Why Do Brands Make Two Marathon Race Shoes?

From the Nike Alphafly vs Vapourfly to the PUMA Fast R vs Deviate Nitro Elite, most brands these days have two “Super Shoes” built for racing marathons, so what splits them apart, and which is the best runner for you? 

From price to speed, stability to technology and finding the target audience, let’s go through the major brands and investigate which super shoe fits what type of run/runner. 

Elite vs Fast 

One reason for having two marathon race shoes dominates most brands, a separation between elite athletes and fast runners.

For the Elite athletes you get daring designs, extraordinary innovation and the very latest technology, giving speed by the bucketful.

An excellent example would be the Fast R from PUMA. The carbon plate sticks out beyond the toes, the heel and forefoot are separated by all but the plate and the angles and shape of the midsole look extreme before you even put it on. All of which leads to an incredibly aggressive, and mightily fast shoe. 

But that’s not for the faint of heart. If you don’t have the gait of a natural elite athlete, you may prefer something less aggressive, something a little easier to run in, something a little more stable. That’s where the Deviate Nitro Elite comes in.  

It features pinnacle foams, carbon plates and all the technology you would expect, but with a more traditional shape that suits more different types of running style. 

While PUMA are perhaps the most visually obvious in their differentiation, the same split is true of a range of different brands shown in the table below. 

Another extreme example worth picking out is the adidas Adios Pro Evo. Limited availability and high price mean that tends to stick to the Elites by necessity, but the sheer number of records it has smashed, including 3 world records on its first outing makes it much sort after. The Adios Pro used to be the choice for elite athletes and is now used more commonly used by mere mortals. 

If you’re thinking about picking up any of the shoes on the table above and you’re not sure which shoe is right for you, think about your gait, and how much help and support you need.

If you leap, gazelle like from forefoot to forefoot, barely touching the ground on your way to the finish line, you’re a perfect candidate for the left half of the table.

On the other hand, if you start to tire and form starts to leave you towards the end of the race, where a touch more stability could help you through the last few miles, the right side of the table might suit you better. 

The Other Brands 

Nike Vaporfly vs Alphafly 

Although both shoes were designed initially to help Eluid Kipchoge break the 2-hr marathon record, over the years they have evolved to have slightly different uses. 

While the Alphafly that Eluid finally broke the unofficial 2hr barrier in, have stayed as a primarily Marathon distance shoe, the Vapourfly has become more versatile. Ready for anything from 10k to a marathon, pick the Vapourfly if you race a 10k one weekend, and a half marathon the next, with a full on the horizon. It can do it all. But if you prefer to test yourself over the full 26.2 miles, the Alphafly is your best choice. 

ASCICS Metaspeed Sky vs Metaspeed Edge 

ASICS claim that runners fall into two styles, those who speed up by increasing their cadence (number of steps per minute) or those who increase their stride length. They then designed a shoe to suit each type, the Sky for stride runners and the Edge for cadence runners. 

They both use the same top end technology, but by placing different foams in different places, and building different shapes of midsole, they can get very different outcomes.  

Oddly the outcome can feel a little like the brands in the table above, with the softer heel of the Sky making it suited to Elite pace, and the slightly more stable Edge suiting fast runners better. 

On Cloudboom Strike Vs Cloudboom Max 

Firstly, we could separate the Cloudboom Strike in the standard version for fast runners, and the Cloudboom Strike Lightspray into the Elite category based purely on price, but since the midsole and outsole remain the same between the two, and the difference is purely in the innovative one piece, seamless, zero waste upper in the Lightspray, we will treat them both as one shoe. 

Extremely fast, the Cloudboom Strike is a shoe for mixing it up at the front end of the race. The Cloudboom Max, is designed with a different type of runner in mind, aware that the average marathon time is around 4 and a half hours, they have built in comfort and durability, while maintaining the same levels of technology, to give runners in the middle of the pack the same advantages as the racers at the front. 

Conclusion 

Whichever shoe you pick, you can be sure of a highly effective, super-fast and efficient runner, but with more information at your fingertips, you should be able to find the ideal shoe for you and your race. Good luck, and happy PB chasing.