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Friday, January 06, 2012

Record breaking Marathon shoes...

So what exactly do record breaking shoes look like? This is a picture of Kenyan Patrick Makau after winning the 2011 Berlin Marathon last September in a record time of 2:03:38. The red-orange and yellow shoes he was wearing were AdiZero Adios from Adidas. The same type of shoe was worn by Geoffrey Mutai when he won the 2011 Boston Marathon and by the great Haile Gebrselassie when he set his Marathon record in Berlin back in 2008.

I came across an article today with photos of the shoe as shown below. When I went looking for prices, I expected to find something in the range of several hundred Euro..........a bit like the Chanel ones ;o) 
I thought surely they must be so specialised that they are really expensive but no, they can be bought for about €80-€90, much the same as plenty of other running shoe. I should point out however that these are racing shoes as opposed to the more usual shoes used for training. Still though, it seems strange that the ordinary runner can use the exact same type of shoe for races as the fastest Marathon runners in the world. Perhaps it brings home the point that you really don't need to spend huge amounts of money to get started in running. Spend the money on a good pair of runners and everything else is optional.
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5 comments:

  1. Anonymous6/1/12 1:46 pm

    Was wondering what the theory is behind using racing shoes for long distance? Is it just that you're lighter on your feet? I thought people mainly use them for the faster races....

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  2. Anonymous6/1/12 3:27 pm

    does the fact that they are racing shoes mean that they wouldn't last that long?

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  3. Anonymous6/1/12 6:20 pm

    And do wearing racing shoes for racing cause any problems regarding injuries since changing from your normal trainer?

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  4. John Desmond7/1/12 10:07 am

    The main advantage of racing shoes is the weight. The lighter your shoe, the easier it is to lift your foot. They are used for all distances including 5k's, not just long distances.

    If you are only wearing them for races then they should last a long time.

    Some people don't like them over the longer distances because there isn't as much cushioning as a normal training shoe.

    People starting out should buy the usual training shoes and after a few races, they can consider the option of buying racing shoes.

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  5. Anonymous7/1/12 1:55 pm

    Just to add to Johns comment. Be sure you are well used to running long distace in racing shoes. Dont just buy them a few weeks before a marathon and expect to be able to run it having only worn them for a few miles...I did this...it did not go well....they are light, this means zero cushioning, after 10 miles of no cushion you start to feel it. After 20 miles your feets are like two bleeding stumps. Then it starts to get really tough... :-)

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