Best New Balance Shoes Nike The 10 Best Running Shoes for Women from a recent New York Times report that shows this is one shoe that seems to live up to its claim of making you a faster runner.
In the past year, I have logged miles in probably 15 to 20 pairs of shoes—it’s not something I regularly keep track of—and I have favorites that stand out from the pack.
I enjoy my Gwen Jorgensen, a runner for Nike-sponsored Bowerman Track Club, has a for track workouts, the Altra Escalante helped me break my 5K PR last fall by several seconds, and my marathon shoes of choice for the past two years have been the A Part of Hearst Digital Media. Because I’ve been fortunate to test so many shoes since joining Runner’s World in 2014, I feel like I can run in pretty much any pair without it leading to catastrophic injury. (Knock on wood.)
For me, there’s a lot of fun in trying different things and making them work for the given situation. But I have not donned the shoes that since early 2017 have made the claim to make the average runner use 4 percent less energy—thus running faster. I’ve certainly followed the story of the Vaporflys since their inception, though. Through working here, I heard about the R&D being put into the shoe as we followed along with Nike’s quest to break the 2-hour marathon barrier. Before it was announced publicly, I knew about the shoe’s Download Your Training Plan that runs from heel to toe—critics think it provides a “spring-like” effect. The ZoomX midsole foam delivers 80 percent energy return in the heel, according to our tests at the RW Shoe Lab. That was the highest score we’ve ever measured.
The Best Carbon Plate Shoes for Speedy Runners Cut out beer and crappy food free. Galen Rupp Shoes & Gear. Shalane won the New York City Marathon in them. that we’ve been reporting on for more than a year at track spike that’s just like it.
It all did make me wonder whether I really should try the shoes. In the last marathon I “raced” in 2017, had I been 4 percent faster, I wouldn’t have just missed qualifying for my first-ever Boston Marathon.
And with that shows this is one shoe that seems to live up to its claim of making you a faster runner impressive data dive by Kevin Quealy and Josh Katz into the Vaporflys and how they’ve performed in real-world races on regular runners, it’s going to make people wonder even more whether they need to shell out $250 for a pair of shoes.
The Times piece is a lovely wormhole of information that any runner can spend time with, even if you’re like me and have been The Best Running Shoes for Men that we’ve been reporting on for more than a year at Runner’s World.
Their data comes from thousands of marathon and half-marathon results uploaded to Strava, along with the shoe that the person was wearing. Seeing results outside of a lab was striking, showing the 4 percent claim to be rock solid:
“We found that the difference was not explained by faster runners choosing to wear the shoes, by runners choosing to wear them in easier races or by runners switching to Vaporflys after running more training miles. Instead, the analysis suggests that, in a race between two marathoners of the same ability, a runner wearing Vaporflys would have a real advantage over a competitor not wearing them.”
While the data isn’t perfect—everything is self-reported on Strava, and these weren’t randomized, controlled trials—at least the Times CA Notice at Collection.
Strength Training Guide Runner’s World office, and a lot of it between myself and our Runner-in-Chief (and shoe guru) Jeff Dengate. He’s actually run in the shoes, unlike me.
“Yes, the Vaporfly is that fast. You can read all you want on studies that show a 4 percent improvement in economy—even our own testing at the Runner’s World Shoe Lab couldn’t raise any red flags with Nike’s claims—but you truly must get these shoes on your feet to appreciate how they perform,” he told me.
“In 30 years of running, I’ve never experienced anything like these,” Jeff said. “And that’s saying something, considering I’ve run in 672 different pairs of shoes since 2010.” He liked them so much, he bought two extra pairs.
Jeff then mentioned something he wrote in his training log after first trying the shoes. It made me realize there’s something else that’s been a mental block keeping me from wanting to train and race in the Vaporflys.
After the first race wearing the Vaporfly 4%, he remembered finishing far faster than his training would indicate. He recalled a huge smile on his face, turning to a buddy in the chute, and saying “these things are like cheating.”
I won’t go as far to say I feel like my fellow runners are cheating if they are getting a 4 percent boost from a shoe—I’m not going for prize money at any race of significance, so you do you—but that word does stand out because I despise the idea that I couldn’t achieve something that I’m shooting for under my own power.
For the elite runner, I understand how a 4 percent difference can mean making the podium in a big event. (The thread in the tweet below by Roger Pielke is a good example of this.) Are these shoes as egregious as a corked bat in baseball? A spokesman for the International Association of Athletics Federation, the sport’s governing body, said in the article that as of now the Vaporflys are legal, or that “there is no evidence they shouldn’t be.”
Published: Jul 20, 2018 8:48 AM EDT Cult of the 4% story shows, these shoes aren’t even easy to come by for the regular runner, with some trading well over the $250 price tag. If you have the ability to easily drop $250 or more on shoes (or find a reasonable way to purchase them), more power to you. Keep in mind that many runners have reported the shoes don’t last beyond 100 miles, so have fun forking over more dough while I’m still logging miles in the Hokas.
Also, in an informal Slack conversation among my fellow runners and colleagues after reading this, we came up with several ways the normal runner could use $250 (or less) and probably improve their performance:
- Run more (free)
- Dedicate yourself to a training plan
- Health & Injuries
- Schedule regular massages
- Get a nutrition consultation
- Cut out beer and crappy food (free)
- Hire a strength-training coach
- Train with faster people (free)
- Health & Injuries
- Sleep more (free)
- Buy two pairs of shoes you like for $100 each (save $50 and use it for a tune-up race)
I could go on.
Yes, the data is apparent for the Nike Vaporfly 4%. I may one day end up doing a big race in them. (I’ve tested the new Pegasus 35 Turbo, which has the same foam. It’s a fun, fast shoe as well.) But just like any one thing in the above list, it’s no guarantee that it will make me a better runner when I line up for some goal race.
When/if I finally run faster than 3 hours in the marathon or have a breakthrough 13.1, I want to cross the finish line knowing if was because of the months of relentless hard work and preparation, instead of the shoe that’s hugging my feet.
Because where’s the fun in that?
Brian has spent more than a decade focused on creating compelling news, health, and fitness content—with a particular interest on enthusiast activities like running and cycling. He’s coordinated coverage of major events like the Paris Olympics, Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, and Tour de France, with an eye toward both the professional race and the engaging stories readers love.
