London Marathon commentators’ voices were hitting Pavarotti-esque highs yesterday with the excitement of seeing not one, but two world records fall. It was nearly three; Yomif Kejelcha would have broken a World Record if the man immediately in front of him hadn’t just set a new one.
Of the 6 sets of shoes on the podium, the two top men were in Adidas Adios Pro Evo 3 while Kiplimo was third in a Nike developmental shoe. For the women, Assefa also won in the same Adidas shoe as the men, while developmental shoes from On and Asics helped Obiri and Jepkosgei to second and third respectively.
On Running’s narrative over the past year has been firmly about its tech credentials and with Sunday’s result, that claim now looks credible.
Asics has gone about things less vocally but doubtless the team in Kobe were high-fiving each other yesterday. Conversely (no pun intended) the folk at Nike were probably less delighted with the same result; Marathon podiums used to be Nike house parties.
A decade ago, Nike learned the hard way that falling behind on innovation hurts. It then conjured up the magnificent Vaporfly, which did a lot for race times and very exciting things to Nikes stock prices.
As far as footwear goes, the elite side of the London Marathon is more runway than retail; regardless of the brand, these are not the shoes you and I are able to access readily and the ones that are available retail at $500+.
Given the times and the tech, is the front of the marathon less a competition between athletes than the shoe boffins at big brands? Are World Records now as much about tech as lungs and legs? This is an ongoing topic but for now, the Devil may wear Prada but winners wear Adidas.
No comment yet, add your voice below!