If I said "Cortana" you'd think I was talking about HALO, right?

A little over a week ago I had no idea the Saucony Cortana even existed. But an e-mail from my Saucony contact (doesn't that sound like I have some sway?) about its selection as Runner's World's Fall 2011 best debut shoe changed all that (the article isn't online yet... check out the magazine or trust me on this one). I've been mulling an idea for a blog post and wanted more info about the Cortana to see if it would work as part of my idea. When I asked for that info I was told the best place to look was on the Saucony website (duh), and that I could have a pair to try them out for myself. In the interest of serving the visitors of this blog the best, most in-depth product discussion it was my duty to accept the shoes. They arrived yesterday and I tested them out today.


Hello beautifuls.
To me, the Cortana sells itself as a full-featured "minimalist" shoe. I'm not exactly sure how stripped down a full-featured shoe can be, but its one striking minimalist-like feature is that it has the same "stack height" (heel to toe drop) as both the Kinvara 2 and Mirage shoes at 4mm. The shoe that I'd otherwise compare it to based on its features (and price), the Asics Gel-Nimbus 13, has a stack height of 12mm. It's a significant difference that almost forces you to strike with your midfoot rather than strike with your heel and then roll to your toes to push off. For further comparison, barefoot running shoes such as the Hattori and Five Fingers have stack heights of 0mm.

Ordinarily I test my new shoes on a treadmill for 3 miles so I'm not stuck a mile from home if something goes wrong, but because I've really been hitting it off with Saucony products lately I said what the heck and took the Cortanas out from my scheduled six miler this morning. I've enjoyed having almost no break-in period for my last few pairs of Sauconys, and I thought that was changing with the Cortanas because at about 2 miles I was getting that friction on the balls of my feet I used to get when I ran in shoes with increased heel to toe drops. Luckily, that subsided within a half mile or so and then they felt like I'd been running in them for weeks.


Ready for its close-up.
In the end, my six miler went fine and I really liked the Cortana. They're a little too much for the shorter runs I do and I would not choose them over the Kinvara 2 for distances 10-15K or less, but I've been a little worried about running a marathon in the Kinvara 2 and next week when I run a 14 miler it'll be in the Cortana to see if it's got what it takes to carry me through 26.2. I'm hopeful that it is.

If I have one gripe with the Cortana it's its price. It has all the bell and whistles of a high end shoe, and a bunch of new technology which I guess is what makes it require the high end price, but people generally don't care about how advanced the tech is in their running shoes, and with a MSRP of $145 (I found it online as cheap as $130) I think the price might scare away people who want to transition to running closer to the ground slowly in favor of the Mirage, which has a MSRP of $100, or the Kinvara 2, which most people rave about, at a MSRP of $90. On the other hand, I've owned $130 Asics Gel-Nimbus shoes and I think I ran in them twice before I gave up on them. I could see me putting at least a few hundred miles on the Cortanas. Even at the price, if you want to very slowly transition to a more "minimalist style" of running without giving up all the cushioning and weight (the Cortanas weigh slightly less than the Asics Gel-Cumulus 11s I've been doing my long runs in but are begging to be retired) it is the perfect shoe for that. It also doesn't hurt that the shoe shares the name with the hottest AI video game character ever.

Speaking of bells and whistles, this is my favorite one, even though it does absolutely nothing for the shoe's actual performance:


Click here if you can't see the embed.

Try to find that in a $90 Kinvara 2.