Over the past couple of months, running has been working its way back into a settled competition schedule. As usual, there is vigorous debate around the results and performances. Numerous world and other records have fallen over the past several years. These time drops have coincided with Nike\u2019s release of its carbon plate-modified Vaporfly series; these plates are now also included in some of their racing spikes.
There have been too many superior performances to pretend that the shoes don\u2019t have an impact. They have been ruled legal in terms of running and setting records, but new limits have been imposed on footwear, both in their construction and in their availability. In short, there\u2019s a height limit which effectively limits the number of carbon plates that can be stacked inside the soles (though I think at some point shoes would get too tall to be practical) and prototypes cannot be used for races, which means they have to be available to the general public to allow for fairer and broader access.
I\u2019ve mentioned before that I\u2019m not a Nike person but I\u2019ve been reluctant to offer criticism of this shoe technology. Nike has an overwhelming number of resources and the mantra to win. Somehow, they came up with this foam and carbon plate technology to enhance a benefit of shoes that was already there. Running shoes have returned energy for years and the Nike shoes simply do it a little (or maybe a lot) better than others. While it would be unfair and justifiably illegal for shoes to give athletes more energy than they put into each step, the whole point of running shoes is to make you more comfortable and to allow you to run longer than you would if you were barefoot, or running on small strips of leather or rubber. (Compression socks are supposed to provide a similar benefit via a different mechanism but that\u2019s a different topic.) Had a different shoe brand developed this technology first, they likely would have been the target of ire.
It does seem fair to allow equal access to a racing product among the competitors. However, prototypes aren\u2019t guaranteed to work. In the 2015 Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge\u2019s insoles in his prototype Nikes weren\u2019t properly fastened and they worked their way out over 26.2 miles, gradually blistering and bloodying his feet. This is an unusual occurrence so disallowing the use of prototypes is a good step and one could argue it protects the athletes. But, there\u2019s another point here. Kipchoge still won. While it would be accurate to say that among twenty of the top world\u2019s marathoners, those that wear Nike\u2019s latest product might have a slight advantage, some of those folks are going to win no matter what\u2019s on their feet.
An American high schooler, Hobbs Kessler, recently ran a 3:34 1500M which puts him under the Olympic qualifying standard. It\u2019s an absurdly good time for someone his age and the initial reactions boasted that his performance was better than Alan Webb\u2019s high school mile record run from twenty years ago, and comparable to Jim Ryun\u2019s 1500 in 1966. It\u2019s probably fair to include the shoes in this conversation as Kessler was wearing the latest and greatest carbon-plated Nikes. That offers some context as to which of the three, Kessler, Webb, or Ryun, had a better performance. However, there\u2019s no doubt that Kessler is better than all the other current high schoolers out there and is destined for a highly decorated college career, unless he opts to go professional right away. A straight-to-the-pros route might have been less likely without the carbon plates, but he would be considered one of America\u2019s top future running products in any racing shoe.
Sports have rules and for good many reasons. Even if we are questioning the philosophical nature of the rules or pointing out some absurdities, athletes are expected to follow them or face respective consequences. Yet, we also expect equipment to evolve and get better within those rules. I hear and empathize with the arguments by some runners that the new Nikes are unfair. When you\u2019ve put years of training into your event and are routinely pushing your body to its outer limits, it would be frustrating to show up at the starting line knowing you\u2019re already a few seconds back in a competition by virtue of the shoe. However, running shoe companies have been and will be constantly developing new products to make running easier and faster for all of us. One way to look at it is that the current shoes are within the reasonable scope of development that we expect, even if we\u2019ve shoved a little further forward than we anticipated. It may be that we have to evaluate a product more closely or change the language of the rules to make sure we\u2019re still within the spirit of the sport, but hopefully we\u2019ll continue to use our expertise and experience to make the good products we enjoy even better, and to see what we\u2019re capable of achieving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past couple of months, running has been working its way back into a settled competition schedule. As usual, there is vigorous debate around the results and performances. Numerous world and other records have fallen over the past several years. These time drops have coincided with Nike\u2019s release of its carbon plate-modified Vaporfly series; … <\/p>\n