Last week I put up a short post about a new minimalist shoe that Saucony currently has in development. The Saucony Hattori is a 4.4 oz, zero-heel-lift shoe that represents one of the first forays by one of the big shoe manufacturers into the zero-drop market. Shortly after publishing my post, I received an email from one of the wear-test coordinators at Saucony indicating that they are currently in search of wear testers for this shoe. Sadly, my foot doesn’t meet their size requirements, so I offered to post a request for them – here’s the info that they provided:
Saucony is looking to recruit wear testers for the new Hattori and other future minimalist styles. We are looking for runners who wear a Men’s size 9 and/or a Women’s size 8 and who can put consistent miles (25+ miles a week) on a pair over the course of 6 weeks. If you are interested please send your shoe size, current shoe and miles per week to Weartest@saucony.com
This would be a great chance to provide feedback on what could potentially be a game changing shoe, and I’m very encouraged to see one of the major shoe manufacturers going zero-drop. Compared to their competitors, Saucony seems to be a bit more willing to take a risk, and in my mind that is a good thing.
Here’s a picture of the Saucony Hattori from Runner’s World UK:
About Peter Larson
Thank you Pete. I just sent off my request. Which shoes are currently in your running rotation? Keep up the great work!
Scott
Thanks Pete… I sent off my requet too. If I am selected, I will give you my feedback as well.
Gilles
What a pity!!! It is not available for Canadian Runner!!!! thanks anyway Pete!
Thanks Pete, I also sent in my request for wear testing!
Charlie
Oh MAN!!!! Couldn’t they have stretched that to 10.5? :^)
Seriously! I’m dying to try these things out.
Sign me up for this PETE!!!
Do they send it to Brazil? Just kidding. Anyway, it is not my size :-( But a Saucony zero drop is a dream…
The shoe looks like a minimalist shoe should look like. It’s a great pity that you can’t test this one. I love your test reports.
Women’s size 8? Bummer. I’ll bet this will make a great supplemental shoe to run in to my Bikilas.
Thanks Pete – Just got accepted! I will send you the feedback.
You all are killing me, I want to try these shoes! Oh well, guess I can
wait…
Pete
Dang ! I think they need some valuable feedback from those of us cursed with size 13’s !
I was accepted as well. I bet Pete almost had the email system at Saucony shut down with all the activity his blog created this morning. I’ll send the feedback as well.
You are the man Pete! Thanks for sharing. I take back the bad things I mumbled about you getting all the shoes to try because of your great blog.
Scott
Just trying to spread the love!
Pete
These look great! The size would fit me, but I’d probably hurt myself if I tried running 25+ miles a week in a minimalist shoe, so I won’t submit myself as a tester. Sure does make me excited about the future product, though.
These look amazing! I submitted a request to test them out.
Note to Saucony: The average shoe size for American men is 10.5. My 15 year old son wears a size 9.
Just curious, how long did it take you guys to get your acceptance emails
It was pretty quick – a couple of hours.
Chris, I’m with Michael…about a couple of hours. A Soucony rep emailed me back right away. They wanted us to fill out an app and a waiver and email back to them. Once the rep received that then received an email back stating we were in and what the test consisted of. Unfortunately, the shoes have to be returned at the end of the test.
my application got rejected since I live in Asia. :( oh well….
These look like great shoes! To bad my feet are too big:(
Pete,
Do you know if you will receive a pair of hattoris to test in advance before they hit the market and have time to give us a review before they are available in early May?
Working on it, but not sure yet.
Pete
Thank you Your blog is great.