Race-Tested at the Worthing 10K: Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 and Suunto Spark

Introduction

Sometimes the best way to judge running gear is to give it a proper job. Both products in this roundup got exactly that: a full, windy 10K race on the south coast of England. One delivered a genuinely strong race-day performance, while the other showed real promise that fell short in the conditions that matter most. Here is how they stacked up, and who each one actually suits.

The Race Setting

The test venue was a flat, fast 10K that runs along a seafront promenade before looping through a park section and back. On a calm day it is the kind of course people travel for in search of a personal best, and running clubs regularly make the trip from London for it. organisation is simple and solid, with baggage and logistics set up on the seafront and plenty of coffee shops nearby.

The catch: race day was relentlessly windy, which made it a far harsher test than usual. Heavy headwinds, a packed field, and loud spectators turned this into a genuine stress test for anything you carry or wear, including how much you can hear through a pair of open-ear headphones mid-race.

Saucony Endorphin Elite 3

The Endorphin Elite line has built a reputation on a soft, aggressive ride, and the third version keeps that identity while addressing the main weakness of its predecessor. Where the Elite 2 was famously unstable despite being soft and bouncy, the Elite 3 adds a modest dose of stability without losing the magic. If you liked the Elite 2, this one is very close, just a little more planted, and in our experience slightly more enjoyable overall.

On the road, the midsole feels like one of the softest foams available. Some runners will bounce straight off it, since if you genuinely dislike soft shoes or you need real stability, this is not your shoe. But if a squishy, high-energy ride is what you want, the return is excellent: the footfall feels smooth going in and coming out, with no sense that the foam is eating your effort.

After a couple of parkruns and now a full 10K race, this is currently our pick for the best race shoe at this speed and training level. That could change as training ramps up toward faster race pace, but as a soft, bouncy, comfortable all-rounder for race day, it earns a clear thumbs up. It also comes with history: a half marathon personal best of around 1:22 was set in the original Elite, though that first version was distinctly uncomfortable on tired feet by the end. The Elite 3 feels like the most complete version so far.

Suunto Spark

The Suunto Spark is an open-ear sports headphone with small speakers that point toward your ears, rather than a bone conduction design. The idea is sound: you keep full awareness of traffic, crowds, and your surroundings while listening on the run, which is exactly what you want in a race. The build looks good, the app works well, and Bluetooth pairing is reliable.

In practice, though, the Spark ran into two problems. First, volume: compared with other open-ear options like the Shokz Open Fit 2 and Open Fit 2 Plus, the Spark felt noticeably quieter. Music was manageable, but a podcast was a struggle even on quiet streets near home, and on a windy racecourse with crowds and cheering, it was barely possible to hear anything at all. No settings change seemed to fix it.

Second, controls. The button controls feel limited and inconsistent, with presses not always registering, and there appears to be no way to adjust volume from the headphones themselves, which is an obvious worry mid-run if you do not want to pull out your phone. If maximum volume and easy on-the-move control matter to you, other open-ear options currently handle both better. This may improve with more use, and a second race test is planned, but after a windy 10K it is hard to call this a win.

Verdict After the Race

The result of the test race itself, a 40:39 into a headwind, sits as a solid benchmark rather than a statement, with the aim of getting back toward a 37-minute 10K and a target sub-3 marathon in Frankfurt later in the year. But the gear verdict is clearer than the clock was.

The Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 is the standout: a soft, bouncy race shoe that finally pairs its aggressive ride with just enough stability, and one we would happily recommend to runners who like that feel. The Suunto Spark is the more difficult call: a well-made, good-looking open-ear headphone whose quiet output and limited controls hold it back, especially in the noisy, windy conditions where you most need it. If you want open-ear audio for racing, compare the volume and controls against alternatives before committing.

Conclusion

Race-day testing separates marketing from reality, and at the Worthing 10K it did exactly that. The Endorphin Elite 3 confirmed its place as a favourite race shoe for soft-ride fans, while the Spark showed that awareness-focused headphones still need to win on basic volume and usability. Choose the shoe if a bouncy, stable super shoe fits your pace goals; approach the headphones with your expectations calibrated for quieter runs rather than crowded races.