The Shoes That Won the 2026 Boston Marathon

Seven of the top 10 men and women raced in Asics, while John Korir smashed the course record by more than a minute in a Metaspeed prototype.

Published: Apr 21, 2026 9:40 am

Jessy Carveth

Jessy Carveth

Jessy is our Senior News Editor, pro cyclist and former track and field athlete with a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology.

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Under flawless racing conditions on Monday, the 2026 Boston Marathon delivered a record-setting afternoon on Boylston Street, and a clear winner in the ongoing super shoe arms race. John Korir ran 2:01:52 to erase Geoffrey Mutai’s 15-year-old course record of 2:03:02, while Sharon Lokedi defended her women’s crown in 2:18:51. American Jess McClain went down in the record books too, breaking Shalane Flanagan’s 2014 American course record with a 2:20:49.

The footwear story was just as loud. Asics placed seven runners in the top 10 of both fields, Nike had four, and Under Armour kept Lokedi on the top step for a second straight year. Here’s a closer look at what the top three men and women ran in.

Men’s top 3

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1. John Korir — Asics Metaspeed Sky prototype (2:01:52)

Korir, the defending champion, wore an unreleased Asics Metaspeed Sky prototype on his way to the course record. It was the second year in a row he raced Boston in an unreleased Asics shoe. Last year he won in a Metaspeed Sky Tokyo prototype, which has since gone to retail, and he used the same pre-production model to win the 2024 Chicago Marathon.

“It looks suspiciously similar to the Asics MS5 Type-P listed on the World Athletics list of approved shoes,” wrote Cory Smith of Run, who tracks footwear at major marathons. A source from the brand confirmed to Footwear News that Korir’s shoe was an unreleased Metaspeed Sky prototype. Asics’ highest-performing foam, FFLeap, is made from A-TPU, the same class of material powering most of the fastest shoes on the market.

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2. Alphonce Felix Simbu — Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo (2:02:47)

Tanzania’s Simbu took second in the current retail version of Korir’s last-year prototype, the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo. The shoe is the second-lightest in Asics’ lineup, behind only the Metaspeed Ray, and has quickly become a staple in the lead pack at World Marathon Majors.

Its midsole uses two layers of foam, FF Leap on top and FF Turbo Plus below, with a carbon fiber plate sandwiched between. Asics lists FF Leap as 15 percent lighter, 14 percent more responsive, and 30 percent softer than the Turbo Plus it sits on.

Weight: 170 g (men’s 9). Stack: 39.5 mm heel / 34.5 mm forefoot. Drop: 5 mm. Price: $270.

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3. Benson Kipruto — Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 (2:02:50)

Kipruto was the only top-three finisher not wearing Asics. The Kenyan ran 2:02:50 in the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2, Adidas’ flagship marathon racer, finishing just three seconds behind Simbu. His result was the best Adidas placing of the day in either field.

The Evo 2 adds 3 mm of uncompressed Lightstrike Pro Evo foam in the forefoot over the Evo 1, which Adidas claims delivers 5 percent greater energy return at the same weight. Ethiopia’s Workenesh Edesa was the next Adidas finisher, taking seventh in the women’s race in 2:21:52.

Weight: 138 g (men’s 9). Stack: 39 mm heel / 36 mm forefoot. Drop: 3 mm. Price: $500.

Women’s top 3

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1. Sharon Lokedi — Under Armour Velociti Elite 3 (2:18:51)

Lokedi defended her title in a custom hot pink colorway of the Under Armour Velociti Elite 3, the same model she wore to win last year. She did not break her own 2025 course record, but she crossed the line 44 seconds clear of runner-up Loice Chemnung.

The Velociti Elite 3 launched in late 2025. It pairs a HOVR+ supercritical PEBA midsole with a full-length carbon fiber plate, and it drops to a 2 mm heel-to-toe offset, a big shift from the 8 mm drop on the Velociti Elite 2.

Weight: 221 g (men’s 9). Stack: 37.5 mm heel / 35.5 mm forefoot. Drop: 2 mm. Price: $250.

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2. Loice Chemnung — Asics Metaspeed Ray (2:19:35)

Chemnung was the highest-placed Asics runner in either field, finishing second in 2:19:35 in the production Metaspeed Ray. When it launched in September 2025, the Ray was the lightest carbon-plated super shoe on the market, and it introduced Asics’ first A-TPU midsole. It uses a three-quarter-length carbon plate and a Matryx upper to save every gram it can.

Testers have described the Ray as hyper-bouncy but soft and unstable, a shoe suited to featherweight strides and strong ankles. Chemnung’s runner-up finish, at the front of a Kenyan sweep of the podium, is one of the strongest results to date for the model in a major marathon.

Weight: 129 g (men’s 9). Stack: 39.5 mm heel / 34.5 mm forefoot. Drop: 5 mm. Price: $300.

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3. Mary Ngugi-Cooper — Nike Alphafly 4 prototype (2:20:07)

Ngugi-Cooper ran 2:20:07 for third in an unreleased Nike Alphafly 4. She was one of several Nike athletes racing the prototype in Boston, including American Charles Hicks, who ran 2:04:35 for seventh in the men’s race, and Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha, who took 10th in 2:05:35.

Reporters who got a close look at the shoe at the start and finish said it appears similar in build to the Alphafly 3, though noticeably lighter. Nike has not announced a release date. With the Vaporfly 4 now positioned as a shorter-race shoe, the Alphafly 4 is set up to be Nike’s clear marathon option whenever it hits shelves.

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Asics had the day of the year

Seven of the top 10 men and seven of the top 10 women wore Asics. Two of those 14 runners chose prototypes, one a Metaspeed Sky and the other a Metaspeed Ray, while the rest raced in the current Metaspeed Sky Tokyo, Edge Tokyo, or Ray. It is hard to argue with that kind of saturation in a field this deep. Asics’ next-generation lineup is still rolling out, and Boston suggests it is already ready to race.

American Zouhair Talbi gave Asics another record. He ran 2:03:45 for fifth in a Metaspeed Ray prototype, setting a men’s American record at Boston. Only one of the seven Asics runners opted for the Ray prototype, which suggests the brand has not yet solved the stability question on a course as hilly and winding as Boston. A soft shoe can be hard to control through the Newton Hills and the long descent into Kenmore Square.

The brand had also been leaning into the race off the course. Asics opened a run shop with Marathon Sports in Boston in the weeks before the race, putting its logo across the city just in time for the finish-line photos.