Sawe's marathon record boosts Adidas in 'supershoe' race with Nike

April 27 - German sportswear maker Adidas' shares rose on Monday after Kenya's Sabastian Sawe became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours in an official race, accomplishing his feat wearing the brand's Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainers.

Sawe shattered one of athletics' most elusive barriers on Sunday as he stormed to victory at the London Marathon in one hour 59 minutes and 30 seconds. The sub-two-hour marathon has been one of sport's biggest goals for years.

The win is a boost for Adidas against arch-rival Nike, after years of lab‑backed experiments and near‑misses looking to build a so-called "supershoe" to break the record.

After the race, Sawe held up his $500 Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainer with "WR" and "sub-2" written on it in black marker pen. He beat the previous world record of 2:00:35 set at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023 by the late Kelvin Kiptum.

"The big difference is it's so light and very comfortable," Sawe told reporters on Monday about the shoe, which is set to go on sale to the public on Thursday.

Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha finished second in London on Sunday in his marathon debut and Tigst Assefa broke her own women-only world record. They were also wearing Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 trainers.

"I'm very happy to have broken the record and to have won in London for a second time. It means a lot to me," said Assefa, who put the win down to shoes that "allow me to run fast" - and years of discipline and hard work.

"I've trained hard, and because of all the hard work I've put in, I've achieved this level of success," she said.

NIKE LOOKS TO CATCH UP

Using innovative foam and carbon-plated soles, and ultra-light components, the third iteration of the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 weighs an average 97 grams, 30% less than its predecessor, and improves running economy by 1.6%, Adidas said.

Many runners that Reuters saw on Sunday in the championship start zone, the fastest amateur section at the London marathon, were wearing Adidas shoes or Puma's Nitro Elite. Nike's Alphafly and Vaporfly - which for years dominated startlines - were few and far between.

The market for running shoes has grown significantly in recent years, raising the heat on the competition to turn new technologies into profitable products.

Marathon events attract more than 50,000 runners and sportswear brands typically deploy staff to count, by clicker, how many are wearing their brand as they pass the finish line.

Specialist labels like Hoka and On have benefited from the rise in demand, while Nike, traditionally concentrating more on the U.S.-focused basketball market, has had to rethink its strategy.

"Nike is bringing out new versions of its Alphafly and Vaporfly marathon shoes, but those will only come out later this year," said Simon Jaeger, portfolio manager at Flossbach von Storch which holds shares in both Adidas and Nike.

"Nike has got in trouble with not being innovative enough," Jaeger said, pointing to "leadership failure" by the U.S. company's former CEO John Donahoe.

CEO Elliott Hill, who took the helm in 2024, has vowed to re-centre the brand on core sports like running and soccer, but margins have continued to suffer, leading to a drop in the company's market capitalization and job cuts.

Nike's Breaking2 attempt at Monza in 2017 just fell short though Kenyan great Eliud Kipchoge ran under two hours in INEOS' 1:59 Challenge two years later. Those efforts, however, fell outside the sport's official record books.

ADIDAS SHARES RISE

Jaeger said Adidas, instead, is getting ahead both in its terrace shoes and in performance running.

Its shares were up 1.5% in mid-morning on Monday, although they are down 18% since the start of this year on concerns about the group's exposure to U.S. tariffs and the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.

"The Adidas family is incredibly proud of Sabastian and Tigst's historic achievements," Patrick Nava, general manager at Adidas Running, said in a statement.

"This is a testament to the years of hard work and dedication they have made, alongside our innovation team."

Adidas released its Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 trainers in late 2023, after Assefa set a new women's marathon world record while wearing them at the women's Berlin Marathon.

The Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 will be released to the public via the Adidas app, with a wider release in the autumn marathon season, according to the company's website, but the steep price tag puts it out of reach of most runners. REUTERS