A long-standing belief surrounding super shoes is that they鈥檙e only 鈥済ood鈥� for one race. As the miles accumulate, it鈥檚 true that the foam compresses and loses its spring, reducing the shoe鈥檚 effectiveness. But does this happen in 26.2 miles (plus a few break-in runs), or is this widespread notion a myth?

At the 国产吃瓜黑料 Lab at CU Denver, we geek out over stress-testing these commonly held myths. So when Gear & Affiliate Director Kristen Geil volunteered as a guinea pig before the 2025 Berlin Marathon, 国产吃瓜黑料 Lab Test Editor Adam Trenkamp saw a golden opportunity to test a super shoe鈥檚 real-world performance, then compare that data with its lab performance using the Heeluxe Time Machine.

This side-by-side experiment not only shed light on the one-marathon myth but also validated our internal testing methods and bridged the gap with our real-world testing. By analyzing foam breakdown and outsole wear in shoes tested under different conditions, we could see how accurately the Time Machine predicts wear and also which external factors鈥攍ike road friction or water exposure鈥攁ccelerate it.

Here鈥檚 how we conducted our 国产吃瓜黑料 Lab Marathon: Human vs. Machine.

Creating Our Own Gear Lab Marathon

The star of our 国产吃瓜黑料 Lab Marathon was the Heeluxe Time Machine, which replicates the impact of human running. It uses flexible feet and ankles, shocks, and springs to simulate the stride of a 180-pound person cruising at an eight-minute mile pace. Based on previous studies by Heeluxe, we know how many 鈥渟teps鈥� per shoe equate to a mile. Using these numbers, Adam calculated exactly how many steps the machine needed to 鈥渞un鈥� to match Kristen鈥檚 race and pre-race break-in mileage.

Before the race, Adam measured a fresh, unworn pair of Kristen鈥檚 race shoes: the Adidas Adios Pro 4, a lightweight carbon-plated shoe designed to optimize running efficiency. He recorded a 5.1 mm heel-to-forefoot drop, compared to the 6 mm advertised by Adidas, as well as a slightly shorter heel stack (36 mm measured vs Adidas-claimed 39 mm). Those slight differences鈥攚ell within measuring tolerances and potential differences in sample sizes鈥攕imply established the lab鈥檚 baseline for post-race comparison.

Berlin Marathon vs. 国产吃瓜黑料 Lab Marathon

While Kristen was logging her 26.2 miles through Berlin, Adam ran the same distance (plus her 6.3-mile break-in) on the Time Machine鈥攁 total of 32.5 simulated miles. After the race, Kristen shipped her well-used shoes back to the lab, apologizing for their marathon-grade odor. Unfortunately for her, that didn鈥檛 stop Adam from roasting her about it on air.

Once the shoes arrived, Adam compared them with their lab-tested counterparts across several key metrics.

• Foam Compression: Both pairs showed nearly identical breakdown鈥攁bout 1 mm in the heel and 0.5 to 1 mm in the forefoot鈥攃onfirming the Time Machine鈥檚 precision in replicating real-world foam compression and the consistent foam wear despite the differences in weight and pace.
• Outsole Wear (Tread): The full rubber outsoles on all shoes held up remarkably well. Kristen鈥檚 pair looked a bit rougher from outdoor variables like asphalt and debris, but the tread depth and wear patterns matched closely, and neither showed significant deterioration.
• Durability and Design: With only 1 mm of foam loss, Adam believes both pairs could easily handle another marathon. We suspect the Adios Pro 4鈥檚 aggressive toe rocker helps promote uniform wear by allowing the foot to roll off quickly, reducing forefoot compression, even though that is where greater loads occur.

For an even deeper analysis, a compression-rebound test would measure how the foam performed before and after the race in cushioning feel and 鈥渆nergy return.鈥� But based on our results, it鈥檚 safe to say these shoes have at least one more big effort in them.

So go ahead, race in those super shoes twice if they still feel right. Just maybe skip mailing them to Adam afterward. He鈥檚 had his fill of stinky marathon shoes.

The post Our 国产吃瓜黑料 Lab Marathon Matched Human Against Machine to Test Super Shoes. Here’s What We Found Out. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

As a ten-year gear tester with six marathons under my belt, I’ve developed a finely tuned radar for what I will and will not need before any given long run. Distances over ten miles merit gels and my favorite hydration vest; weather in the 50s means shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt, even if I’m shivering through the first mile.听I know what percent charge I need on my sports watch and earbuds to ensure they won’t run out on a 20-miler.

But on race day, all that hard-earned wisdom goes out the window. No matter the forecast, I’m packing three different outfits for weather patterns ranging from polar vortex to Saharan Desert. Two pairs of headphones get tossed into my carry-on, along with three extra chargers and a back-up watch. The poncho that’s been languishing in my glove compartment since that one outdoor concert? Sure, why not! My therapist would say that overpacking is a symptom of my anxiety about all the race day variables I can’t control鈥攁nd she’d be right.

Unfortunately, my neuroses can rack up unnecessary expense. For all they say about running being a (relatively) cheap sport, once you start training for half and full marathons, the essential gear list gets exponentially longer鈥攁nd more expensive. I’m not here to argue that; I ran the 2024听New York City Marathon in a fresh pair of $250 like thousands of others鈥攚ith no regrets. But when I crossed the finish line and took stock of what I actually used from my overstuffed kit, many of my MVPs were all surprisingly low-budget. If you’re running the New York marathon this weekend, these are the under-$30 essentials that elevated my race day from bearable to the best yet.

The post 4 Things Under $30 That Helped Me Survive My First NYC Marathon appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Between running multiple marathons, earning my running coach certification, and testing running shoes professionally for a decade, I鈥檝e cultivated a reputation as a Runner with a capital R. And, as a proper-noun Runner, I find myself having a similar conversation over and over again.

Friend: 鈥淚 think I want to try to get into running鈥攚hat kind of shoes should I get?鈥�  
Me: 鈥淲ell, it depends鈥︹�� (Goes into highly specific questions and recommendations, hemming and hawing over heel-toe drop and overpronation while my friend鈥檚 eyes slowly glaze over.)

The irritating truth is that there鈥檚 no shoe that鈥檚 absolutely perfect for every single runner. We all have different anatomy and different gaits, and the concrete surfaces I run on in Chicago are vastly different from the comparatively low-impact trails of Colorado. All of these factors (and more) will ultimately impact what running shoe is best for you.

While I鈥檝e been training for the Berlin Marathon this fall, however, I鈥檝e come as close as I鈥檝e ever come to discovering the Holy Grail of running shoes. The is a running shoe that works for most people, on most runs, most of the time, and one that I鈥檝e personally used for over a dozen runs in my ten-week training cycle.

The post I Just Ran My Sixth Marathon, and This Shoe Has Become My Go-to for Any Kind of Run appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.