While Ruth Chepngetich’s stunning world record of 2:09:56 undoubtedly highlighted the 2024 Chicago Marathon, we’re here to highlight the shoes that made the men’s and women’s podium. Nike certainly won the day, with their coveted Alphafly 3 worn by the new world record holder, alongside Mohamed Esa and Irene Cheptai, who took silver in the men’s race and bronze in the women’s race, respectively.
Adidas Adios Pro 4
The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4 is an unreleased high-performance super shoe featuring the brand’s Lightstrike Pro foam, which is developing a reputation as maybe the most responsive “super” midsole compound on the market. With an updated upper compared to previous iterations, Adidas claims this iternation of the shoe improves breathability and support. Its designers also improved the patterned outsole grip so it will perform better in wet conditions, which was an issue with earlier versions. The shoe is currently only available to elite Adidas athletes (and a chosen few influencers doing Adidas’ marketing team’s bidding), but will be available to the general public in January 2025.
The Deets
| Price | $250 USD |
| Weight | 7.1 oz (Men’s Size 9), 6.0 oz (Women’s Size |
| Heel Stack | 39mm |
| Forefoot Stack | 33mm |
| Drop | 6mm |
On Cloudboom Strike LS
On Running, the fast-rising Swiss footwear and apparel brand, has a novel, jaw-dropping way of potentially minimizing excess production waste: web-spinning robots. It recently announced that it has developed an innovation that promises to redefine how we make shoes with what it’s dubbed LightSpray technology, which is essentially super light, super responsive spray-on shoes. The shoe itself is slipper-like, with no laces, and appears as one continuous creation. It’s constructed in two successive phases: a single, continuous application of the filament for the upper, which takes about three minutes. Then, the outsole is bonded to the upper using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) without the need for any glues. Along with Sutume Kebede’s second place finish in the Cloudboom Strike LS in Chicago, this shoe has also won the 2024 Boston Marathon and finished third at the Paris Olympics (as worn by Hellen Obiri). Limited pairs will apparently be up for grabs in November, around the New York City Marathon.
The Deets
| Price | $330 USD |
| Weight | 6.0 oz (Unisex) |
| Heel Stack | 39.5mm |
| Forefoot Stack | 35.5mm |
| Drop | 4mm |
Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris
The Metaspeed Paris is the fourth iteration in Asics’ Metaspeed line: the family of sneakers that pulled the company out of the darkness and thrust into the thick of the shoe wars with Nike and Adidas back in 2021. Asics has dubbed the Paris as the best super-shoe they’ve ever created; it’s also the lightest available road racer on the market (save for the Adidas Pro Evo 1, which is nearly impossible to find.)
The Deets
| Price | $250 USD |
| Weight | 6.6 oz (Men’s); 5.2 oz (Women’s) |
| Heel Stack | 39.5mm |
| Forefoot Stack | 34.5mm |
| Drop | 5mm |
Nike Alphafly 3
The Alphafly 3 is hailed as Nike’s most technologically advanced race shoe to date, boasting a combination of Air Zoom units, ZoomX foam, and a carbon fiber Flyplate. Bret Schoolmeester, Nike Running’s senior product designer and one of the key stewards of the super shoe era, describes the Alphafly 3 as a “have your cake and eat it, too” moment. This shoe now holds both marathon world records.
The Deets
| Price | $300 USD |
| Weight | 7.6 oz (Men’s Size 10); 6.1 oz (Women’s Size 8) |
| Heel Stack | 40mm |
| Forefoot Stack | 32mm |
| Drop | 8mm |
