German sportswear firm Adidas launches lightest racing shoe

Adidas has unveiled the 138g Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1, its lightest ever innovation-packed racing shoe.

With lighter footwear comes the opportunity for greater speed. The revolutionary road-racer is the lightest racing shoe within the Adidas running footwear range – 40 per cent lighter than any other racing super shoe it has ever created. Lighter than ever and packed with the latest technology, the industry-defining shoe is optimized to improve running economy and provide runners with greater energy return.

“The Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 is our own ‘Impossible is Nothing’ story. We set ourselves the goal to create a racing shoe that is packed with the technology ambitious runners have come to love in the Adizero franchise, but at a weight we’ve never seen before at Adidas,” said Patrick Nava, VP product, running & credibility sports at Adidas.

“To do this, we explored every element of a racing shoe, balancing what we could remove or change to reduce the weight. Created with and for the fastest road racing athletes, this shoe is designed to help ambitious runners go even faster on race day. We are excited to see some of our best athletes lacing up in these shoes in Berlin and other major marathons this fall season,” explained Nava.

Epitomising the evolution of the Adizero franchise, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 features a revamped geometry with a first-of-its-kind forefoot rocker, placed at 60 per cent of the length of the shoe. This innovation is lab-tested to trigger forward momentum and improve the running economy, the company said in a press release.

Throughout the development process insights were gathered from elite athletes during in-camp training and testing in Kenya and in the Adidas labs at the HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany including reigning Olympic champion and two-time major marathon winner Peres Jepchirchir and two-time major marathon winner Benson Kipruto. Insights were also gathered from German national champion Amanal Petros and last year’s Berlin marathon winner Tigist Assefa.

 “This is the lightest racing shoe I have ever worn and the feeling of running in them is an incredible experience – like nothing I’ve felt before. They enable me to put my full focus on the race, which is exactly what you want as an athlete. I feel ready to defend my title in Berlin and can’t wait to lace up at the start line in these,” Assefa said.

The shoe, minimalist in design, features translucent and see-through materials, acting as a metaphor for its lightness.