Carbon-plated shoes might just be the most talked about trainer on the planet, but what are they exactly? A technological breakthrough? A product designed to wreak havoc on the running scene? A shoe that you should be wearing? The answer is, quite possibly, all of the above. Carbon-plated shoes are just that: layered, and it’s time we broke them all down. (Metaphorically- these shoes are expensive).
How do carbon-plated shoes work?
There are two main elements that separate a carbon-plated shoe from other trainers, and the first is in its name. The carbon plate. The plate reduces movement in a runner’s foot by stiffening the shoe. When it hits the ground, energy usually lost through the bending of the toes, is instead put towards propelling the foot off the ground. Most plates are curved, and it’s generally agreed that this is the more effective design when it comes to performance. The curved shape acts like a lever. When force is applied to the front of the foot, the heel lifts in response, and more forward momentum is gained.
But the plate doesn’t act alone. It may have got the name but it doesn’t get all the credit. Because just as equally important is the foam that lies underneath. The strategic positioning of the plate above the foam is what creates the super shoe’s signature spring-effect. (And is also the cause of its great controversy). When you land on the foam, it gets compressed against the carbon plate, storing energy and then returning it by propelling you into forward motion.
These two elements when put together act to change a runner’s biomechanics, by taking the load off the lower legs and redistributing it. In other words, the shoe does the energy storage and return for you, and that’s where the key lies.
What impact do carbon-plated shoes have on performance?
So what impact does this have on running performance? It’s widely accepted that wearing carbon-plated shoes can improve running economy by about 2-4%, which reduces the amount of oxygen our bodies need when running at a given speed or intensity. This translates to less effort over the exact same distance, and the avoidance of the thing all runners dread: fatigue.
Scientific terms aren’t always real-life terms though, and in practice the impact looks like this. Every single one of the men’s top 10 marathon times was run after the introduction of carbon-plated shoes in 2016. Three years after that in 2019, we saw nearly double the number of fast times compared to previous years. And the most poignant impact of them all, is that Paula Radcliffe is the only athlete left in the women’s top 10 from the pre-carbon era. Although for many, what that 2:15:25 may be counting down in days, it’s counting up in praise.
A timeline of the carbon-plated shoe movement
Based on those facts alone, you won’t be surprised to learn that the arrival of carbon-plated shoes onto the running scene back in 2016 was quite the explosion.
Nike is often thought of as the pioneer of the ‘super-shoe’. But they weren’t the first to come up with the carbon-plate concept. They were just the loudest. Brooks actually released the world’s first carbon fibre-plated shoes in 1989 called ‘fusion’ and ‘fission’. But scientific language doesn’t translate well to the general public, and the interest just wasn’t there. The key was in the marketing. What the public needed was a showcase: no numbers, no science, just fast performances.
That moment came at the 2016 Olympic marathon in Rio. All 3 medallists crossed the finish line and just so happened to be wearing an unreleased prototype of the Nike Vaporfly 4%, named after its percentage increase in efficiency. Such a coincidence can be willed into existence, but what it can’t be is manufactured. The Vaporfly had fulfilled its role. Nike had succeeded in catching people’s attention, and that was the start of the super shoe movement.
Eliud Kipchoge- the face behind the super shoe movement
Naturally, the Nike Vaporfly 4% took the market by storm when it finally hit the shelves in 2017. It was advertised as being able to provide up to 85% energy return, but the results of the Rio Olympic Marathon had done most of that work for free. And its next feat was just around the corner, at the Nike breaking2 event. A race that would lead to a whole host of showcase record attempts that came to define Nike as a brand and the carbon-plated shoe as one great (albeit slightly terrifying) piece of technology. While none of the three runners involved actually broke 2 hours in the marathon, Eliud Kipchoge’s unofficial winning time of 2:00.25, over 2 minutes faster than Dennis Kimetto’s current world record, was enough to prove that the power of the Vaporfly had not been oversold.
But Eliud Kipchoge’s story wasn’t over yet. Over the next few years he would become one of the names people most associated with the carbon-plated shoe movement, a by-product of the true extent of the heights he managed to reach in them. After all, it was only a year later at the 2018 Berlin marathon, where he got his first world record. And in no other shoe but the Nike Vaporfly. His winning time of 2:01.39, while slower than the previous year’s sub-2 hour attempt, was the first supershoe world record for the books. And with many soon to follow.
Did Eliud Kipchoge break 2 hours in the marathon?
It was 2019 though when the truly extraordinary happened. Eliud Kipchoge had been on the sub-2 hour marathon hunt for a while now. And this time, the showcase event lived up to its name. Nike’s INEOS 1:59 challenge was a 1:59:40 success. Again, an unofficial time due to the set up, but there was no denying he’d done it. Eliud Kipchoge had become the first man ever to run a marathon in under 2 hours. And not only that, he had Nike’s latest carbon-plated shoe, the Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT%, to help him achieve it.
How are carbon-plated shoes regulated?
But exciting as this may have seemed, it can’t be said that everyone was thrilled. Kipchoge’s sub 2-hour marathon was the final straw for World Athletics. With the Olympics set to take place in Tokyo the next year, they felt they had no choice but to step in. And with that, came new guidelines.
Carbon-plated shoes could have a stack no higher than 40mm, meaning the Air Zoom Alphafly was no longer just breaking barriers, it was breaking rules too at 51mm. And as a final blow to Nike World Athletics put a stop to prototypes. Shoes had to be on the market for 4 months before being used in competition. Although this rule was later changed to allow more flexibility.
An exception also exists for development shoes, where companies can benefit from a period of 12 months where the shoe doesn’t need to be available for purchase and can be worn in competition, excluding the Olympics and World Athletics Series. After those 12 months are over, the shoes then either need to be placed on the open market or discontinued. While in many ways advantageous, the market aspect prevents carbon-plated shoes being custom-made for one specific athlete with the sole intention of them breaking records.
A cause of disparity
The problem with carbon-plated shoes at this point was that not everyone did, or even could, have them. Nike had an absolute strangle-hold on the market. So much so that other companies had no choice but to allow their athletes to wear disguised Nike trainers for major races. On’s Chris Thompson did so to qualify safely for the Tokyo Olympics in the marathon. The disadvantage was clear, so the people cried doping. Technological doping, that is. After all, we’d just seen someone achieve what we once thought impossible: a 1:59:40 marathon. And the only thing different from before? Super shoes.
Should records set in carbon-plated shoes be viewed differently?
After both marathon world records fell victim to carbon-plated shoes in 2023, with Tigist Assefa running only her second and Kelvin Kiptum his third marathon ever, big questions were being asked. Were these records a measure of human progress, or technological advancement? Should they even be world records? There were calls from the likes of British commentator Tim Hutchings to put an asterisk by their side, and differentiate pre and post-carbon era world records. While others like World Athletics president Seb Coe defended the shoes as natural progression.
You might remember the swimsuit controversy from back in 2008, where a sudden spike in records saw the new design banned. Swimmers need a costume to swim, and runners need trainers to run, so what’s the difference? Or more importantly, what’s the right decision? Should we regulate the shoes as clothing, and allow them, or equipment, and ban them, like the swimsuit was? World Athletics opted for an inbetween, but you might feel differently.
How are these regulations enforced?
Regulations themselves can cause problems though, and several athletes have been disqualified from races for wearing so-called ‘illegal shoes’. The winner of the 2021 Vienna Marathon, Derara Hurisa of Ethiopia, was disqualified for wearing the Adidas Adizero Prime X, which weren’t World Athletics compliant. In a more recent example from February 2025, Rajpaul Pannu crossed the finish line in first place at the USATF 100 mile championships, only to later find out he’d been disqualified and lost out on the corresponding prize money. The shoes he’d been wearing, the HOKA Skyward X, had a stack of 48mm, 8mm over the limit.
Except it wasn’t a competitor who raised the offence. It was someone watching the livestream, and Pannu had had no idea all along. The regulations have brought us closer to a level playing field, but these cases do raise the question of how we enforce them. With it all being so technical, is it on the athletes themselves to check their shoes? Or should there be a specific pre-race control? After all, a rule is only as good as its enforcement.
The super shoe market today
So where are we now? It’s been 10 years since the first appearance of the carbon-plated shoe in 2016. Almost every running company has now developed their own version. Nike securing several patents forced its competitors to think outside the box. And although it allowed them to dominate the market for so long, it appears the challenge paid off. Adidas is now a major player. So major in fact that while Nike may have technically achieved the first sub-2 hour marathon, it was Adidas that ended up making it into the record books.
At the 2026 London Marathon, Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha became the first men to ever run an official sub-2 hour marathon. Sawe set a world record of 1:59:30 and Kejelcha wasn’t far behind with 1:59:41. No wind-shielding pacemakers. No speedsuits. Just two pairs of Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3s on the feet of two great athletes.
Adidas leads the super shoe charge
This shoe doesn’t just break time barriers though. Its very existence is record-breaking. The adidas adizero adios pro 3 is the first marathon racing shoe to weigh less than 100g, coming in at 97g. As well as incorporating Adidas’ signature energy rod concept, using strands of carbon to imitate the bones in the foot and allow for more flexibility, the shoe also features the new Lightstrike pro evo foam. Less weight, more energy return. And Sabastian Sawe’s run is proof that those two elements combined make for a lot more speed.
To put this popularity into context, when Tigist Assefa broke the world record in the women’s-only marathon in 2023 she was wearing a prototype of the Adidas Evo 1s, a move which afterwards spiked a global shortage of the shoe. We’ve just seen her break that record again alongside Sabastian Sawe in London, and not even a 500€ price tag could stop the Evo 3s from selling out in a few minutes. Amidst the growing noise surrounding Adidas, On has also recently burst onto the mainstream. It secured 2 of the 3 men’s steeplechase podium finishers from the 2025 World Championships, including Soufiane El Bakkali in a move from Nike.
Can anyone wear carbon-plated shoes?
With this expansion of the carbon-plated shoe market has also come the expansion of its target audience. What was previously marketed towards elite athletes only is now being pushed towards everyday runners looking to improve their personal bests. Companies are now creating carbon-plated shoes specifically for the sub-elite. Because not only does it increase their revenue but the World Athletics rules also don’t apply to this section of the market. This allows for even further innovation with no limit on stack height or the number of carbon plates. The most renowned example is Puma’s Fast-RB Nitro Elite, otherwise known as the ‘rulebreaker’. This shoe, released in 2024, features a 58mm stack and a total of 3 carbon plates, aimed at recreational runners looking to boost their performance.
As if in immediate reaction, runners all around the world, elite or not, are asking themselves the same singular question. Should I be wearing carbon-plated shoes? With all the controversy surrounding their initial introduction, a lot of the analysis of their advantages and disadvantages got lost along the way. Until they found themselves in this article, that is.
Should you be wearing carbon-plated shoes?
From the initial discussion about the anatomy of carbon-plated shoes, you’ll understand by now that they do have the potential to enhance running performance and reduce fatigue. But what’s important to know is that while we all now have access to them, they don’t impact everyone equally.
Performance gains depend on an individual’s body mass, running speed and foot-strike pattern, with the most benefits normally experienced by those who are fore and midfoot strikers, which triggers the signature lever effect more. This is why if you look at some of Nike’s events like Breaking4 with Faith Kipyegon for example, the shoes are often designed by studying elite runners and their stride patterns, to make sure they work best for the athlete in mind. However, they can never be truly custom-made, because the World Athletics guidelines require shoes to be available for general purchase.
How much do carbon-plated shoes cost?
Except while they do have to be made available for everyone to purchase, that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone can buy one. The average price for a carbon-plated shoe can be anywhere between $200 and $500. It’s a lot more than your usual running trainer. But when you consider the high quality technology that lies within, they are far from usual. What it does mean though is that for some everyday runners or unsponsored athletes, price can be an obstacle and a significant factor in the decision of whether or not to buy them.
The cost isn’t just economic though- the shoes themselves, by pure design, are not very durable. Some in fact, like the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1, are only intended to be worn for one marathon in order to reap the most benefits. The foam degrades quickly and so with each use, the level of performance enhancement decreases. This therefore promotes consumerism, and means the environmental impact of wearing carbon-plated shoes is disproportionately high. Bearing these costs in mind makes it all the more important to consider whether purchasing carbon-plated shoes is the right move for you and whether the benefits are outweighed or not.
Can carbon-plated shoes cause injury?
Another important factor to consider are the potential injury risks that come with wearing carbon-plated shoes. The most common injuries runners experience are in the foot, ankle, knee and hip, each for their own reason. One of the main problems is that the premise of the shoe involves doing the energy storage and return for you. What normally happens in your foot, is now being done by the foam and carbon plate. This can therefore weaken your body’s own biomechanical system, specifically the muscles in your feet, from underuse.
However, as with performance enhancement, the risk of injury also depends on the individual and isn’t a settled science. This is why the best approach to carbon-plated shoes is to simply test them out. A gradual introduction into your training and racing routine is the recommended route. That way you can spot any discomfort and address it, either by removing carbon-plated shoes from your routine altogether or limiting their use. Your body will need time to adapt to the shoes, so incorporating them immediately into all of your training sessions isn’t a wise move if you want to avoid injuries. It’s actually not advised for you to do this at any point. Carbon-plated shoes are designed specifically for racing, but they can also be of help during faster workouts.
Should you try carbon-plated shoes?
All in all, the key when it comes to carbon-plated shoes, is you. The costs, the benefits, they all depend on the individual, so why not give them a go? For all you know, your next PB might be just around the corner.
