If you go to any high school or mall across New Jersey, you’re going to see kids and adults alike wearing footwear that runs in the area of $200 and more. One company thinks sneaker fans are willing to pay even more.
Bad news for fans of Air Jordans and high tops, these new shoes are made for runners.
Adidas launched its latest running shoes, worn by Ethiopian athlete Tigist Assefa to set a new women’s marathon world record, sparking debate over its $500 price tag.
Assefa wore the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 on Sunday to complete the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds, breaking the previous record by more than two minutes. The shoes went on sale on Tuesday and are part of a burgeoning “supershoe” market that includes rivals like Nike.
Priced at $500 per pair, these Adidas shoes cost $225 more than Nike’s Alphafly 2, raising questions about their accessibility for amateur runners. Harry Swinhoe, founder of Grove Lane Runners, expressed skepticism, saying, “The price tag is just insane.”
The shoes weigh 138 grams and are designed for single-use during a marathon and pre-race warmup. With this in mind, the cost per mile comes out to around $19, as each pair is intended for one marathon distance of 26 miles.
Adidas released only 521 pairs in the initial sale, with a second release planned for November. The shoes are being marketed as world record breakers, a claim underscored by Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden, who posted a photo on Instagram celebrating Assefa’s achievement.
The release of these high-cost shoes intensifies the competition among sports brands in the super shoe war, with durability taking a backseat to speed. “This is a shoe optimized for speed, versus durability,” Adidas stated, focusing on the shoes’ world record-breaking capability.