Saucony

THE PRESENT-DAY SAUCONY is actually a blend of two centuryold companies.

The first: The Saucony Shoe Manufacturing Company, which debuted in 1898, two years after the first Olympic marathon and one year after the inaugural Boston Marathon. The Pennsylvania-based company launched its first track spike, a lightweight option made of kangaroo leather, in 1958 and was producing running shoes by the late 1960s.

Around the same time of Saucony’s 19th century founding, a Russian immigrant cobbler named Abraham Hyde opened a shoe store in Cambridge, MA, manufacturing and selling “carpet slippers” made from rug remnants. By 1940, Hyde’s footwear line had grown to include baseball shoes, roller boots and bowling shoes. During the 1960s, Hyde’s company also produced footwear for NASA astronauts on the Apollo 7 mission, the first manned flight in NASA’s Apollo program.

In 1968, Hyde acquired the Saucony Shoe Manufacturing Company and relocated the footwear brand to Cambridge. A decade later, on the heels of America’s first running boom spurred by Frank Shorter’s marathon gold at the 1972 Olympics, Saucony began building its reputation as a leading footwear brand.

The 1980s saw Saucony release the first slip-lasted running shoe (the Trainer 80), introduce the Jazz (a highly technical model that endures today as the centerpiece of the Saucony Originals Collection) and earn international credibility when New Zealand’s Rod Dixon won the 1983 New

York City Marathon wearing Saucony kicks.

The 1991 release of GRID (Ground Reaction Inertia Device technology) – a system that combined crisscrossing strings of DuPont-sourced Hytrel with a concave TPU sphere for cushioning and stability

– accelerated Saucony’s momentum. GRID, a visible technology akin to a tennis racket, became the foundation of Saucony’s product line. (It is also the inspiration for the PWRGRID+ cushioning systems blanketing the brand’s contemporary footwear lineup.)

In the first years of the 21st century, Saucony solidified its performance run lineup with now-ubiquitous model names like the Hurricane, Triumph, Ride, Guide and Omni. The innovations kept coming with heralded models like the Kinvara and Peregrine and, more recently, the boundarypushing Endorphin Collection.

Saucony chief marketing officer Kathryn Pratt describes Saucony’s 125th anniversary as a “unique opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the past and to celebrate our relentless dedication to inspiring and enabling people to live a better life.”

“We have a strong product offering, a passionate team and an unrivaled commitment to the transformational power of running,” Pratt says.

Saucony Fast Fact: The Saucony name comes from the Saucony (now Sacony) Creek located near the company’s original Kutztown, PA, home. The company’s logo, meanwhile, represents water flowing around three distinct boulders symbolizing the brand’s core pillars: heritage, innovation and design.