Nike's Banned Shoes?

Ok, sorry the title is a little misleading. But up until about a month ago people didn't know if the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% would be banned from large competitions by the World Athletic Association. (Spoiler: They didn't....but there were some strings attached.) If you aren't a runner, or don't know anything about performance distance running, there is a chance you have never heard of these shoes. So I'll give you some background. 

What is a Nike Vaporfly Next%

I know what your thinking, Nike didn't give a shoe a name as long as ZoomX Vaporfly Next%......but they did. The Next% is one of the most expensive, and highly sought after long distance running shoes. The Next% is actually a second generation shoe, the first being the 4%. The 4% is a lot like the Next% except it has a little less foam, and it's shape is less refined. Although this looks like a pink bathtub of a shoe, there is a little secret inside.......

Source: Nike

 The inside of the Vaporfly looks like this, but what is that strange plate on the right side, you may ask? That, my friends is the secret of the Vaporfly, a carbon fiber plate. The carbon fiber plate sits embedded in the foam. This provides the shoe with more structure, and more importantly more "spring" per step. In short range competition the Vaporfly doesn't provide mind blowing improvement, but in long distance (marathon) races they really shine. For every step taken the vaporfly makes up a few more centimeters, but throughout the course of a marathon (26.2 miles) that makes a big difference. Nike isn't the only manufacturer to make shoes like this anymore. In fact several other running shoe manufacturers have risen to the challenge and created their own version of this carbon fiber behemoth.


Note: You may have heard of man who broke the two hour marathon barrier, he wasn't wearing these shoes, his shoes were even more exclusive. In breaking the two hour marathon he used a prototype called the Alphafly Next%. In this prototype are three carbon fiber plates, more foam, and a special air pocket. These shoes are now coming to the public market but only with one carbon plate due to regulations.

The Alphafly worn by Eliud Kipchoge  Source: Runners World

What Are the Regulations? 

The World Athletics Association did not ban the Vaporfly, but they did (in my opinion) put reasonable regulations in place. They effectively banned prototype shoes in high competition and limited the height of the mid sole. And yes, currently you can only have one carbon fiber plate in your marathon shoe.

Do I agree? 

I think that the World Athletics Assoc. handled this case very well and pretty fairly too. Instead of blankly banning shoes, they put into place reasonable regulations. But, this does raise an interesting question, is running becoming less about the runner, and more about the shoe?

TidBit: 

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