Sub-Two-Hour Marathon: How Shoe Science Made It Possible

The wild physics of the modern running shoe

Chapter 1

The bubble wrap under your feet

Chapter 2

The secret curved plate

Chapter 3

The battle for grip

Chapter 4

The speed ban

YOUR GOAL

Master of The wild physics of the modern running shoe

Ch 4 · The speed ban

nike Eliud Kipchoge breaking the ultimate marathon barrier.

nike The Speed Ban

Forty mil stack, / just one plate, / lock the speed gate.

Marathon shoes are capped at 40mm to stop them from acting like mini-trampolines.

nike World Athletics restricted running shoe thickness to preserve fair competition

Banning the multi-plate spring board shoes

nike Three carbon plates inside Kipchoge's prototype shoe act like a mechanical spring

Why sports officials drew the forty-millimeter line

nike A bright graphic line measures the forty-millimeter sole of a high-tech running shoe.

10:* Illegal Bounce (2 words)
* *Idea 11:*

BETA

nike Adjust the shoe's foam thickness to learn what makes a bounce illegally fast.

Fun Fact

Barefoot gold: In 1960, Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila won the Olympic marathon barefoot because his shoes didn't fit, setting a world record.

Glossary

stack height (noun)
The thickness of a shoe's sole, measured from the ground to the insole. In 2020, World Athletics capped this measurement at 40 millimeters to regulate high-tech marathon footwear.

Gossip

Are super shoes fair?

Quiz

In which city did Eliud Kipchoge complete his historic under-two-hour marathon run?

nike Modern super shoes spark debate over athletic talent versus technology

Quiz

What is the maximum sole thickness allowed by World Athletics for official competition shoes?

nike World Athletics banned running shoes with multiple carbon-fiber plates.

Quiz

What term do critics use to describe the unfair advantage gained from advanced athletic gear?

Quiz

In 2019, which runner became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours?

Quiz

What is the term 'stack height' used to describe in running shoe engineering?

Quiz

How many rigid carbon-fiber plates are officially allowed inside a running shoe under World Athletics rules?

Quiz

Which legendary runner won the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon while running completely barefoot?

Quiz

What was the thickness, or stack height, of the prototype shoes worn during the sub-two-hour marathon run in 2019?