Vaporfly 4% in stock right now at nike.com

The 5K I ran on Monday actually had very few turns - only two of 90 degrees each. I still thought the clunkiness of it detracted, especially at the start and finish. I struggled to kick in it - though that might have been also because I went out too fast....

If it was a very flat 5K course with very wide turns, I might consider it, but I'd probably still prefer the Takumi Sen or Adios. I would also avoid wearing it in any race that has a lot of kids and idiots lining up in the front (i.e. Turkey Trot, 4th of July Race, etc). You really can't swerve or dodge in these things.

You didn't ask, but there is no way in hell I'd ever wear them for a road mile.

lollerama wrote:

$250 is a joke wrote:

Thing is, there is no data to answer this question. Only conjecture.

Besides they'd make a terrible 5k shoe.

Why? I would be running a lot closer to the pace they are designed to be run in when doing a 5k than a marathon. A lot of people are saying they'd be a terrible 5k shoe, but offering no reasoning.

Comparing paces is the wrong way to look at it. Choosing shoes is about balancing weight and cushion against surface and distance. You can get away with wearing thin, hard spikes on a track because the surface offers enough shock absorption that you don't get beat up too bad. Try wearing studded Vics for a road marathon and you'll get beat to pieces. Marathon shoes add cushion and weight in order to minimize that effect. That cushion and weight will always be a liability over 5k, regardless of pace.

Seems pretty clear they cut off about 10 minutes off a typical marathon . If you can’t spend $ 100 more to get 10 minutes faster , That’s up to you .

The Profit wrote:

Seems pretty clear they cut off about 10 minutes off a typical marathon .

What?

The Profit wrote:

Seems pretty clear they cut off about 10 minutes off a typical marathon . If you can’t spend $ 100 more to get 10 minutes faster , That’s up to you .

I disagree with that. If you're coming to that conclusion based on reported recent experiences with the shoe, it's important to note that you don't have a good sample. There's unquestionably self-selection.

Since that shoe is so expensive and hard to find, the people that end up running marathons in it are those who are very motivated and focused, and have almost certainly taken many other actions to maximize their performance on that day, and are showing up at the race with the goal of running as fast as they can.

Very few people are going to wear that shoe if they are blowing off the race, given how hard it is to find a replacement. And very few are going to go to the effort of buying the shoe if they don't care about their race.

That's exactly the population that one would expect to take several minutes off of their PR. And to negative split.

Just bought the last pair of Mens size 4! I can't wait to race in these shoes with my tiny feet!

This does not explain it. I pb'd in a 5k (road) and they were great from the first step to the last. Great in corners and great for everything. I ended up being the fastest on my team that day and not for a lack of effort from everyone else.

People are going to have different opinions on the same shoe. That's kind of the nature of the industry.

plebeian wrote:

This does not explain it. I pb'd in a 5k (road) and they were great from the first step to the last. Great in corners and great for everything. I ended up being the fastest on my team that day and not for a lack of effort from everyone else.

Out of interest, what was your finish time? Just looking for a pace.

darkwave wrote:

The 5K I ran on Monday actually had very few turns - only two of 90 degrees each. I still thought the clunkiness of it detracted, especially at the start and finish. I struggled to kick in it - though that might have been also because I went out too fast....

If it was a very flat 5K course with very wide turns, I might consider it, but I'd probably still prefer the Takumi Sen or Adios. I would also avoid wearing it in any race that has a lot of kids and idiots lining up in the front (i.e. Turkey Trot, 4th of July Race, etc). You really can't swerve or dodge in these things.

You didn't ask, but there is no way in hell I'd ever wear them for a road mile.

Interesting. Thanks for answering my questions. I know I will probably end up buying these shoes at some point, more out of straight-up interest in them due to how different they are, rather than a quest for faster times. I do run more 5k races than any other distance, so I imagine I'd try them just for the hell of it. My 2nd favorite distance is HM, and I imagine they'd likely be good for those. Thanks again.

Should I put the superfeet I normally run with in these or no?

I wouldn't. They won't flex or move the same.

lollerama wrote:

Interesting. Thanks for answering my questions. I know I will probably end up buying these shoes at some point, more out of straight-up interest in them due to how different they are, rather than a quest for faster times. I do run more 5k races than any other distance, so I imagine I'd try them just for the hell of it. My 2nd favorite distance is HM, and I imagine they'd likely be good for those. Thanks again.

If you can find a pair in your size, you can always buy them for $250 and run once or twice in them. If you don't like them, put them up on ebay for sale as slightly used with a starting price of $199 and a "buy it now" of $250. That was my plan when I bought mine.

Given the current craze, I'm sure that a pair with less than 20 miles on them would be an easy sell on ebay, so you're not really risking $250.

I ran a 3:21 at the 2017 CIM marathon in the ZoomFlys that have the same carbon plate, which are 2 oz. heavier than the Vaporfly, but $100 cheaper. My previous marathon was a 3:38, so it looks like a 17 minute pr. However, if I compare it to my previous fastest time in the last 5 years (a 3:26 at the 2015 CIM), it was a 5 min PR (probably equivalent to a 7 min PR, since I'm now 50 years old).

Note that I did increase my 16-week mpw avg before the 2017 CIM from 32 mpw to 47 mpw. Overall, I think the shoes definitely have a mechanical advantage. I would say that just the shoes alone allowed me to run 2 minutes faster. (A big deal if you ever missed an OTQ or BQ by 2 minutes). The other age-equivalent 5 minutes was probably due to running an extra 15 miles per week.

My advice is to save $100 and get the slightly heavier $150 ZoomFlys, and only use them for racing (and a few runs before) so they don't wear out so quickly.

Just another experience here: I ran the same flat, fast, paved 5km race (a parkrun) about a month apart in the VP4 the first time and the Takumi Sen the second time. I ran 5 seconds faster in the Takumi Sen, but I was pushed all the way to the finish by another runner in that race which was probably worth some time. This is obviously not a perfectly-controlled experiment, but my conclusion was that there wasn't an obvious, noticeable difference in time. I do, however, like the fact that I don't have any after-race calf soreness from the VP4 like I get in a minor way with the Takumi Sen. On the other hand, as was noted by others, I too have a difficult time taking tight turns in the VP4 and I end up taking the turns quite wide. Just because of the cost, I'll probably plan on saving the VP4 for longer races (or at least longer than 5km) in order to save wearing them out. I'm running a spring marathon and will definitely wear them for that.

For what it's worth, I'm a masters runner and run around 17-flat for 5km.

gregmacd wrote:

...

I ran a 3:21 at the 2017 CIM marathon in the ZoomFlys that have the same carbon plate, which are 2 oz. heavier than the Vaporfly, but $100 cheaper.

Not the same carbon plate.

My advice is to save $100 and get the slightly heavier $150 ZoomFlys, and only use them for racing (and a few runs before) so they don't wear out so quickly.

ZoomFlys? They suck. Bricks on your feet. The Vaporfly is worth the extra $100. Or just get the adios.

They were supposed to be in stock again today in a new color.

I just checked the Nike site and they are sold out! I guess I should of set an alarm to wake up at midnight and order shoes, this is crazy, never thought I would struggle to buy a shoe I wanted to run in.

RunCzar wrote:

They were supposed to be in stock again today in a new color.

I just checked the Nike site and they are sold out! I guess I should of set an alarm to wake up at midnight and order shoes, this is crazy, never thought I would struggle to buy a shoe I wanted to run in.

They became available at 10am and were pretty much sold by noon.

I use Zoom Fly for my most of my tempo and long runs and I think they are fast shoes (have done 10 Miles @5:46 and 20-22 miles@6:26-6:28) but I feel less sore after running a faster pace in my Zoom Vaporfly 4%(22 miles@6:16, Half Race@5:59). Zoom Fly for tempo/fast long run training and Zoom Vaporfly for racing half and full marathons IMHO.