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The five fastest record-eligible marathons in history have all been run in the last 13 months鈥攁nd they鈥檝e all been run in versions of Nike鈥檚 Vaporfly.
The five fastest record-eligible marathons in history have all been run in the last 13 months鈥攁nd they鈥檝e all been run in versions of Nike鈥檚 Vaporfly. (Photo: Herbert Neubauer/APA/AFP/Getty;)
Sweat Science

A Tale of Two Marathon Records and Nike’s Magic Shoes

The two-hour barrier and the women鈥檚 marathon world record both fell this weekend. The history makers, Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei, have one obvious thing in common.

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The five fastest record-eligible marathons in history have all been run in the last 13 months鈥攁nd they鈥檝e all been run in versions of Nike鈥檚 Vaporfly.
(Photo: Herbert Neubauer/APA/AFP/Getty;)

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The most surprising thing about Eliud Kipchoge鈥檚 barrier-smashing, rule-bending performance in Vienna over the weekend was how unsurprising it actually was. He ran 1:59:40.2 for 26.2 miles, a feat that until a few years ago would have sounded like bad science fiction. But the paradigm had already shifted. The surprise, instead, came the next day in Chicago, when a less heralded Kenyan, Brigid Kosgei, slashed more than a minute off Paula Radcliffe鈥檚 16-year-old marathon world record鈥攁 mark than the two-hour barrier for men.

On an intellectual level, I already understood how far the goal posts have moved. Two years ago, when Kipchoge was preparing for , fans and experts were nearly unanimous in dismissing his chances of even getting close to two hours. This time, all the straw polls and online surveys I saw found that about two thirds of respondents thought he鈥檇 succeed. Kipchoge鈥檚 time of 2:00:25 at Breaking2 showed that he was close, and further refinements in logistics, fueling, drafting, and shoes made the barrier seem eminently possible.

But on a deeper, more intuitive level, I still clung to the notion that the marathon distance had some tricks up its sleeve鈥攖hat just because something was theoretically possible didn鈥檛 mean it was probable or even likely. I woke up in the wee hours of Saturday morning expecting either to see Kipchoge struggle, or, if he didn鈥檛, to relive some of the awe I felt when I watched his Breaking2 performance and his subsequent world record in Berlin last year. Instead, it felt more like watching Simone Biles corkscrewing through the air above the balance beam: you know something could go wrong at any moment, but you also know that it probably won鈥檛. That鈥檚 a testament to Kipchoge鈥檚 totally unprecedented consistency. But there鈥檚 more to it than that.

For those interested in running science, the big question after Breaking2 was how much each of the various refinements and innovations contributed to Kipchoge鈥檚 performance. The two biggest factors, I figured, were the drafting benefits of a swarm of tightly packed pacemakers and the efficiency boost of Nike鈥檚 Vaporfly shoe, which featured a curved carbon fiber plate and a thick layer of ultralight and resilient foam. Other factors like in-race bottles passed from a bicycle and a lack of sharp corners might have contributed a handful of seconds, but weren鈥檛 a big factor. In theory, either drafting or the shoes could have provided several minutes鈥 advantage; in practice, it wasn鈥檛 clear which was more important.

When Kipchoge ran 2:01:39 in Berlin, he ran alone for most of the second half of the race, suggesting that drafting wasn鈥檛 as important as initially thought. Indeed, during the INEOS race in Vienna, Kipchoge kept inexplicably drifting off to the side, out of the slipstream of the pacemaker in front of him,聽without any obvious ill effects. That leaves one obvious candidate. Indeed, as LetsRun鈥檚 Jonathan Gault a few weeks ago, the five fastest record-eligible marathons in history have all been run in the last 13 months鈥攁nd they鈥檝e all been run in versions of Nike鈥檚 Vaporfly.

There was one lingering disconnect in this picture, though. If the Vaporfly was so great, why hadn鈥檛 the women鈥檚 record fallen? Radcliffe鈥檚 record of 2:15:25 had stood since 2003, long before the Vaporfly emerged. The only woman to give it even a hint of a scare, Mary Keitany, was wearing Adidas shoes. So when Kosgei ran 2:14:04 in Chicago, while it was certainly a surprise, it also made perfect sense. There鈥檚 no longer any room for doubt about the massive effects of shoes with carbon fiber plates.

It鈥檚 worth noting that 鈥渢he shoes鈥 aren鈥檛 a stationary target. Breaking2 featured a bespoke version of the original Vaporfly 4%, named for its lab-tested 4 percent (on average) boost in running economy compared to the fastest racing flat offered by either Nike or Adidas. The current model, the Vaporfly Next%, reportedly gives a roughly 5 percent boost, which in theory should shave a couple of minutes from a world-class marathon. Kipchoge was wearing a shoe that Nike has 聽only as 鈥渁 future edition of Nike鈥檚 NEXT% marathon shoe,鈥 but which look substantially different, with a thicker stack and bizarre pods under the forefoot. According to the rumor mill, they will be called the Alphafly, and suggests there are a bunch of new features in there, possibly including multiple carbon fiber plates.

I don鈥檛 want to make too many guesses about what鈥檚 really in the shoes until we know for sure. But frankly, we shouldn鈥檛 have to guess. Last year, the IAAF, track and field鈥檚 international governing body,聽introduced in response to the Vaporfly controversy: 鈥淎ny type of shoe used must be reasonably available to all in the spirit of the universality of athletics. Shoes must not be constructed so as to give athletes any unfair assistance or advantage.鈥 The second part of that rule remains as vague and unhelpful as before, since 鈥渦nfair鈥 is undefined and therefore essentially meaningless. But the first part of the rule is crystal clear.

Kosgei鈥檚 postrace interviews made it sound like she was wearing the same shoe as Kipchoge: 鈥淚 was just 50-50 to use the pink one,鈥 LetsRun quoted her as saying. 鈥淏ut something come in my mind, say that yesterday, Kipchoge run and use the same shoes and the other pacemakers [did too]. Why not me?鈥 In photos of the race, Kosgei鈥檚 shoes actually look more like the commercially available Vaporfly Next%. Let鈥檚 hope that鈥檚 the case, otherwise even the relatively toothless existing rules are being ignored.

Regardless of what Kosgei was wearing this time, it seems highly probable that she鈥檒l be wearing the newest model in next year鈥檚 Olympics. And I鈥檒l confess that the unending complexification of the shoes is starting to wear me down.聽

Ever the since , I鈥檝e been torn about their place in the sport. Instinctively, I thought they should be banned, in keeping with the simplicity of person-against-person competition in running. But I struggled to rationalize why this particular improvement in running shoes was any different from all the previous improvements in shoes and other equipment that separate us from the three-hour marathoners who contested the first modern Olympics.

By far my favorite part of the Vienna broadcast on Saturday morning was the post-race interviews. Kipchoge is an amazingly charismatic guy. He鈥檚 impossible not to like, and despite all the asterisks, his performance there will be remembered for decades. He has put the marathon on front pages around the world in a way that it hasn鈥檛 been for generations. He鈥檚 the only person in the world whose races I鈥檒l get up at 2:00 A.M. to watch, and I鈥檒l keep doing that for as long as he keeps amazing us. But now that he鈥檚 finally checked sub-two off the list, I hope his shoes stop getting faster. And better yet, I hope the IAAF lays down some clear and unambiguous technical rules to make sure they don鈥檛.


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Lead Photo: Herbert Neubauer/APA/AFP/Getty;

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