we’ll give a brief overview of what we’re excited about as we head into 2024.

The most obvious one here is the Nike Alphafly 3 (January 1, $285), which was announced on the morning of the first day of The Running Event. And yes, we’re pretty sure that was intentional. Instead of dealing with the hordes of influencers leaking things to the world (The Running Event’s media standard is basically anyone who breathes and has a platform with more than one follower), Nike just got ahead of things themselves. 

We do indeed have our pairs here at the office and will probably have a review up within the next week, but we can tell you straight away that the shoe is a return to the glory days of the OG Alphafly. It already secured the men’s world record in the marathon distance and Kelvin Kiptum was on hand at the event to celebrate the launch. We also know and have seen leaked photos of both the Pegasus 41 and the glorious return of the Pegasus Turbo 3, but for some reason, they were left out of our coverage on the floor at TRE.

On the trail side of things, the big story for Nike is the inclusion of Vibram MegaGrip on the Nike Zegama 2 (May, $170). The first version of that shoe was exceptionally comfortable and built very well for long distances, but– as with past Nike trail shoes– the outsole traction was poor. Kudos to Nike for implementing the necessary changes, because this shoe has the potential to be one of the best out there. We’ll also see the Pegasus Trail 5 (May, $140), with a new ReactX midsole, which should help keep its title as one of the most comfortable trail shoes money can buy. And while that one doesn’t have Vibram, it does have a reformulated rubber, so hopefully it’s a bit tackier than past models.

We learned our lesson in hyping the Prime X 2 Strung from last year, so we won’t go hyping anything specific from Adidas. But we will say that it’s clear Adidas is pouring a ton of resources into the running side, as evidenced by the Evo 1 this past fall. Don’t be surprised if you see some of that technology trickling down into other Adizero models. The Takumi Sen 10 is also right around the corner, so we’re not sure why we didn’t get a good look at that, because it’s perennially one of our favorite shoes. Side note: We are absolutely loving the rivalry and back-and-forth shade being thrown by the Adidas CEO and Nike, and it looks like we got a good ol’ fashioned running shoe arms race on our hands. Cue up the “Michael Jackson eating popcorn” GIF.

We gave the 1080v13 our award for daily trainer of the year, the SC Trainer v2 was equally as good (but different) than v1, and Meg and Thomas ran in the SC Elite v4 at the New York City Marathon this past year. It looks like New Balance will keep the hot streak going with some of the more exciting models we saw at the show. Namely, the FuelCell Pacer v2 (Fall 2024, $200), which looks to have a bit more FuelCell and a generally better build overall. (Look, we all knew Emily Sisson wasn’t running marathons in v1). It also just looks incredible.

Then there’s the Balos (Summer 2024, $200), an all-new model in the Fresh Foam family, featuring a blend of FuelCell, Fresh Foam, and Peba, offering pure comfort in a lightweight package. We’d also be remiss to not mention the More v5 (August, $155), which will feature the same midsole material as the 1080v13, just more of it. Essentially, it’s a super-sized version of the 1080.

New Balance Rebel v4

While we’ve heard rumors that Hoka will be dropping some heat in 2024, what we saw at The Running Event was mostly updates to some iconic shoes in the Hoka family. The Rincon 4 (July, $125) returns after a three-year(!) hiatus, which is just wild. It’s a top-to-bottom update, featuring a two-foam EVA on top and an injection-molded bottom layer with some rubber injection for extra longevity. The Mach 6 (March, $140) will get a single stack of supercritical EVA with reduced weight and increased resiliency, while its super trainer counterpart in the Mach X 2 (September, $190) will see an increased stack with more Peba and a wrapped wing portion to help with stability. 

Hoka Mach 6

On the trail side is where Hoka is really taking it to the next level. The Speedgoat 6 is finally here (July, $155), and will come in both a GTX ($170) and GTX Mid ($180) versions, the latter which we haven’t seen in five years (the original Speedgoat Mid is still one of my favorite shoes of all-time). The standard version is the lightest Speedgoat to date and will feature an updated midsole compound in addition to an adjusted Vibram MegaGrip lug pattern for more bite, inspired by a goat hoof (duh).

Hoka Speedgoat 6 GTX

Then there’s the Tecton X 3 (August, $275), which is honestly so much different than the first two versions that it should almost be a different model altogether. For starters, the price is $75 more than the launch version that came out just two years ago. That’s a lot. It’s now the most expensive non-BOA trail shoe on the market that isn’t a Norda. It will launch around UTMB and will feature a Peba top and bottom layer, Matryx upper, and more rubber coverage with a Vibram MegaGrip/Litebase outsole. The two parallel carbon fiber plates will now have winglets for added stability, while an all-new knit collar extends past the ankle, acting as a built-in gaiter to keep out trail debris.

Hoka Tecton X 3

We’re not gonna go all-in on Brooks for 2024, but we’re definitely excited about some of the stuff coming, and the designs have really taken a turn for the better. We’re mostly excited about the quick re-ups on both the Ghost Max 2 (August, $150) and the Hyperion Max 2 (mid-summer, $180), as well as the launch of the Hyperion Elite 4 (February, $250). The trail side also looks pretty awesome, with updates to the Caldera 7 (January, $150), the budget-friendly Divide 5 (July, $110), and the all-new Catamount Agil (March, $180), an ultra fast and lightweight trail shoe designed for all-out efforts in shorter distance trail races.

We thought Mizuno was dead, but they blinked twice, so there are some signs of life. We loved the original Rebellion Pro but hated the toe box; they’ve apparently fixed it in this version, so it should be an exceptional race day shoe. The actual midsole stack is around 52 mm, even though they cut out the part where World Athletics measures to meet the less-than-40 mm height requirement for race day. 

Mizuno also has an interesting super trainer coming in June, though we’re not allowed to say the name for some reason. We tried it on for a bit and have to say that the knit upper is actually pretty great and the midsole feels bouncy and cushioned underfoot. Could be a dark horse (zebra?) contender in the super trainer category in 2024.

It’s not a secret that we haven’t been huge fans of Salomon’s attempt on the road. The RA series from a few years ago morphed into the Aero line of now, and not much has changed. There are just so many shoes ahead of where they’re at. Except– on the performance side. The S/Lab Phantasm 2 can hold up to most of the elite, carbon-plated race day shoes. It actually may have the best fitting upper of all of them, and the Peba midsole is quite bouncy and snappy. 

However, according to Salomon, the S/Lab Phantasm 2 is not the best shoe for marathoners in the 8:00 min/mile and slower mark. And so they put a ton of time and effort designing that kind of shoe, which is the soon-to-be-released S/Lab Spectur (May, $250). With a strategically designed energyBlade and top midsole layer of Peba-based EnergyFoam+, the shoe is surprisingly bouncy and fun and we keep coming back to id in our testing. It weighs about the same as an Alphafly, but offers a more padded upper than you’ll find in most race day shoes, the idea being that the runners using this shoe will be out for 50% longer than elite or sub-elite marathoners (sometimes longer). It’s certainly a promising shoe, and our favorite Salomon shoe to date. However, will it be enough to convince others to come over? We’ll see.

I gotta admit, I have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for Topo Athletic. Maybe because founder Tony Post has told us that he watches our podcast from the comfort of his basement, with his wife wondering what the hell he’s laughing about. (To this day, he was one of our favorite guests on the podcast as well.) But I think what I love about Topo is that they just do their own thing and stay true to it, year in and year out. They still make improvements and adjustments continually, but they don’t stray from the mission. Which is also why a ton of Altra loyalists are jumping ship to come over to Topo, having tolerated Altra’s recent identity crisis for long enough.

That said, the Topo Athletic Specter 2 should be exciting to anyone, because– like its tempo counterpart in the Cyclone 2– it also will now feature a full Pebax midsole. Not the generic “peba” term that most brands use, but the actual, brand-name Pebax. If it’s anything like the Cyclone 2 (one of our favorite shoes of 2023), it’s going to be a sleeper hit. So stop sleeping on Topo.

We’re still not sure if anyone aside from us really ran in the first version of the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite (FWIW, I actually really liked the shoe). Whether that was because it seemed to always be sold out, or it just didn’t stack up to other race shoes, nobody really knows. But that didn’t stop Puma from going full-steam ahead on the Fast-R Nitro Elite 2 (limited December release), which has a similar look aside from one glaring new feature– a carbon plate that extends beyond the toe.

According to Puma, the extension allows for extra leverage on toe-off, and as a result– more propulsion. The foam has also changed, using an aliphatic TPU, which Puma claims has a 93% energy return rate. So no more EVA in the heel, allowing for a softer-yet-responsive landing and takeoff, while the carbon plate has also widened a bit for stability. It’s by far the most wild racing shoe we’ve seen, and 100% we want to try it out as soon as we can. 

We’ll also see some updates to the Velocity Nitro 3, but can’t talk about it right now (will release more info on January 1). Same with the Deviate 3 and Deviate Nitro Elite 3.

With the introduction of drop, Altra is expanding its horizons, mostly with the Experience range of shoes. The next version of the FWD Experience is now called the Experience Flow (May, $140), and a stability shoe is coming in a new model called the Experience Form (May, $145). Both have a 4 mm drop.

The most exciting shoes in the 2024 Altra lineup are the race day Vanish Carbon 2 (March, $260) and the cult favorite Escalante Racer 2. The Vanish Carbon 2 will feature a full-length carbon fiber plate, nitrogen-infused super foam (with 3 mm extra stack height), and increased durability in the outsole. The Escalante Racer 2 (May, $140) is a throwback to the pure, zero-drop racing flat that Altra loyalists loved, but was only released in limited quantities in the earlier version. With an open-air mesh upper and a 22 mm stack height of Altra Ego foam, this thing is pure and simple. 

The trail side of Altra also looks promising, with some updates to the Lone Peak 8, as well as an update in the Mont Blanc 2. You can see a preview of the trail line over on our YouTube channel, where we talk with Altra co-founder Brian Beckstead.

By far the coolest running shoe brand out there, Diadora just brings the best vibes to all their products. The Atomo V7000 v2 looks incredible, and it’s still made in Italy at their own factory, which deserves more praise than it gets. Everyone is always bashing Nike and Adidas for cheap overseas labor– if you care about it so much, put your damn money where your mouth is and buy something made by lifetime craftsmen and women who know their art.

The made-in-Italy Diadora V7000 v2

Anyway, as I step off my soapbox, look to the left where you’ll also see the all-new tempo shoe in the Frequenza, as well as the Gara Carbon, an all-new carbon-plated race day shoe with an Anima PBX midsole and Matryx upper (read our review of that one). If we had one bad thing to say about Diadora, it’s that their shoes are always just slightly behind in terms of performance, but again, they’re a family-owned brand that doesn’t have the same enormous R&D budget and facilities that many of their competitors do. For what they’re working with, it’s pretty great stuff. 

Diadora Frequenza

Diadora Gara Carbon

Not sure that Craft had anything super exciting aside from the Xplor Hybrid, a gravel shoe which features a Vittoria rubber outsole, but I’m putting them in the exciting column because I think they’ve finally found their groove. A couple of their shoes from 2023 ended up as honorable mentions in our Best Trail Shoes list, and it looks like they’re really dialing in that road-to-trail/gravel shoe niche. Also, ultrarunner and face-of-the-brand David Laney is just one of the chillest guys in all of the running world, so simply having him on board means they’re doing something right.

Craft Xplor Hybrid

Backed by Kilian Jornet, Nnormal (I swear I’m going to punch a hole through my monitor if it autocorrects the name of the brand one more time) launched some pretty solid offerings out of the gate. And now they’re moving into the shoe customization game with the upcoming Kboix, proving that they can actually come up with a more unpronounceable name than their actual brand name. They’re either ignorant or pretentious, but we’ll forgive them if they make cool shit.

Anyway, the Kboix looks very interesting, with three variations of a drop-in midsole depending on your preference or terrain. The announcement made enough of a splash that Speedland co-founder Kevin Fallon called them out on Instagram for it, and since we always love a good dose of drama between competition, we fully approve of the response. In any case, will it work for Nnormal or will it go down in the history books as another “remember when that brand tried that thing”? We’ll see.

If you follow us, you know that the Norda 001 is one of our favorite shoes of all-time. The all-new 003 was announced during The Running Event and it was actually the only shoe I packed for the whole trip. You can get the full rundown on our first thoughts, but it’s pretty rad to have a triple-use slip-on shoe made with some premium (i.e. indestructible) materials. It’s ultra comfortable while maintaining an undeniably rugged throughline. I pretty much haven’t taken it off since I got it.

Our week was jam packed, so we didn’t have a ton of time to explore the fringes of the floor, but we did get to see one new premium footwear brand based out of China. Developed for ultramarathon road runners, Mount to Coast specializes in “creating long-distance running shoes that incorporate cutting-edge ergonomic research and innovative new materials to provide athletes with safe and comfortable footwear so that they can focus solely on the run itself.” For a new brand, MTC looks quite polished; they’ve pulled away former designers from Brooks, Nike, and New Balance, and have made it clear they’re focused on becoming the world’s leading brand in ultra-distance footwear.

In any case, we tried on the two launch models, the R1 and S1, and we can confirm they know what they’re doing. The supercritical midsole in the R1 is comfortable and responsive and the shoe seemed to disappear underfoot (it does only weigh 7.5 ounces). We also love the clean design. Keep this one on your “want to try” list.

On

Again, On has pretty much every shoe under embargo (hence no photos), but we did see a few models that look really promising, including the Cloudmonster 2, as well as an even more ridiculously awesome counterpart. It’s also no surprise that an updated racing shoe will be hitting the market, since we’ve seen that shoe on the feet of On athletes, most notably Helen Obiri as she won the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon. The days of hating On are long gone, it’s now an anticipation game to see how high they can rise in the running skies.

Trail, In General

Brands are really taking what the road segment did over the last half decade and implementing those tech gains into trail running.

We’ve already covered some of the most exciting models like the Hoka Tecton X 3 and the Brooks Catamount Agil, but some other brands deserve recognition. We’d be completely remiss not to highlight the Adidas Agravic Speed Ultra (April, $220), featuring TPU energyRods and a full Lightstrike Pro midsole with a Continental rubber outsole. Terrex athletes have been crushing races in the shoe, and it comes in at a much lower price point than the Nike Ultrafly ($260) and Tecton X 3 ($275). The two other Agravic models are also exciting, and we’ll see them coming out in May and June (watch our full Terrex overview on YouTube).

Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra

After being terrible for pretty much forever, The North Face is actually making great trail running shoes right now. The Summit Vectiv Pro 2 (January, $250) is mostly an upper update, adding an internal debris bootie to keep out dust and trail debris. It still keeps the winged plate which gave some runners major issues, so if you had problems with it in the original, we’re sorry to say that the song remains the same. Then there are the two Altamesa models (January) which both utilize supercritical foams in the midsole to give a comfortable-yet-responsive ride. The 300 ($129) is a middle-stack trainer while the 500 ($150) is more max cushion.

The North Face Altamesa 500

Merrell is by far one of the most underrated and least talked about trail running brands out there, and that should probably change because their shoes are crazy good and have been for awhile. The MTL Long Sky 2 and MTL Skyfire 2 have both been out, but now feature Matryx uppers. But we’re really looking forward to the Agility Peak BOA GTX ($190), which takes their best selling model and gives it the most premium components out there. 

Again, we kind of mentioned Altra already, but they’ve made some huge improvements on all of their trail models across the board, and are also coming out with a new, 4 mm drop shoe in the Experience Wild. The Timp 5 gets a Vibram MegaGrip outsole and loses an ounce over the Timp 4, and– wait, there’s more– they’re dropping the price tag by $5. The Mont Blanc 2 (March, $260) gets a Carbitex carbon plate in the midsole, keeps an Ego Max midsole underneath, but with a bathtub construction to keep the foot cradled inside. It also gets the nitrogen-infused Ego Pro superfoam as a top layer, making this a real stunner. Pretty much everything you want in a premium trail shoe is featured in the Mont Blanc 2.

They’re also dropping the Lone Peak 8 price tag by $10, without sacrificing the build quality, so what more could you ask for?

Altra Mont Blanc 2

Least Exciting Brands From The Running Event 2024

We’re not saying there’s not some exciting stuff coming. Some of it has already come, which is a good thing (Asics Novablast 4 and Gel-Nimbus 26).  We’re just saying that what we saw at The Running Event left something do be desired.

Asics just dropped the Novablast 4 and Gel-Nimbus 26, so there was really nothing to see from them at this time. Anything more than six months out is generally kept under wraps by Asics, so while there are certainly more shoes coming in 2024 (like the newest versions of the Metaspeed Sky and Metaspeed Edge), but we have no information about them at this time. Kind of disappointing, especially when brands like Hoka and New Balance were more than happy to share most of what’s coming over the next year.

➤ Skechers Performance

The GoRun Ride 11 and Max Road 6 were both very, very good shoes in 2023. Even the Speed Beast was pretty solid. So we were pretty excited to see what Skechers had up its sleeve for 2024. But like Gob Bluth at an office Christmas party, there was… nothing. Not even a dead dove. Just some color updates. Weird. They did hook us up with some sweet pickleball gear, which was almost enough to put them in the exciting column.

➤ Mizuno

We’re definitely excited about a couple Mizuno products in the pipeline. But we’re also wondering how the f*** it took so long for them to catch up with the rest of the world. The likely answer is that they rode the Wave wave (pun definitely intended) for as long as possible, relying on the local running store customer who bought every edition of Wave Rider. And then they realized that all their competitors had passed them by on their way to a bigger and better break. And now they’re in catch-up mode. The good news is that they will get there, it’s just not going to be as exciting as if they were the first to market.

➤ Reebok

Don’t get me wrong, the Floatzig looks pretty awesome. It may be one of the best looking running shoes for 2024 and it’s nice to see Reebok going back to the archives for some inspiration. But… we saw this shoe a year ago and it’s still not out yet. They also seem to just be doing things for the sake of doing them, like making a $200 carbon-plated shoe that weighs almost 10 ounces. It’s not the worst thing ever, it’s just unnecessary.

Reebok Floatzig

➤ Saucony

We’re not allowed to talk about the two most exciting shoes from next year, but they’re coming sooner than you think. We’ve run in them, and can at least tell you that they’ll get your endorphins flowing. Aside from that, we have the Triumph 22 (May, $160), which will now have some PWRRUN PB and increased volume in the midsole. They’re also bringing back the Hurricane 24 ($160) which will have a high stack of foam but give some guidance. Then there’s the Tempus 2 (August, $160), which is just an upper update. Same goes with the Kinvara 14 (June, $160).

Saucony Hurricane 24

On the trail side, it’s nice to see even more foam in the midsole of the Xodus 3 (June, $160), in addition to increased width on the outsole. 

But Saucony and its parent company Wolverine are going through a period of restructuring and internal upheavals right now, and we’re a bit concerned that the golden era that saw the birth of the Endorphin line and the integration of PWRRUN PB may be drawing to a close. Hopefully not, because Saucony is consistently one of the strongest brands across the board. Honestly, Saucony is still pretty solid, but it’s kind of a straight line at this point. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because their shoes are still pretty great and they’re not changing too much. It just is what it is.

Saucony Triumph 22

Final Thoughts

Looking back on this list, there’s a lot to be excited about. And we didn’t even get to all the brands out there. Again, this isn’t a full output of what’s coming in 2024, but it’s what we can talk about at the moment. We can assure you that as exciting as this list may be, there are some true stunners coming over the next 12 months, and there may be a bit of a shakeup within the industry of who’s hot and who’s not. The shoe revolution marches on, and we’re happy to have front seats for it.