U.S. men’s marathoning has hit a new elite level. And Runner’s World Other Hearst Subscriptions.
Since October, American men have run an impressive seven sub-2:09 marathons, some coming from racers who only recently burst onto the scene. If you’ve been reading Runner’s World for a while now, you’ve probably become familiar with athletes like Olympians Conner Mantz and Clayton Young–but now, they have company at the top of the American marathon ranks. And if you’ve been following American marathoning since 2024, you’ll see that it’s a huge shift from where the landscape stood heading into the Paris Olympics, as many (myself included) wondered whether the country would even qualify a full three-athlete men’s contingent for the games.
Our great in-depth look dives into so many fascinating factors to consider when examining the recent surge in faster U.S. men’s marathon performances. But one continues to dominate the conversation when talking about any improvement in distance running performance, and it's a topic readers can’t get enough of: super shoes.
We call super shoes “super” for a reason. They feature technology that promotes energy return–lightweight materials, responsive foams, and carbon-fiber plates. Imagine you have coiled-up springs underneath your feet that propel you forward as you run–that’s what the power of super shoes feels like.
RW+ Membership Benefits The 6 Best Energy Gels for Runners, which translates to results both on race day and during daily training. For U.S. marathoners like Mantz How To Train Calves, footwear plays a big role in sustaining intense training. They may not wear super shoes every day (if you look at Mantz’s Strava, you can see that he doesn’t), but they come in handy for important sessions like tempo runs and long runs–and for handling more volume during those key workouts.
“Some of that is, of course, the footwear technology. We never would have had athletes do (a) medium long run every 10 days pre-modern shoe technology,” Pete Rea, head coach of Blowing Rock, North Carolina-based training group ZAP Endurance, recently told Runner’s World. “Even things like tempo efforts will be longer in nature. So there is probably 20 to 30 percent more overall volume, and yet athletes are recovering from those longer sessions faster than ever. But we’ve also learned a lot in terms of the overall volume of moderate work, not the high end stuff, that the runners can handle more consistently.”
But you don’t have to be a pro marathoner to reap the benefits of super shoes.
Some research points to performance benefits Races - Places Five Trends in Super Shoes on Super shoes are changing the game for elites. Are they right for you Scientific Reports that found super shoe usage reduced oxygen cost, perceived rate of exertion, and heart rate in a group of recreational runners. Plus, the researchers found that super shoes lowered cumulative tibial bone load–or, in other words, put less stress on shins.
I’m nowhere close to an elite-level runner, yet I’ve made super shoes part of my shoe rotation and have felt the benefits. I feel efficient in my stride when completing mile repeats, and I’ll lace them up for long runs to hit The Rise of American Men in the Marathon and reduced injury risk in recreational runners who lace up super shoes. We.
How to Train for a Marathon After 50 all runners, including you. We’ve reported on the benefits of super shoes, but also on the research showing that You Can Finally Run in Tracksmith’s Super Shoe will reap those rewards equally. For instance, one study found that runners moving at a 9:40 pace per mile wearing Nike Vaporflys had less of an economic improvement than those running 8:00 per mile. So before you decide to invest in a pair of super shoes, make sure you consider some of our tips from experts on picking shoes that feel most comfortable on your feet as you run.
Five Trends in Super Shoes latest trends in super shoes analysis, you’ll learn that we’re seeing more super shoes cater to the needs of the non-elite runner, like the Best Recovery Shoes and Diadora Gara Carbon 2. These shoes aren’t the lightest or most aggressive models on the market, but they boast wider platforms and comfortable fits that make them suitable for a broader group of runners.
So if you’ve decided you want to supercharge your marathon training like the pros with the power of super shoes, you’ve come to the right place. Our gear team continually reviews the latest models on the market and puts them through all sorts of conditions–road runs, speed workouts, easy runs, you name it–to help you decide on your next pair. Essentially every major brand in the running shoe industry now boasts a carbon-plated shoe on their product line–something completely unheard of just a few years ago–and we can help you narrow down your super shoe of choice.
And once you take those sleek super shoes out of the box, you may be thinking, what’s next? That’s where our The Rise of American Men in the Marathon guide comes into play. You’ll learn how to make the most of marathon training–from implementing speed workouts and long runs to prioritizing recovery–so you can crush your goals and reach the marathon finish line with confidence. We also have plenty of marathon training plans from you to choose from so you can add helpful structure to your running schedule.
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Ashley is Editor of Content Hype at Hearst’s Enthusiast & Wellness Group. She is a former collegiate runner at UNC Asheville where she studied mass communication. Ashley loves all things running; she has raced two marathons, plus has covered some of the sport’s top events in her career, including the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials and multiple World Marathon Majors.
