How Nike's Vaporfly Shoes Are Redefining Marathon Records and Training
The running track on the campus of Moi University in Eldoret doesn't look like it was built for champions. Its surface is a mix of clay and gravel, and at 410 meters, it's ten meters longer than a standard 400-meter track. Runners use classroom chairs to mark the start and finish lines. Yet Eldoret, a city of several hundred thousand, is widely regarded as Kenya's unofficial capital of distance running—a fitting place to discover the athletes who have turned the country into a global powerhouse in long-distance racing.
On a January morning, nearly a hundred runners—among them Olympic medalists and winners of major marathons—gathered here for "speedwork": high-intensity interval training that the best athletes complete with ease. The track was so packed with talent that one could easily overlook the man of the moment—a lanky runner in a turquoise shirt and thick-soled Nike shoes. In just over a year, Kelvin Kiptum had transformed from near obscurity into a worldwide phenomenon. He ran three of the seven fastest marathons in history and, in October 2023, set the men's official world record in Chicago with a time of 2:00:35. Three months later, he was preparing to attempt the unthinkable in Rotterdam: covering 42.195 kilometers in under two hours. But it was another Kenyan, Sebastian Sawe, who achieved that feat on April 26, 2026, at the London Marathon, finishing in 1:59:30 and later raising his shoe in triumph—a gesture that underscored the pivotal role of footwear in the race.
Returning to Kiptum's rise in 2023: Though fans stood in awe of his victory in Chicago, not everyone celebrated the shoes that propelled him to success. Nike's Vaporflys, introduced in 2016, revolutionized the sport, enabling athletes to run more efficiently—and thus faster. But the elite running community has also had to grapple with the broader implications of these high-tech shoes. Some see them as a symbol of progress: new record times bring much-needed attention to a sport that struggles for popularity in many parts of the world. And as top athletes and coaches in Kenya often point out, the benefits extend beyond competition. Above all, the shoes help reduce physical wear and tear and allow for faster recovery.
