September 5, 2012

Saucony Fastwitch 6 Sneak Peak


March 2013 Update: I've run two marathons in the Fastwitch 6 since writing this original review (TOU 2012 and PHX 2013). I won both races, so its gotta be the shoes, right? :-)  In all honesty, I've been very happy about how these shoes have performed over the marathon distance. My feet and toes have held up really well both times. No blisters, no pain. I wouldn't even think about wearing anything else for the marathon. 

My favorite racing flat for marathons (and my primary "fast workout" shoe) is the Saucony Fastwitch. I got my first pair of Fastwitch 5s last fall, wore them for the Philadelphia Marathon, and have used them for about 300+ miles worth of tempo runs since then. This past spring I picked up another pair in bright blue that looked pretty snazzy on the streets of Boston.

Saucony has a new version (Fastwitch 6) coming out in early 2013, and they were able to get me a pair ahead of time for the Top of Utah Marathon on September 15th. The new FT6 is a very slick shoe - Saucony didn't change the midsole/outsole (which is good - no need to alter something that is awesome!), but they revamped the upper - changing it to Flexfilm, which reduces the overall weight of the shoe by about an ounce. So its the same great Fastwitch, just a little bit lighter.

I took the FT6s out for their first test-spin this morning - a fast 10K tempo run. They felt perfect and I'm excited to lace them up for the marathon next weekend! I'm a big fan of how outrageously bright orange they are.

I should also note that Andrea has had a pair of FT6s since we visited the Saucony HQ in April. She had been wearing the FT5s for the half-marathon and marathon with great success, and is also big fan of the "upgrade." She raced in the new version when she ran 1:17 at the USA 1/2 Champs in June.




The two men's color schemes from Saucony Racing (check out their Facebook page)

Here's some video previews from Running Warehouse and Outdoor Retailer if you want some more information...



4 comments:

  1. Those are beautiful. I am a Saucony fan as well. It was cool to say hello to you at the start of the TOU half marathon. I KNEW you would win!! Way to go!!

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  2. Has Saucony done anything to widen the toe box for us NOT SO D WIDTH runners? I usually need to go up 1/2 size to fit but then have too much shoe length to get the sweet spot flexing.

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    1. Yes, they are making a lot of models in wide widths now. Take a look on their website, you can search by "wide"

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