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'Shoe doping' changed marathon times in ways we still don't understand
Technology is enabling increasingly fast times but how fair is it when it impacts marathon runners so differently?
Paula Radcliffe’s mixed (2003) and women’s only race (2005) world records lasted over a decade, but have both been beaten twice since 2016, improved by 212 and 86 seconds: Tigst Assefa ran 2:11:53 in Berlin in 2023 and Peres Jepchirchir won London, this April, in 2:16:16. It is much easier to measure the impact of supershoes in races, however the benefit of training — reducing loading, enabling athletes to run farther, faster and harder — in them is likely even more significant. It is also essential given the exclusivity of professional running contracts, which prevent athletes from racing in competitor shoes, despite prototypes taking years to reach a final form.
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