On Boston Marathon weekend, Adidas has us right where they want us. As the official apparel and shoe brand of the race, they have the exclusive right to slap a unicorn on everything, and charge a small fortune for it.
And judging by the serious Black Friday vibes throughout the day on Saturday here at the expo, pretty much every runner in the city is willing to pay to take home proof that they ran the Boston Marathon (besides the finisher’s medal, of course, but that comes later).
Thousands of nervous runners ram the makeshift popup, with many making a B-line for the coveted official runner’s jacket.
But I’d argue that there are more intriguing (and even downright wowing) options than a jacket you probably won’t actually wear (except on future Boston Marathon weekends, of course).
Here’s our nine picks for the best of the official merch at this year’s Boston Marathon:
9. Adidas’ Classic Casual Boston Lifestyle Collection
One of the fascinating aspects of the expo each year is that a surprise item becomes wildly popular. It’s often an understated piece, which echoes the class and prestige of the marathon. And it always sells out quickly. This year’s hottest item was definitely the above French vanilla cotton crewneck sweatshirt. By mid day Saturday, dozens of runners were looming about as the retail staff restocked. But all that remained of this creamy crew was XS and XXL.
8. Fanny Packs, Squared
The fanny pack is a sneaky, useful part of a runner’s kit, and it fit in perfectly with Adidas’ clear late 80s nostalgia play for this year’s lineup. The brand created a simple pack in the primary pewter blue and a more robust number in black, which we like to think of as the “super shoe of fanny packs.”
7. Three Very Different Kinds of Running Hats
One of these three hats is a perfectly fine, functional and pretty typical five-panel running hat. The other two are both ridiculous and wonderful in their own way.
The running bucket/safari hat is a glorious creation. When you think of it, it actually makes a lot of sense and there’s a strong use case for it during a nasty downpour, or a blazing hot and shadeless summer long run. But a gust of wind is its mortal enemy.
The winter beanie seems like a reasonable pickup, even if Boston usually signals the end of cold weather training. But this hat is thick. Great White North in January thick. But if you’re planning on training for the 2025 Boston Marathon, and you live in the Northern Hemisphere, chances are this toque will come in handy at some point.
6. The Boston Marathon Beer Glass (To Drink Away The Memories of Heartbreak Hill)
For many, the Boston Marathon pint glass is nearly as essential as the jacket. This is why the unicorn-stamped sleeve has become an annual mainstay at the expo. It also led the B.A.A. to crank out a line of Boston themed shot glasses in recent years. Although, there’s something less appealing about toasting to a tough marathon with an ounce of warm brown liquor.
5. The Adidas Boston… Boston
About a decade ago, Adidas released a lightweight everyday trainer it dubbed the “Boston.” A bold name and a heavy crown for runners actually training for the eponymous marathon in the shoe.
Since its creation, Adidas has typically released a special edition “Boston” Boston (awkward, but you get the idea). This year’s iteration is particularly nice. The race logo is tucked on the medial side of each shoe, meaning its somewhat obscured from plain view. In previous years, the unicorn would be slapped onto the outer heal for all to see. The 2024 Boston Boston is appealing in its subtly, while reminding you why you’ve got the shoes on your feet.
4. Spike the Unicorn
It’s hard to say no to this cute little anthropomorphic reminder of the most bewitching marathon in the world. Yes, Spike goes for 25 bucks a pop, and yes, it feels a bit like you’re getting played by the diabolical marketing folks at Adidas. But how else are you going to indoctrinate your child into one day wanting to run for a long time each day, just for fun?
3. A Detailed (and Completely Free) Bio-mechanical Analysis
Behind the shoe wall, Adidas had a pair of extremely technologically advanced treadmills, kitted out with a force plate and various other sensors. Here, you could strap on any pair of their shoes and one of the company’s experts would take you through an incredibly thorough evaluation of your stride, which includes a full body scan and avatar of you, jogging along down the middle of a road in the metaverse. Adidas then sends you a 10-page report via email, breaking down every facet of how you run so that you may select the most responsive shoe for you.
2. The Ultimate Throwback Casual Shoe
During the late 1970s and throghout the 1980s, Adidas athlete Grete Waitz was virtually unbeatable. She won New York City Marathon nine times in 11 years. She was also a trailblazer, pushing the women’s world record time down below 2:30 for the first time. She did all of this in a shockingly lean pair of Adidas trainers.
In celebration of Waitz, Adidas created this variation on the Atlanta model, which was the same shoe she wore for a dominant stretch of winning in the mid to late 1980s.
1. The Pro Evo 1: The Fastest, Lightest, Wildest Super Shoe Ever Produced
We were beside ourselves when we saw it: the most infamous running shoe in the world, with just 500 pairs in production, just hanging out on the shoe wall, next to the lowly Adios Pro 3.
This shoe is so light that you feel as though your brain is playing tricks on you when you first pick it up. An object of this size is supposed to contain more mass than this. For a moment, it appears as though the Evo 1 is breaking the laws of physics. And then, you begin to notice how the shoe is constructed.
The upper is paper thin. Holding it up to the light, you can see right through it. “Sheer” would be an appropriate descriptor of the material. Underfoot, the outsole isn’t so much a tread as a smear of some tacky material pretending to be rubber. This shoe is extreme in every aspect.
Most astonishing of all, there were a few pairs available, but only in men’s sizes seven and eight.
