[bbcc90]

I'm a runner, and it's a bit sad that distance running is not longer purely about the runner.

Based on the quote below, next thing we will see is a "constructors championship" similar to F1 for winning shoe constructor in the 'major' marathons :-(.

" This dominance continued in 2024, with adidas athletes wearing Adizero models winning six out of 12 World Major Marathons – more than any other brand."

and yes, of course i race in super shoes :-).

[jfengel]

The winner is doing a completely different sport from me. I never even see the winners at a marathon. They are long gone by the time I get to the start line, and they've gone home by the time I finish.

There are age group leaders as well. That's perhaps a hundred people, of the tens of thousands running next to me.

Marathons are about running my own pace. The fact that there exists a world record is a piece of trivia.

[aembleton]

> Marathons are about running my own pace. The fact that there exists a world record is a piece of trivia.

I do find the record fascinating. If I take the 5k, 10k and half-marathon world records and double them then I can run faster than that. But for the marathon I'm a long way off. There's something uniquely difficult about it because it's not just going for a run, but fuelling and training your gut and pacing. I've only done 2 marathons, but I do find them uniquely difficult so for me its extra special to see how fast a human can do it in.

[nerder92]

It was never about the runner, it has always been about technology and innovation. Shoes tech is just one of them. Better nutrition, novel training techniques, better air quality etc.

Of course innovation in shoes will have a bigger marginal impact (because physics).

[jampekka]

Can't help but think that the wins and records done barefoot and without refreshments in the 1960s are still a bit more about the runner than running with essentially spring loaded shoes, lab-optimized nutrition gels, computer optimized pacing strategies and multisensor real-time measurement devices.

It's also somewhat ironic for a race supposedly modeling a messenger running the distance in an emergency situation.

[Ekaros]

Also makes wonder question did the messenger participate in hard cardio training before. Meaning the fighting. Or do some messengering before.

[bbcc90]

For sure but most of that innovation pre-super shoes was optimizing the runner, not the shoes

[foxglacier]

Of course it's also about the runner, that's why the Kenyan models dominate with their biological innovation.