Ruth Chepngetich Sets New Women’s Marathon World Record in the Nike Alphafly 3

The super shoe race rages on, as running world records continue to be smashed left, right and centre. Just yesterday in Chicago, Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich cruised to victory in the women’s race, becoming the first woman in history to run the marathon in under 2:10:00 and smashing the previous record by nearly two minutes. She completed it in 2:09:56.

On foot, Chepngetich wore the Nike Alphafly 3, the same shoe worn by the late Kelvin Kiptum at last year’s Chicago Marathon, where he also finished in a world record time. Chepngetich finished over seven minutes quicker than Sutume Kebede, who took second place wearing a pair of On Cloudboom Strike racers. Irine Cheptai, who came in third, was also wearing the Alphafly 3.

The latest in the Swoosh’s revered Alphafly line, the Alphafly 3 was released to the public back in January, but continues to grace the feet of the marathon elite. It features a triple threat of Zoom units, a carbon flyplate and ZoomX foam, and is designed to be as light as possible while also providing ample energy return. It’s one of the most competitive shoes on the market, often being pitted against the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1, in which Tigist Assefa set the previous women’s world record in, when racing in Berlin last year.

In contrast, adidas had a relatively quiet Chicago marathon, with their only podium finish coming from Amos Kipruto who took third in the men’s race and appeared to be wearing the Adizero Adios Pro 4.

As records continue to be broken, it's only a matter of time before the next super shoes hit the market, but if you're wondering where the limit is, here's what can make them too super.