FITNESS
RECORD-BREAKING
RUNNING SHOES
Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next%
In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge ran 26.2 miles in 1:59:40, becoming
the first human to run a sub-two-hour marathon. His
not-so-secret weapon: a pair of high-tech kicks, the Nike
Air Zoom Alphafly Next% ($275). The shoes have air-filled
pods that help return some 90% of the energy an athlete
exerts. “We think of the airbag almost as a battery—when
your foot lands and pushes down on it, it stores that energy
and then it returns more of it to you than we could do with
foam,” says Nike senior footwear innovator Carrie Dimoff.
—JESSE WILL