The shoe that went sub-2: The science of super shoes with Dr. Shalaya Kipp

About this episode

The episode explores the impact of super shoes on marathon performance, featuring insights from exercise physiologist Dr. Shalaya Kipp.

Every sport has had its watershed moment when a new technology upends the landscape and redefines what’s possible. Baseball had torpedo bats, swimming the Lazer swimsuits, road cycling the introduction of aerodynamic carbon frames and in running we are living through an era defined by what were first, and best, described as “super shoes.” For the last decade, the shoe industry has gone into overdrive to create shoes capable of blending impossible lightness with unbelievable energy return. The holy grail sought by shoe designers in this footwear arms race: crafting the pair of shoes that would propel the first man in history to a sub 2-hour marathon performance. As of Sunday, we are now officially living in the new sub-2 era, as not one, but two men, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, tore down the two-hour marathon barrier at last weekend’s London Marathon. While every factor imaginable aligned perfectly for these two men to take the sport somewhere no one has gone before, one factor in particular has drawn the lion's share of attention: the shoes. Both Sawe and Kejelcha ran in the just-released adidas Adios Pro Evo 3, a shoe touted as the lightest, fastest…

People in this episode

Host: David Stol

Guest: Dr. Shalaya Kipp

Topics covered

• super shoes
• marathon performance
• running technology
• exercise physiology
• sports innovation

Keywords

• super shoes
• marathon
• Dr. Shalaya Kipp
• adidas
• Adios Pro Evo 3

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: adidas

Products: Adios Pro Evo 3

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