Before the shoe's release, Eliud Kipchoge wore the Vaporfly while attempting to run a marathon in less than two hours, in 2017's Breaking2 Project. He eventually succeeded two years later in the Alphafly Next%, the Vaporfly's beefed-up, controversial descendant.
It takes a superhuman like Kipchoge to break what was once thought an impossible barrier, but stats show the average runner can also benefit from running in super-shoes. In 2019, Strava data showed runners ran 4 to 5 percent faster in the Vaporfly or Next% compared to runners wearing an average running shoe.
Trailing Nike, other brands dove in, releasing their own rendition of super-shoes, adding a smidge of original flavour (e.g. Saucony's Speedroll tech; the decoupled midsole on the Puma Fast-R). But there are two common denominators these models share: a responsive midsole foam and a carbon-fibre plate.
The midsole foam is usually made from a polyether block amide thermoplastic (also known as Peba, or the Arkema-trademarked Pebax). Examples include Nike's ZoomX, Puma's Nitro Elite, and Saucony's PwrrunPB. Compared with standard foam (EVA), Peba is lighter, more compliant, and more resilient.
"Typically, foams act as a cushioning ingredient and plates act as a stiffening ingredient," said Rebekah Broe, director of product and performance footwear at Hoka, on a video call.
The plate limits flexibility, acting as a propulsion agent in the gait cycle. It works in harmony with the responsive foam sandwiching it, thus delivering even higher energy return as you run.
This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of Runner's World SA.
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This story is from the September/October 2022 edition of Runner's World SA.
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