◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek November 18, 2019
17armsraceforhigh-techsneakers.“Thisis nota lit -
tleadvancementintechnology,thisis a completely
differentanimal,”saysRyanHall,a retiredU.S.dis-
tancerunner.“Physicallyspeaking,it’ssohardfor
eliterunnerstotakeoneminuteofftheirmarathon
time.Tojustputona pairofshoesandbeabletorun
twominutesquicker,that’smind-blowing.”
Nosneakergeneratesmoreenergythana runner
putsintoit.Butseriousrunnershavelongshown
interestinrecoveringmoreoftheforceexerted
ineachstride.Fordecades,shoecompanieshave
workedtoreachmaximumefficiency,producing
manysmallinnovationsanda fewbigones.
Thisnewclassofshoesis a once-in-a-generation
leap,accordingtoengineersandathletes.And
there’sevidenceintheresults.The fivefastest
marathonshavebeenrunintheNikeshoes,a list
thatdoesn’tincludeKipchoge’sclosed-courserun.
They’realsoquicklybecomingpopularforweek-
endrunnerswhocanaffordthe$250pricetag.“It’s
fair,ata highlevel,toearmarkthismomentintime
asa transformationinthedefinitionofa marathon
racingshoe,”saysCarsonCaprara,seniordirectorof
globalfootwearproductatBrooksSportsInc.“Being
abletoseefirsthandtheimpactonathletes,every-
oneis goingtomovequicklyfortheirrunners.”
There’sa lotofmisinformationcirculating
abouttheshoes.Internetsleuthsdugupa recent
NikepatentandspeculatedthatKipchoge’spair
hadthreecarbonfiberplates.(There’sjustone.)
Otherslatchedontothephysicsoftheplate,say-
ingit actsasa spring.Intruth,thefoaminallrun-
ningshoesactsasa spring.Companiescouldput
metalcoilsinsneakers,butthey’reheavierthan
foamandmuchlessstable.
AlthoughNikehasbeenthefaceofthisclassof
runningshoes,it’snotaloneinmakingthem.Hoka
releaseditsown$180carbon-fiber-platedshoesin
May.Brooks’sversion,theHyperionElite,willsell
for$250whenit’sintroducednextyear.Sauconyhas
beenworkingonitslatest,theEndorphinPro,for
morethantwoyears.Therearemanyothers, includ-
ing some prototypes worn by elite runners. “We all
know each other, to an extent,” says Spencer White,
head of the Saucony Human Performance Lab. “It’s
rare that anyone does anything that another com-
pany hasn’t already worked on or thought of.”
But Nike’s deep pockets have helped it stay ahead
of the competition. “Is that really fair?” asks Hall,
who still holds the U.S. half-marathon record he won
wearing Asics shoes. “Kara [Goucher] missed out on
the 2016 Olympic team by one spot; she was 65 sec-
onds back. And they say these shoes make at least
90 seconds’ to two minutes’ difference in a mara-
thon. Should she not have made the Olympic team
because she wasn’t with Nike?”
The International Association of Athletics
Federations, track’s international governing body,
provides only a loose guideline on sneaker tech:
Shoes “must not be constructed so as to give ath-
letes any unfair assistance or advantage.” In the
wake of the controversy over Nike’s shoes, the IAAF
Technical Committee formed a working group of
athletes, scientists, and ethics experts to help clar-
ify the rules. The group is expected to provide its
findings by the end of the year. “It is clear that some
forms of technology would provide an athlete with
assistance that runs contrary to the values of the
sport,”theIAAFsaidina statement.“Thechal-
lengefortheIAAFis tofindtherightbalanceinthe
technical rules between encouraging the develop-
ment and use of new technologies in athletics and
the preservation of the fundamental characteristics
ofthesport:accessibility,universality,andfairness.”
Nikerecentlyshutdowna programforlong-
distance runners after a coach was suspended by
the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Also, a female runner
in the program alleged that an excessive training reg-
imen destroyed her health. Nike has stood behind
the coach and says no runners were implicated in
thecase.It’sinvestigatingthefemalerunner’sclaim.
Runningmaybehavinga momentlikeone
experienced a decade ago in swimming, when
Speedo International Ltd. unveiled a full-body
swimsuit. Imitations quickly popped up, and more
than 100 world records were broken, leading some
to compare wearing the suit to doping. Fédération
Internationale de Natation, swimming’s governing
body, voted overwhelmingly in 2009 to ban the high-
tech suits, imposing restrictions on the materials and
the amount of the body they could cover.
Shoemakers hope the IAAF doesn’t impose strict
limits. That goes for Nike, which did $40 billion in
sales last year, and much smaller companies such
as Brooks, which reported a record $644 million in
global revenue in 2018. They’re largely unencum-
bered by IAAF restrictions and want to be able to
keep improving shoes with the newest technology.
Asitssmallerrivalsrushtomatchwhat’salready
onthemarket,Nikeis pushingtofindthenextmajor
innovation.“We’renotinthebusinessofchanging
rules, we’re in the business of helping athletes find
their greatness,” says Chief Design Officer John
Hoke. “If the athletes that we work with are able
to do feats that are unique to them and pushes
their own personal best, then we’ve done our job.”
�EbenNovy-WilliamsTHE BOTTOM LINE The five fastest marathon times were set by
runners wearing shoes containing Nike’s Vaporfly technology. The
sport’s ruling body is studying the fairness of the souped-up kicks.● Shoes worn during
thefastestofficial
marathonsofalltime
●NikeVaporfly
●OtherNike
●AdidasMen’s
E.Kipchoge 2:01:
2018 ●
K.Bekele 2:01:
2019 ●
E.Kipchoge 2:02:
2019 ●
B.Legese 2:02:
2019 ●
M.Geremew 2:02:
2019 ●
Women’s
B.Kosgei 2:14:
2019 ●
P. Radcliffe 2:15:
2003 ●
M.Keitany 2:17:
2017 ●
R.Chepngetich 2:17:
2019 ●
P. Radcliffe 2:17:
2002 ●