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Editorial
Is it the shoes? A simple proposal for regulating footwear in road running
  1. Geoffrey T Burns1,
  2. Nicholas Tam2
  1. 1 School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
  2. 2 Department of Physiology, University of Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain
  1. Correspondence to Geoffrey T Burns, University of Michigan School of Kinesiology, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA; gtburns{at}umich.edu

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-100480

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    In 2018, runners wearing the new Nike Vaporfly 4% running shoe broke world records over the 100 km, marathon, half-marathon and 15 km distances. This shoe has advanced the benefit of footwear further and more substantially than any other previous shoe. When Nike compared its energetic cost (running economy) to contemporary elite racing shoes, the Vaporfly provided a 4% improvement in economy (hence the shoe’s moniker) and an estimated 3.4% increase in running speed.1 Subsequent independent laboratory testing2 and big-data performance analyses3 have corroborated the benefit.

    The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rule 143.2 stipulates that shoes ‘must not be constructed so as to give athletes any unfair assistance or advantage’.4 While the Vaporfly gives runners an advantage, it does not violate current IAAF rules. However, many in the running community debate whether this shoe blurs the line between physiological and technological performance, and many have called for more explicit regulations.

    Can we untangle the 4%?

    The Vaporfly deviates from conventional running shoes in three ways: (1) an embedded carbon-fibre plate, (2) its midsole material, and (3) its midsole thickness (figure 1). Each of these components has design features that reduce energy loss in isolation and, perhaps more-so, in combination.

    Figure 1

    Schematic of the Nike Vaporfly 4% (images adapted from Nike.com)

    Carbon-fibre plate

    The full-length embedded carbon-fibre plate increases the longitudinal bending stiffness of …

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @geoffreyburns

    • Contributors Both GTB and NT contributed to the conception and design of the piece, the drafting and revision of the piece and the final approval of the piece. They agree to accountability for all aspects of the work.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests GTB receives athletic support from the United States of America Track and Field Federation and Altra Running.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.