Interesting email on the shoe choice for tonight's 5k. If Schweizzer wears the shoes she's been wearing she may beat Houlihan but her record might wouldn't count. What do you all think?
Here's the email: Dear Lets Run,
Hi my name is Scott and I am a weekly listener/ big fan of the podcast. I just finished listening to the most recent podcast and your predictions on the 5k AR attempt; this prompted me in wanting to write to you guys about something I have noticed about Shelby Houlihan's choice of spikes.
If you look closely at photos of Houlihan running races, workouts, etc., she always wears the OG Nike victory elite or victory elite 2 spikes (both of which are outdated). However, other BTC members (including Schweizer) have been running in the new Nike 2020 spikes.It is interesting that the fast PRs of the BTC women in the past half year have all been in the new spikes (the zoom x dragonflys / zoom victory's).
Just from an eye ball test, I believe that Shelby and Karissa are probably around the same fitness; however, I believe at this upcoming 5k AR attempt, Karissa will beat Shelby by a slight margin due to the competitive advantage of the spikes. I understand that spikes are not everything, but that is just my thought on the matter at hand.
Even if my predictions are not true, I hope I was able to give you guys a small observation and something to think/ talk about on an upcoming podcast. I am a huge running shoes/ spikes nerd and I am excited to see where are sport is headed. If you guys have any comment on this topic, if would be awesome if you guys could email me back!
From,
Scott Okagawa
Our preview of tonight's race is up:
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/07/will-the-american-record-fall-will-it-be-legal-what-you-need-to-know-about-bowerman-tcs-5k-races-tonight/
Interesting Email on Shoes in Tonight's American 5k Record Attempt - Shelby Houlihan and Karissa Schweizzer
Report Thread
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I hope Houlihan wears the better shoes and trashes everyone. But maybe she doesn't respond to them or they injure her.
Not everyone responds to the Vaporflies the same. -
Taking it with a grain of salt. No spike is going to make someone that much faster over 1500-5k.
The victory elite spikes Houlihan wears also have a carbon fibre shank/plate in them. Not necessarily new tech, they came out in 2012.
No studies have been done on the performance effects of Nike’s Zoom Air pods. While they probably provide some benefit in tension and rebound, I would say the benefit is negligible considering they’re used in the 1500m spike and the Alphafly, but not the 5k-10k spike. Once again, Nike has been using similar technology to Zoom air pods for years. Air max in the 90’s used compressed air for cushioning.
ZoomX foam is completely legal and is a product of innovation and experimentation. There’s nothing wrong with making a spike more cushioned.
No foul play here. And Schweizer was wearing those spikes during her 3000m record which counted, so if a new record comes down tonight it will count as well. -
Gwen has been wearing her Cheaterfly spikes, far as I can tell.
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This is Jim Kiler wrote:
Gwen has been wearing her Cheaterfly spikes, far as I can tell.
Out of curiosity, what aspect of the shoe is the cheating part? If it’s against the rules I’d like to know which one. -
asking wrote:
This is Jim Kiler wrote:
Gwen has been wearing her Cheaterfly spikes, far as I can tell.
Out of curiosity, what aspect of the shoe is the cheating part? If it’s against the rules I’d like to know which one.
Thanks for keeping an eye on the board, Nike Shill.
The modified shoe Gwen wears, modified or not, is called (by me, anyway), the "Cheaterfly" because in an earlier form it was used by Nike athletes at the 2016 Olympic Trials marathon and in the 2016 Olympic Marathon when nobody even knew it existed. I won't get into this further, but you should know at least that much, or did your intern packet not get into that? -
Shoes don't make the runner. The new spikes are fine and legit.
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wejo wrote:
Interesting email on the shoe choice for tonight's 5k. If Schweizzer wears the shoes she's been wearing she may beat Houlihan but her record might wouldn't count. What do you all think?
Do you want to know my honest answer for what I think? I think that guy is a weird dude for focusing so much on their spikes and emailing you about it. And I say that while admittedly being a big fan of a niche sport. -
Is that the same dude with the video last night where he was afraid to display some of his "spike collection" because the light might damage them?
It's almost like he lives in a weird basement, and threatens those who disagree with him, with a hose or something. -
Sapel wrote:
Shoes don't make the runner. The new spikes are fine and legit.
Theoretically, If I wore shoes that had springs in them that increase energy return by 500%, would you still be saying that shoes don't make the runner? The line needs to be drawn somewhere, and that comment is very short-sighted and narrow minded. -
jamesww wrote:
wejo wrote:
Interesting email on the shoe choice for tonight's 5k. If Schweizzer wears the shoes she's been wearing she may beat Houlihan but her record might wouldn't count. What do you all think?
Do you want to know my honest answer for what I think? I think that guy is a weird dude for focusing so much on their spikes and emailing you about it. And I say that while admittedly being a big fan of a niche sport.
Just a way to create pseudo controversy around the shoes. I assume Shelby will wear the shoe that she believes will enable her to run the fastest. It is safe to assume this is true of all the competitors. -
boomheadshot, maybe you have not been paying attention, but a line has been drawn and these spikes have been submitted and validated as Legal. Keep up with the times. It's the runner, not the shoes. Case in point, they've had these spikes for over 18 months, globally, and you're not seeing a destruction of WR/AR/CR.
boomheadshot wrote:
Sapel wrote:
Shoes don't make the runner. The new spikes are fine and legit.
Theoretically, If I wore shoes that had springs in them that increase energy return by 500%, would you still be saying that shoes don't make the runner? The line needs to be drawn somewhere, and that comment is very short-sighted and narrow minded. -
Sapel wrote:
Shoes don't make the runner. The new spikes are fine and legit.
That’s what I used to think. Until the new marathon shoes came out. Clearly shoes can have a significant difference that impacts races. -
Sapel wrote:
boomheadshot, maybe you have not been paying attention, but a line has been drawn and these spikes have been submitted and validated as Legal. Keep up with the times. It's the runner, not the shoes. Case in point, they've had these spikes for over 18 months, globally, and you're not seeing a destruction of WR/AR/CR.
boomheadshot wrote:
Sapel wrote:
Shoes don't make the runner. The new spikes are fine and legit.
Theoretically, If I wore shoes that had springs in them that increase energy return by 500%, would you still be saying that shoes don't make the runner? The line needs to be drawn somewhere, and that comment is very short-sighted and narrow minded.
That’s not the case is it? I thought Nike announced issues via press release in February. They’re different than shoes people were wearing last year right? -
This was addressed by World Athletics. As long as the spike midsole is below 30mm (which they are, based on footage and images), they are legal for record setting purposes -
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/modified-rules-shoes -
shelby is CLEARLY the American running goat not for her times but for her exquisite taste in spikes
"mr nike i only race in classic victory elites and 2's"
- shelby "MF" houlihan -
Here are Karissa and Gwen's shoes submitted for regulation and what they are wearing alongside Cranny, etc.
https://qz.com/1796016/nikes-2020-olympics-shoes-use-features-from-its-vaporfly-design/ -
assorted_runner wrote:
I hope Houlihan wears the better shoes and trashes everyone. But maybe she doesn't respond to them or they injure her.
Not everyone responds to the Vaporflies the same.
She sees them as cheating. That’s why she doesn’t use them. -
The perpetual fixation on “spring loaded shoes”
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I guess neither the Dragonfly nor the new Air Zoom Victory are deemed "introduced after 30 April 2020" as both have been worn by Nike athletes before (at least the guidelines allow this kind of interpretation). Other runners like the Ingebrigtsen also didn't fear for their times not to be validated, so probably everything is safe
