Best For

Well, well, well…welcome back to the EIGHTS Kinvara line up! What a shoe, it just keeps getting better and better with each interation. Certainly this neutral daily training running shoe has changed in the past 4 years, but rest assured weary runners, the Saucony Kinvara 14 still rides and feels like it’s recent predecessors. This running shoe is the definition of a Tweener! Daily training, tempo day (lightweight), middle distance run, and you could even toe the line in a local 5K road race thanks to it’s snappy feel through the midsole; if your ankles and feet are stout, with no injuries in the past 5 years, you could even pull off some long runs in this shoe. 

Upper

This upper material feels very similar to the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 upper! It’s so breathable through that toebox, vamp, midfoot, and the hind, the engineered mesah feels like the Pro 3’s long lost second cousin. The fully gussetted tongue holds you in the shoe well, thanks in part to the extra padding that the running shoe designers placed in the middle of the tongue. Can you say butterfly tongue? Yes! That’s the material shape that will greet your ankle as it slips into the collar of the Saucony Kinvara 14. We’re not looking at a stout heel counter, and the entire collar area does not afford a plush or even slightly padded experience around the ankle, Kinvara 15 perhaps? This does impact the comfort score for the K14. To keep this shoe LIGHT and streamlined, I’m glad they’re not trying to change this iteration to a plush option, that’s where the Saucony Triumph 20 comes into play for your long-run running pleasure. 

Midsole

Take a deep breathe, the ride feels the same as the Saucony Kinvara 13. With an additional 3 mm of PWRRUN midsole foam understep (and the shoe is lighter), many runners around the globe, including myself, sherked at the initial photos from The Running Event in Texas… I was worried! Fear not runners, the K14 feels like the 13, but not so much the 11 just so you know. The ride of the shoe understep, whether heel striking or forefoot, feels like the Kinvaras as of late. With the additional stack height, I believe this neutral road running shoe now could accomplish a middle distance run in your training regimen (long runs for the brave of heart). What’s a middle distance run? Not daily training miles, definitely not easy, and not the classic weekend long run, but rather that 12-16 mile sweet spot, depending on your weekly volume and experience level. Any more stack height and I think Saucony would have over done it with this 2023 update to the Kinvara line. 

Keep in mind you “softy” lovers, this is not a soft midsole. This is snappy and very responsive through your biomechanics. In addition to PWRRUN making up most of the midsole feel, Saucony added PWRRUN+ foam in the sock liner. This adds a little kick and propulsive feel through the leg swing phase and toeoff in your gait cycle. This neutral road running shoe kisses the ground without sinking into the ground, if that makes sense!? I will go on record by saying I hope they don’t bump that midsole stack height any further in the Saucony Kinvara 15. We have found a happy medium between the major maximalist push of the past decade and the lean mean ground contact feel of yester-year.

Last point on the midsole is that it’s in a similar range to the ASICS Noosa Tri-14 Shore C Durometer score. The area where the Noosa and Kinvara are very different is the padding in the upper, and of course the overall weight. 

Outsole

Hopping to where the rubber (or lack thereof) meets the tarmac and concrete around the world, can you repeat after me, THANK YOU VERY MUCH SAUCONY!!! Saucony did so well with this outsole, especially if you prefer the less is more approach in the rubber department. Medial side heel and lateral side forefoot have a touch of rubber for those higher impact areas. Other than that, we’re looking at exposed PWRRUN midsole foam understep with a brand new pattern for better grip and toeoff friction through the footstrike. They really went for it (see photos below) with this outsole pattern, the wave effect if you will.

Would I Buy This Shoe Again?

Without a doubt the Saucony Kinvara 14 is ready for many of your training runs in 2023. Keep in mind before you buy that it does run a smidge narrow through the midfoot, which helps create a very secure feel through the toeoff. I love this road running shoe and only wonder now, how can I take it out for a tempo run or 5K road race this spring!?! And at $120, are you kidding me, that’s an incredible price point considering how many types of runs you will knock out in your weekly training schedule: tempo, daily, middle distance, 5K road race, and for the brave of heart: a long run! Send over your photos once you take this Saucony Kinvara 14 past 300 miles, can’t wait to see the work you put into this lightweight daily trainer.