Nike’s latest super shoe is already redefining speed.

Over the last half-decade, the running world has been captivated by “super shoes”—performance footwear engineered to optimize speed and energy return while minimizing effort and strain.

Through carbon fiber platforms (whether it be plates or rods), enhanced foams, and lightweight uppers, super shoes have evolved from taboo to commonplace as runners—both elite and those in your neighborhood—are training, racing, and recovering like never before.

Nike Alphafly 3. Image: Nike

Not only is the Nike Alphafly 3 the latest super shoe, it’s already Nike’s latest achievement as it holds the current marathon record.

“This is the Alphafly that we’re going to start seeing more people adopt.”

Bret Schoolmeester, Senior Product Director at Nike Running

The Alphafly series officially gained fame in the fall of 2019 as iconic marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge and Nike pursued a sub 2-hour marathon in Vienna, Austria. With the Nike Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT%, Kipchoge made history with his 1:59:40 marathon time.

It’s not recognized as a world record since the time was broken in a closed-off course that included professional pacesetters. However, the Breaking2 achievement was about running through the idea of human limitation through technology, innovation, and performance. The sub-2-hour record will be broken in a matter of when rather than if.

In its third iteration, the Nike Alphafly 3 is not only carrying the legacy of super shoe speed but simultaneously doing so by breaking records.

The Nike Alphafly 3 was introduced to the world on October 8, 2023, in Chicago as Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum broke the marathon world record with a time of 2:00:35.

“From the first moment I tried the new Nike Alphafly 3, I said, ‘this is it,’” Kelvin Kiptum stated via a press release.

The Alphafly 3 isn’t necessarily about new as much as it is about better. And better is faster.

“The last couple of iterations of the Alphafly have really been about optimizing the recipe,” said Bret Schoolmeester, Senior Product Director overseeing Nike Running Footwear and a former runner at Colorado University.

“This is the best shoe that we’ve made to help an athlete break a two-hour marathon, but I also think this is the Alphafly that we’re going to start seeing more people adopt because it’s going to make your marathon faster, more fun, and more enjoyable.”

With a <40-millimeter stack height and weighing in at 220 grams (down 15% from the Alphafly 2), the Alphafly 3’s ingredients are crafted for ultimate speed.

Other design components include its signature dual Nike Air Zoom units, a newly introduced full-length carbon-fiber Flyplate, an all-new last, the latest Atomknit 3.0 upper, heel pods that pad the heel and lower Achilles area and a redesigned lacing system that incorporates eye stays into the shoe’s upper.

All these ingredients, according to Bret, have been measured precisely for the ultimate super shoe concoction.

“There are a lot of variables to dial in, which gives us huge opportunity,” he said. “It’s also a pretty complex matrix of things you can dial up and down, and it makes it really exciting because we optimized the (Alphafly) 3 significantly to increase the benefit to runners.”

And while the Alphafly 3 has already proven its worth with an official marathon record, the Swoosh isn’t done yet and neither is the Alpha series.

“(I) still don’t think we found the edge of how much we can optimize all those ingredients,” Bret added. “So, that’s both the challenge and the opportunity and what makes the (Alphafly series) so exciting.”

While the Alphafly 3 and its predecessors have been about speed, it’s also been about the process. In Bret’s eyes, what makes the super shoes impactful is the recovery and training as much as it is the races themselves.

“People can go so much harder so much more often because the shoes are protecting them and allowing them to go faster in their training as well,” he said. “Athletes and coaches are starting to re-examine what the limits are in training; super shoes and the protection they provide, while maximizing performance are a big part of that.”

As the Alphafly 3 commences its pursuit of a sub 2-hour marathon, the brand is already looking forward to its ripple effect and how it will stimulate the next super shoe.

“I’m really proud of the team that created the Alphafly, really happy that the athletes are so confident in it, but it’s also cool to know what we have in the pipeline and how it actually inspires everybody to load up and get up to get after the next one.”

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The Nike Alphafly 3 retails for $285 and will be available globally on Nike.com and select retailers starting on January 4, 2024.