Every sport has had its watershed moment when a new technology upends the landscape and redefines what’s possible. Baseball had torpedo bats, swimming the Lazer swimsuits, road cycling the introduction of aerodynamic carbon frames and in running we are living through an era defined by what were first, and best, described as “super shoes.” For the last decade, the shoe industry has gone into overdrive to create shoes capable of blending impossible lightness with unbelievable energy return. The holy grail sought by shoe designers in this footwear arms race: crafting the pair of shoes that would propel the first man in history to a sub 2-hour marathon performance. As of Sunday, we are now officially living in the new sub-2 era, as not one, but two men, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe and Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, tore down the two-hour marathon barrier at last weekend’s London Marathon. While every factor imaginable aligned perfectly for these two men to take the sport somewhere no one has gone before, one factor in particular has drawn the lion's share of attention: the shoes. Both Sawe and Kejelcha ran in the just-released adidas Adios Pro Evo 3, a shoe touted as the lightest, fastest super shoe ever created. This week on The Shakeout Podcast we’re diving into what makes these super shoes so super, and what physiological factors they impact that have helped runners achieve times long-thought impossible. To make sense of it all is Olympian and Mayo Clinic exercise physiologist Dr. Shalaya Kipp, a leading thinker in the science of shoe innovation. As one of the first researchers to quantify the running economy-improving benefits of super shoes, Shalaya reveals to us what specific factors are at play in these record-breaking shoes, how our bodies respond to these factors over the marathon distance and why runners of lesser ability might actually benefit the most from this new era of shoe tech. Subscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. [This collaboration is part of an advertising campaign led by the Podpass agency for Altitude Sports] Shop now at Altitude Sports and enjoy up to 20% off your first order with the promo code “shakeout2026” Click here to order 👉 https://bit.ly/altitude-shakeout2026 Create an account or sign in to access the discount. Valid on items at regular price only. Valid for a limited time only after sign up. Cannot be combined with any other discount code and/or promotion. Limited to one use per customer. Membership discount not applicable on this offer. Dr. Shalaya Kipp PhD. Google Scholar Shalaya Kipp earned her PhD in Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia, where her research focused on breathing mechanics during exercise, with a particular interest in sex differences and aging. Prior to her doctoral studies, she completed a master’s degree in Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied the biomechanics and energetics of human running, including early research on Nike’s 4% Vaporfly super shoe. Shalaya also has an extensive background as a competitive runner. She is an NCAA champion, a nine-time All-American, and has represented the United States at both the World Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she studies human performance. Outside of research, Shalaya enjoys stroller runs with her four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. Below is a curated list of Shalaya's running economy research: The first "supershoe" paper https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-017-0811-2?cjdata=MXxZfDB8WXww&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=commission_junction&utm_campaign=CONR_BOOKS_ECOM_PBOK_ALWYS_DEEPLINK_GL&utm_content=textlink&utm_term=PID100086434&CJEVENT=d09b2ac1dcc811f0801f01d10a18b8f6How improvements in running economy translate to improvements in performance: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00079/full Supplementary data spreadsheet if you want to see how much a n% improvement in performance translates to your new race time: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00079/full#supplementary-materialPoint-counter/point article on the pros/cons of supershoes (also called advanced footwear technology): https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pmrj.70149
