ROSS TUCKER: Nike reveals ultimate running shoe - but should it be legal?
'A curved carbon fibre plate inserted into the midsole and a new cushioning material are said to return 13% more energy than conventional shoes and lower the oxygen demands of the runner by 4%'
EVER since Nike announced a campaign to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon in December last year, it was inevitable that a shoe would be central to the attempt. Short of running the marathon downhill with a giant fan blowing the runners along from behind, shoe technology was the only way the two minutes and 57 seconds needed to break two hours would be found. Confirmation came last week when Nike revealed the specially designed shoe that will be used in the attempt. Two months ago, I wrote that in order to achieve the sub two-hour goal, Nike would need to go beyond incremental advances and find something profound, revolutionary. This would have to involve a shoe that functioned like a spring, giving the runner a significant increase in energy return on every stride. That shoe now has a name — the Nike Zoom Vaporfly Elite. A combination of a curved carbon fibre plate inserted into the midsole and a new cushioning material are said to return 13% more energy than conventional s...
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