Saucony Endorphin Elite 2: A super shoe like no other

• Weight: 199g
• Stack height: 39.5mm (heel), 31.5mm (forefoot)
• Drop: 8mm

The shoe

Almost two years on from its debut, the Saucony Endorphin Elite is back for round two. Designed for your fastest races, the shoe sits right at the top of Saucony’s food chain, just above the slightly heavier Endorphin Pro 4. The first iteration was a resounding hit at RW. Multiplatform editor Ben Hobson declared it one of his favourite carbon plate shoes ever, praising the aggressive toe-off and ‘indisputable bounce’.

So, it’s good news and bad news for fans of the original like Ben: the latest model is markedly different from its predecessor, but it’s got all the bells and whistles that Saucony could throw at it. That includes a new super foam with a funky name – IncrediRun – and a full-length carbon fibre plate. There’s also a fancy new, barely-there upper made from TPE yarn and a (albeit small) reduction in weight, down from 204g to 199g. It’s clearly made firmly with PBs and podiums in mind. So, is it worth the hype? We’ve been logging the miles and hitting the gas pedal to find out.

How does the Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 fit?

Ali: I’ll be honest, I wasn’t so sure about the aesthetic of this shoe when it first turned up at my door. I didn’t think that I’d ever be describing a shoe as rounded and stocky, but that’s exactly what this is. The short king of the racing world, if you will. I like the white colourway with the pop of orange/yellow, though, and it definitely screams ‘race day’.

Fit wise, I found the Endorphin Elite 2 to be on the narrower side. I opted for my usual UK 8.5 and the toe box tapers quite dramatically, with very little wiggle room. While, to an extent, this is what I’d expect from a race day shoe, my little toe has felt quite squished and I’d prefer a little more room at the top of the toe box in terms of length. So, on reflection, going up half a size could have been beneficial. If you can try before you buy with the Endorphin Elite 2, I’d recommend it.

That said, the bootie style upper is paper thin and creates a fantastic lockdown around the midfoot. I barely had to play around with the lacing system as it was so foot hugging. I opted for a standard knot, but the Endorphin Elite 2 has the same little tab on the top of the tongue as the Pro 4 if you want to use a runner’s knot.

If we’re splitting hairs – which, when we’re talking about a £280 race day shoe, I am – I have to say that the laces feel a little cheap. They’re the kind of things that you’d expect to see on a daily trainer, rather than a top-end racing shoe. Give me minimalist. Give me sawtooth.

Visually, the heel reminds me a bit of the Hoka Cielo X1. There’s no heel counter, which will work well for people with heel sensitives, and since it hasn’t got a lot of give, you’re fairly secure. However, there is a bit of lateral movement which, as I’ll go on to discuss, didn’t give me a great deal of reassurance going round corners.

Rick: Unlike Ali, I found that the shoe fits true to size (I’m a size 9 in most shoes, and I’m a size 9 in this). On my maiden run in the shoe, I experienced some slight rubbing on the inside of my right big toe. However, this has since disappeared, and I experienced no such hotspots on a fairly involved interval session.

The upper is extremely lightweight and almost transparent. Consequently, it’s really breathable – but you wouldn’t want to get caught in a downpour as the shoe is very porous. Then there’s a flat-knit tongue and slightly stretchy laces that manage to be both comfortable yet secure. However, unlike Ali, I found that the laces do require a little bit of work to get that snug, locked-in feel. But maybe that’s down to my narrower foot.

There’s no heel counter – something that will likely be welcomed by runners with heel sensitivities – but I didn’t notice any real negatives to this. However, like Ali says, there is a bit of sideways wobble, due in part to the shoe’s high stack height, which makes cornering at speed a bit of a challenge.

What’s the Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 like to run in?

Rick: The answer to this question is: it depends on how fast you’re running. For me, even by super shoe standards, the Endorphin Elite 2 feels unstable and uncomfortable at slower speeds. However, when you up the pace, as I did on a 4 x 4-minute interval session, the shoe excels. It’s incredibly bouncy and responsive and, afterward, my legs felt noticeably fresher than they should have done.

For me, this makes the Endorphin Elite 2 a shoe that you’d want to reach for on race day and some key sessions – but not something that you’d wear on a weekly long run or even slower tempo efforts.

Ali: I’d echo Rick’s thoughts here. The first super shoes I ever wore were the Nike Vaporfly 2 and I remember how effortless and speedy they made me feel on my first run in them. I got the same feeling running in the Endorphin Elite 2. This is a shoe like no other.

First up, I was expecting the IncrediRun foam to feel quite stiff underfoot, like the original Endorphin Elite, but I was surprised at how squidgy and bouncy it felt. In my experience, bouncy shoes don’t necessarily translate to fast shoes, but that’s not the case at all here. The Endorphin Elite 2 manages to feel super soft and cushioned underfoot (a little like New Balance’s Fresh Foam X), while retaining a great level of responsiveness that makes you just want to just run, and run, and run. The Speedroll technology – a consistent feature throughout Saucony’s Endorphin line, including the original Elite – is pretty aggressive and really does roll you through your stride, too.

Like Rick, my first outing in these was an 8 x 3-minute interval session, in peak week of marathon training, and my legs felt positively fresh afterward. I can see this being a valuable part of a shoe rotation for high mileage runners in that regard.

Here’s the catch, though: this is probably one of the most unstable super shoes that I’ve ever run in. I’m also a heel striker, which makes landing on that soft heel a little precarious to say the least. I find that I have to concentrate quite hard on how I’m running in the shoes, almost actively trying to get up on my toes, which makes me question how these would fair toward the end of a marathon when the fatigue has set in and my form is beginning to crumble. I think a half marathon would probably be the sweet spot for me in the Endorphin Elite 2 – providing there aren’t too many corners.

RW verdict

Rick: If you’re in the market for marginal gains and have the means to invest, then there’s no doubting that the Endorphin Elite 2 delivers in spades. At fast paces, it’s incredibly bouncy and responsive – even by super shoe standards – and spares your legs some of the pounding inherent in high-speed sessions and races.

However, there are a few question marks on the forefoot comfort, while those looking for a versatile super shoe for a variety or distances and paces should probably look elsewhere.

Ali: I have such mixed feelings about the Saucony Endorphin Elite 2. I haven’t tested anything this marmitey since the On Cloudboom Echo 3. On one hand, it’s kind of, well, incredible. The new midsole really is unlike anything else on the market and makes this the softest and bounciest super shoe going. But it’s also one of the most unstable and definitely isn’t one that will suit every runner. In fact, as a heel striker, I know deep down that the Endorphin Elite 2 isn’t the most ideal super shoe for me, especially with all that squidgy goodness coming from the heel – and yet I can’t help but want a slice of it.

All in all, it’s a very unique shoe and one that’s almost difficult to describe without trying it for yourself. Whether or not it’s for you will boil down to whether you can handle that squishy softness and if your ankles are strong enough to handle that instability. Oh, and that small matter of the £280 price tag.

The Endorphin Elite 2 launches on 2 March 2025 at saucony.com.