Diadora’s Mythos Blushield Vigore V Serves Up a Sturdy, Stabilizing Ride
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The new Endorphin Azura is a high-performance plateless training shoe that offers a touch of stability.
What’s your favorite running shoe brand of the super shoe era? For me, Saucony is definitely in my top three. Since 2020, Saucony has really made its mark with a range of lightweight, fast and bouncy training and racing shoes in its wildly popular Endorphin line.
But all of its speedy shoes and great updates in that span—Endorphin Speed, Endorphin Pro, Endorphin Elite—have had some sort of moderate to very rigid propulsion plate embedded in their midsoles. Those nylon, carbon-fiber and composite plates enhance the energy of a shoe at faster speeds, but, depending on your gait style, they might feel moderately to exceptionally unstable. That’s just one of the things plates do.
The new Endorphin Azura is a high-performance plateless training shoe that starts from the premise of bouncy energy return from a high-stack midsole of one of Saucony’s supercritical superfoams, but also including a touch of inherent stability. While Saucony has continued to update its legacy plateless training shoes like the Triumph, Ride, and Guide models, the superfoam-enhanced Endorphin Azura represents a breakthrough that wasn’t in the line until now.
Saucony isn’t the only brand to create high-energy plateless daily trainers. The trickling down of high-end midsole foam materials from elite racing shoes and plated trainers into everyday training shoes is a big trend lately. ASICS Novablast was one of the first, but Salomon’s Aero Glide and Aero Blaze models and the recent New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 and, of course, last year’s Adidas EVO SL, have all up-leveled the category. So far the Endorphin Azura is getting rave reviews as an exceptional shoe, and after running 57 miles in it since December, I like it a lot, too.
What’s New: The Saucony Endorphin Azura is a brand new neutral-oriented high-performance training shoe with a relatively simple construction that utilizes many of the Saucony’s top components. That includes a thick, single layer of PWRRUN PB supercritical superfoam (but slightly more firm than the Endorphin Speed) and Speedroll technology to create a rocker-style geometry for smooth, efficient heel-to-toe transitions. An airy mesh upper with an array of lightweight TPU overlays for support and an outsole that includes small segments of durable XT-900 rubber interspersed with cast polyurethane and exposed form round out the shoe.
Fit/Fee/Ride: The Endorphin Azura fits true to size with medium interior volume and plenty of wiggle room in the toe box. (It’s only available in a medium width, but there is room for an after-market footbed if you remove the shoe’s premium sockliner.) The step-in feel is mildly soft, semi-firm and sparsely appointed, with a thin, gusseted tongue and minimal heel collar padding. It’s comfortable, but it doesn’t give off the exceptionally plush vibes that some everyday trainers do.
The exciting part of this shoe is the ride. The moment I laced these up and started running, I could sense a bouncy, energetic sensation in each stride, but it was also clear that it’s a semi-firm shoe that offers a good amount of support.
As a plateless superfoam trainer, it provides a more natural, flexible feel than plated training shoes (like the Endorphin Speed 5), but it still provides a snappy, rockered transition through the gait cycle (like the Endorphin Speed 5) while adding protection and stability for runners who needed it. The rocker creates a poppy but smooth heel to toe transition which can be felt at all paces (especially Zone 3 and Zone 4), but the sensation is more about a flowy sensation and less about all-out speed.
Price: $150
Approximate Weights: 7.4 oz (women’s 8); 8.5 oz. (men’s 9)
Heel-Toe Offset: 8 mm; 40mm (heel), 32 mm (forefoot)
Why It’s Great: It’s great because it blends superior cushioning and energy return with a touch of stability. While many bouncy, high-stack, cushioned trainers feel unstable, this model distinguishes itself with subtle but significant support from its reinforced vertical medial side walls and the width of its footprint. No, it doesn’t have the rigid structure of a true stability shoe (except for a semi-rigid internal heel counter), but it’s also not one of those soft, hyper-malleable shoes that can squirrely at faster paces. If you’re a heavy heel-striking runner who prefers or needs stable shoes, this one offers that while still serving up a fun, energetic ride.
Why You’ll Love it: It’s a versatile training shoe ideal for a wide range of paces and workouts. It’s great for long runs, short, recovery runs, fast, tempo-paced runs, and just about everything in between. And although it doesn’t provide top-end speed or the marshmallowy comfort that some modern everyday trainers do, it does offer more stability. I have run just about everything in it so far, and honestly, there are times that it felt almost as good (but not as aggressive) as the Endorphin Speed 5 and almost as cushy and shock-absorbent as the Saucony Triumph 23 even though it’s situated in the happy medium between those two shoes.
What You Might Not Like It: The biggest thing that could be a detractor is the semi-firm feeling it gives off. It might be a bit off-putting if you prefer softer shoes. It’s the result of the unique blending of a high-stack superfoam midsole with a supportive and stable chassis. If you’re used to the fast, inhibited feeling of Saucony’s Endorphin Speed or Endorphin Pro shoes, you might feel this shoe feels a bit stodgy.
Pros: The upper offers a good blend of conforming comfort and sidewall support. It has a good lacing system and low-profile tongue that cinches up well without any lace bite. Plus, it comes in a wide range of colors with some vibrant aesthetics.
Cons: The Saucony Azura feels better at faster paces and oddly mundane at slower paces. The semi-firm nature of the midsole set up feels a bit muted at Zone 1/recovery pace. Also, it’s not a true stability shoe with enhanced foam like the Saucony Tempus.
About the Author
Contributing editor Brian Metzler is the Content Director for UltraSignup.com. He has wear-tested more than 2,000 running shoes and is the author of “Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture and Cool of Running Shoes” (2019) and “Trail Running Illustrated” (2021). He has raced just about every distance from 100 meters to 100 miles, but he’s most eager to share stories about his experiences pack burro racing in Colorado and riding trains to run trails in Chamonix, France.
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