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November 25, 2012

KINVARA 3: Float like a butterfly, finish like a bee!



Christmas is early in our home. Even before the All Souls Day holiday break, we already had a Christmas tree up in our living room.  And one early morning, I woke up to see a pair of  Kinvara 3  hanging with the silver balls on the tree. Who is it from? Could  it be from good old S.C. – Saucony Claus?  Ho ho ho ho......

  
Kinvara 3 on the Christmas Tree

Fantabulous! I love Christmas.

Like this holiday season, there is so much to love about the Kinvara and its 3rd  edition.  

Saucony’s breakthrough minimalist model undergoes a reboot that incorporates seamless upper construction, newly-configured outsole design, and all of the lightweight support that made the shoe a hit in its last two incarnations. The “Best Debut” winner from Runner’s World boasts a new and intuitive design while retaining all of the features that made the Kinvara 1 and 2 huge successes in the minimalist market.

Here is a list from the running warehouse blog  of   what punch is packed in the Kinvara 3:

More Durable Sole: Saucony heard the feedback about the durability of prior Kinvara models and responded by adding XT-900 rubber where it counts. Added rubber on the lateral midfoot and forefoot means you can expect more mileage out of your Kinvara 3s compared to previous pairs.

Same Heel-to-Toe Drop: Though many other Saucony models are lowering their offsets, 4mm is still the name of the game for the Kinvara. You know it, you love it, and Saucony didn’t mess with it.

Smoother Transition: Already known for its flexible, light, and comfortable midsole, the Kinvara series is now designed to move with your foot even better thanks to a de-coupled and beveled heel, along with added flex grooves in the heel. While the Kinvara remains geared toward a midfoot strike, these updates make the shoe a little more welcoming for heel strikers as well.

Still Lightweight: Official weights from Saucony are 7.7 oz (Men’s size 9) and 6.7 oz (Women’s size 8). 

Redesigned Upper: Look for a streamlined upper with improved fit thanks to the use of FlexFilm™, a thin material bonded to the upper to secure your foot to the sole a little better throughout your gait.

Widths Now Available: For those of you with a wider foot, Saucony is producing 2E widths in the Men’s version and D widths in the Women’s version.

It is light. Period.

More durable sole
What the guys at running warehouse blog failed to include in their list is the variety of adorable colors the Kinvara 3 is coming out.  Surely, after looking at the picture below, we will agree that the Kinvara 3 is one colourful dude and dudette. As of the latest count, 6 colors each for both the Men’s and Women’s versions.  The color schemes of the Kinvara 3 are a combination of blue, red, gray, black, citron and a couple more colors I can’t even identify. 

12 days of Kinvara 3 Christmas

So much screaming color, just like the great Muhammad Ali.  Yup, the Kinvara 3 reminds me of old Cassius Clay.  And not just because of the abundance of color but also because of the idea that like Ali, the Kinvara was able to combine the power of 2 seemingly opposite attributes. In the case of Ali, he combined brute force with graceful ballet.  On the part of the Kinvara, it is a fusion of minimalist style and cushioning substance.To quote the guy from www.runblogger.com, it "...has many of the alluring characteristics of a minimalist shoe (so much hyped these days)  but still possesses some of the important creature comforts of the familiar, high-tech,  big-heeled shoes that most runners have run in for the past 20-30 years....It deviates from most modern shoes in that it’s very light and has a low heel to toe drop (4mm), but it retains a hefty degree of cushion and it provides a very cushy ride."
 
Now, let me add another discussion point about this running shoe.  
 
Where did the name “Kinvara” come from? 
Using google, the results I found point to a sea port village located in the south of County Galway, Ireland. This village is named Kinvara and is noteworthy for it is the location of Dunguaire Castle of the old Hynes Clan,  now an iconic Irish landmark.  It is a lovely sight to behold.  

Dunguaire Castle
Now how did an idyllic Irish village get its name associated with a Saucony running shoes? I look at some articles (http://www.runblogger.com/2011/10/saucony-to-abandon-12mm-lift-model-big.html) about  Saucony and its shoe design philosophy and there I see the names  Pat  O’Malley (Head of Footwear) and Chris Mahoney (Senior Designer). These are Irish family names.  The conjencture can be  made.

There we have it. The Saucony Kinvara could have been named after a beautiful Irish village by the sea. All the Kinvaras are beautiful but they pack a running punch just like Muhammad Ali. I could just imagine myself enjoying the Kinvara 3 on a fabulous run where the effort is seemingly gliding which in turn keeps me fresh so that I can have a stinging finish.  

Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. 

Floating like a butterfly
     

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