A reader (thanks Tom!) just passed me a link to an impressive piece of work posted on Sneaker Report. They put together a photo montage of the first 100 shoes to pass by at yesterday’s New York City Marathon. I tend to be a fan of racing flats, so many of my favorite shoes are well represented, and Nike and adidas seem to take top honors in terms of frequency of appearance (the adidas adios Boost and Nike Zoom Streak appear quite often). However, much to my surprise, there were no sightings of the adidas Springblade.
For a few examples, here’s men’s winner Geoffrey Mutai in the adidas Adios Boost (photo via Sneaker Report).
And here’s Meb Keflezighi in the Skechers GoRun Speed 2 (photo via Sneaker Report):
Check out the full suite of photos here on Sneaker Report.
About Peter Larson
no springblade??
thank goodness lol
cringe every time i see it, ugly in more ways than one
What, no Adidas Spingblade? (lol)
Offhand though, I think a casual survey like this says more about which shoe company can afford to sponsor more elite athletes than anything about who makes the “best” shoes.
EDIT: Hah! Cody R. and I made the same joke.
I would agree :)
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Pete Larson’s Web Links:
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Ah, re-reading my comment, it might seem like I was suggesting that your post was making a causal connection between shoe type and finish place. Not my intent at all. I can easily see how the “it’s all about the shoes” contingent of the readership of a fashion-focused sneaker site like the Sneaker Report might come away with that (ill-formed) conclusion, though.
I didn’t take it that way at all, no worries!
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Pete Larson’s Web Links:
-Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy<http: about-us=”” dr-peter-larson=”” performancehealthnh.com=””>
-My book: Tread Lightly: http://ow.ly/bdUO0
-Blog: https://runblogger.com
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two great minds think alike man lol
and yea, sponsors too
I couldn’t agree more!
Here is a picture of Abebe Bikila using his springblades.
Or maybe mistaken for circa 1964 Onitsuka Tigers…
Totally off topic, but does anyone know what the orange tags on the shoes are? They remind me of the old “D-Tags” they used to use for race timing, but these seem to be on both shoes, in all of the pictures I looked at.
In elite races and many cross country races, the competitors are required to wear a timing chip on each shoe as a fail-safe procedure.
I thought this quite interesting.
In the end, do these top runners actually choose their shoe, or is this a sponsor decision?
Or maybe they are given 2-3 shoes by the sponsor to choose from?
And, as long as it is light weight, at this level does the shoe choice really matter that much?
I’m sure they have a choice of any shoe made by a particular sponsor. Not sure if there are incentives to get them in particular shoes or not.
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Pete Larson’s Web Links:
-Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy<http: about-us=”” dr-peter-larson=”” performancehealthnh.com=””>
-My book: Tread Lightly: http://ow.ly/bdUO0
-Blog: https://runblogger.com
-Twitter: http://twitter.com/Runblogger
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They could be given a budget to freely choose or they could have been given a specific model by their sponsor. And as you say, incentives could be in play. The best of the best have their shoes custom made even if they may look like off-the-shelf product.
I was talking with some of the top women at the LA 1/2 marathon 2 weeks back that were sponsored by Adidas. They said they didn’t like racing in the Energy Boost but were big fans of the Adios Boost…
So is the Adios Boost available in the US? I happen to be in another country right now and found them here and am wondering if I should buy them. If they won’t be available in the US for a while, I might.
They are out. Running Warehouse had them, but they seem to be gone now in men’s. Road Runner Sports has them in stock.
—-
Pete Larson’s Web Links:
-Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy<http: about-us=”” dr-peter-larson=”” performancehealthnh.com=””>
-My book: Tread Lightly: http://ow.ly/bdUO0
-Blog: https://runblogger.com
-Twitter: http://twitter.com/Runblogger
-Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Runbl…
-Discussion Forum: https://runblogger.com/forum</http:>
Ah, OK. Yeah, didn’t see them at RW.
Broke down and got a pair. I’m thinking maybe slightly more cushion and higher drop might be a good thing for longer races, instead of the flats I’ve been using.
How is the fit in the toebox? The regular adios is a bit pointy.
Sent from my iPad
They feel GOOD :) They also had the regular adios. I didn’t try them on, but looking at the two shoes side by side, the boost looks roomier. Gonna go for a run after I take a break from eating long enough to let my stomach finally empty out a bit.
You just need a roomier stomach :)
—-
Pete Larson’s Web Links:
-Performance Health Spine and Sport Therapy<http: about-us=”” dr-peter-larson=”” performancehealthnh.com=””>
-My book: Tread Lightly: http://ow.ly/bdUO0
-Blog: https://runblogger.com
-Twitter: http://twitter.com/Runblogger
-Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Runbl…
-Discussion Forum: https://runblogger.com/forum</http:>
Haha!
btw, they’re the same size as my 2011 Distance, and fit about the same. I’m pretty excited about this shoe…
Looks like quite a few course records are made in Boost shoes after all. Maybe it’s a gimmick, but it clearly doesn’t seem to degrade performance. ;)