Saucony Triumph v Cortana

The last few years I've been loyal to the Saucony Triumph since the Triumph 7. I've always got on well with these boys and I guess part of me thinks I should stick with what I know, however....

 

Does anyone have experience of the Saucony Cortana? Are these a viable alternative? I'm not quite sure where these trainers fit in the Saucony range. Are they suitable for longer distances/marathons?

 

I currently use my Triumphs for all running (short efforts, threshold sessions, longer runs) I race in lightweights but only for 10k distance or less. Could the Cortanas be considered an alternative to the Triumphs, or are they more suited to shorter the stuff?

 

Has anyone experience of both and could offer some comments on how they compare?

Comments

  • Okay, I just got out a pair of each to give you a comparison.

    Cortanas are neutral, 4 mm heel-to-toe drop, quite well padded, small for the official size and narrow in the forefoot. My old Triumph 5s in a size 4 are barely shorter than the Cortanas (which I won in a competition when they had just come out, so that would be a Cortana 1) in a size 5.5 - I's say the 5.5 Cortanas would be equal in length to Triumph size 4.5. The degree of padding appears similar in the two shoes, but the difference in heel-to-toe drop is very noticeable to me - N.B. I'm a minimalist runner usually wearing VivoBarefoot Neo and Neo Trail (I have a wide forefoot and Evo and Breatho are a bit narrow for me), and Inov 8 Trailroc 235s. Just standing in the Triumphs to give you this comparison I'm REALLY REALLY noticing the heel-to-toe drop in the Triumphs and not really in the Cortanas, so a definite difference there.

    I wear the Cortanas occasionally for a short recovery run if my feet are feeling trashed/bruised after a very long run (e.g. after the Thames Trot 50 in 2013), because of the padding. (Haven't worn the Triumphs since 2012 at the latest; they're only lightly worn; i really should find someone to take them from me).

    Hope that helps.

  • It does, thank you.



    So the Cortanas offer enough support for longer runs? It will be interesting to see how noticeable the difference in drop is. I assume it's not a bad thing to regularly interchange between 4mm and 8mm drops during the course of a week...
  • The amount of padding in the sole of the Cortanas should certainly be sufficient for long runs, but I've not used them for long runs myself. Even in the 5.5 they're really too narrow for me in the forefoot, as well as not providing the sole flexibility I'm now used to, so I've only ever worn them for short (maybe three miles) recovery runs after my feet have been trashed.

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