The world marathon record wasn’t broken at the Valencia Marathon last weekend, but it was still another strong event for athletes wearing the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 carbon plate running shoe.
Sisay Lemma, from Ethiopia, won the men’s race in the shoe, running the fourth-fastest time in history, and two other Adidas runners in the Pro Evo 1 made the podium in the men’s and women’s races.
The Pro Evo 1 is not the most attainable shoe for non-elite athletes, being incredibly expensive, at $500/£450 (the UK price has actually risen £50 since its launch in September), and it’s also rarely available. Your next chance to get the shoe is just around the corner, however—if you’re prepared to stump up for what’s not only a costly shoe, but one that will apparently only be at its best for one marathon.
The Adidas website says the Pro Evo 1 will go on sale at 8am GMT (3am EST) on Friday December 15th in the US—but it will ONLY be available on the Adidas app. Outside the US you can get the shoe at 9am GMT on Thursday December 7th, but only if you’re successful in a ballot, which you have to enter before 8.30am GMT on the 7th. You will be committing to buy the shoe if successful. In the UK you also have to use the Adidas app to get the shoe, you can’t buy it on the website.
I’ve yet to test it, but there seems little doubt that the Pro Evo 1 is a remarkable shoe: being considerably lighter than other carbon racers, while still having a high stack of bouncy foam and rods running through the midsole. However, with the price so high and the durability so low, it feels more like a shoe purpose-built for elites than one designed for the mass market. Even the rival Nike Alphafly 3, used by Kelvin Kiptum to set the marathon world record in Chicago this year, is much cheaper and longer-lasting.
Still, if you simply want what may well be the best running shoe in the world on your feet for your next big race, now’s your chance to get hold of it.
