Runners worldwide were astonished as Sabastian Sawe shattered the two-hour barrier at the London Marathon yesterday. The Kenyan athlete completed the 26.2-mile course in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds, finishing over a minute faster than the previous record.
The Secret Behind Sawe's Success: His Shoes
During the race, Sawe wore adidas' latest 'super shoe', the ADIZERO Adios Pro Evo 3, one of the lightest racing shoes ever created. Weighing just 99 grams, this is adidas' first sub-100g running shoe. Despite its hefty price tag of £450, the shoe is designed to be worn only once.
Patrick Nava, General Manager at adidas Running, expressed pride in Sawe's achievement: 'The adidas family is incredibly proud of Sabastian and Tigist's historic achievements, marking the fastest times humans have ever run in a marathon. This is a testament to the years of hard work and dedication they have made, alongside our innovation team, who have built a supershoe which breaks new ground in the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3.'
Innovation Behind the Super Shoe
The Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 was unveiled on 23 April, just days before the London Marathon, and is the culmination of three years of research. Its predecessor, the Evo 2, weighed 138g, but adidas managed to shave off an impressive 39g for the new model.
Stephan Scholten, VP Product at adidas, explained: 'Our goal was two digits on the scale, with better performance than we've ever had.' To achieve this, adidas developed its lightest foam yet, called Lightstrike Pro Evo foam, which maximises cushioning, propulsion, and energy return. A carbon-integrated system ensures the shoe remains stiff for stability. Adidas stated: 'This unique interplay of foam and carbon redefines energy return, propulsion and efficiency in a supershoe.'
To further reduce weight, the company stripped back almost every component on the shoe's surface. 'Even the smallest components – from laces to stitching – have been obsessively refined to deliver marginal gains that make the difference on race day,' adidas noted.
Key Specifications
- Price: £450
- Weight: 99g
- Thickness: 39mm
- Colour: Cloud White / Core Black / Solar Turbo
- Materials: Lightstrike Pro Evo foam combined with carbon-fibre elements and a rubber sole
The outsole features strategically placed rubber in the forefoot to provide reliable traction at high speeds without adding excessive weight.
Mr. Nava elaborated on the development process: 'Creating the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 pushed us to think differently from the very start. We weren't just trying to improve on what we'd done before, we wanted to see how far we could go. We went through more than a dozen iterations, working closely with our athletes and testing everywhere from our labs in Herzogenaurach to high-altitude camps in Kenya and Ethiopia. At that level, every detail really matters – we were measuring things down to the nearest nanogram. It was a long process, but it's led to something we believe genuinely changes what a race-day shoe can feel like.'
Sawe Credits Innovation
After breaking the two-hour barrier, Sawe acknowledged the role of innovation: 'To break the world record is something I have dreamed about for a long time, and to achieve it means so much to me and to the sport of running. It reflects the hard work behind the scenes, the support of my team, and the role of innovation in helping me push beyond limits. I'm honoured to be part of a new chapter for the sport.'
Technological Doping Debate Reignited
Despite the shoe's 39mm thickness (just below the 40mm limit set by World Athletics for road races), its success is likely to reignite the debate over 'technological doping' in the running community. This controversy first emerged in 2016 with Nike's £240 Vaporfly shoes. During the 2016 Olympic marathon in Rio, all three male medallists wore a prototype of the trainer, and the technology extended to track races from 2018.
Experts predict the shoe improved running economy by four per cent for highly trained runners compared to a normal shoe, boosting performance by three per cent. Professor Yannis Pitsiladis of the International Olympic Committee commented: 'The same shoe gives you a massive variability among different athletes — even greater than 10 per cent in some cases. How you respond to the shoe can determine if you're going to be an Olympian or watch it on TV.' He noted that athletes qualified because they had access to a super shoe, while those without often failed to qualify.
Since 2016, the top 50 male marathon runners have improved by about two per cent on average, much of which is attributed to the carbon fibre plate. Similar technology was transferred to track spikes in 2019, leading to numerous middle- and long-distance records falling. Regulations introduced in January 2020 limited sole thickness for track spikes: 20mm for up to 400m races and 25mm for longer distances. However, experts argue these rules are too lenient and call for stricter limits to prevent air pods from being inserted into spikes.
