So does anyone know what shoes Scott Fauble and Jared Ward raced in in Boston?

Anyone know where I can get a pair of the shoes Ward was wearing? I assume he was following the rules and they are reasonably available to all.

It’s not the shoes it’s the athlete for Christ sake! Those can run in Onitsuka Tiger marathons from the early 70’s for that matter and still make qualifying times. Are you guys serious and think shoes make great athletes?

HOKA wrote:

https://www.hokaoneone.com/mens-road/evo-carbon-rocket/1100049.html#start=12&cgid=mens-competition

Ward, who is sponsored by Saucony, certainly didn't run in Hokas.

Donyiyo wrote:

It’s not the shoes it’s the athlete for Christ sake! Those can run in Onitsuka Tiger marathons from the early 70’s for that matter and still make qualifying times. Are you guys serious and think shoes make great athletes?

The shoes give a very real advantage. If you put them in Tigers they will absolutely run significantly slower if not even DNF as they're used to training in vastly superior footwear. If you went back in time and gave 1985 Steve Jones a pair of 4% he would have run 2:04 surely. Ward has been using an unreleased shoe since the NYC marathon, I like him but idk how Saucony isn't getting flak for this. Maybe it's because their other top pros don't appear to race in them.

Scott is using a version of the Carbon Rocket from Hoka.

Ward is wearing a type of the Saucony prototype. Most of them have been green upper with a variety of midsoles and plates, but this upper is the Dunkin version with prototype midsole and plate.

Weird, I seem to remember the title of this thread having two names in it.

Donyiyo wrote:

It’s not the shoes it’s the athlete for Christ sake! Those can run in Onitsuka Tiger marathons from the early 70’s for that matter and still make qualifying times. Are you guys serious and think shoes make great athletes?

Whoa take a chill pill dude

Sesamoiditis wrote:

Anyone know where I can get a pair of the shoes Ward was wearing? I assume he was following the rules and they are reasonably available to all.

I was thinking that too. So according to the previous comment by forcerunner he was wearing a shoe that's not on the market yet?

Correct

When you say “version” of carbon rocket...also a prototype, or the shoe we can buy in stores?

Takinadump wrote:

Donyiyo wrote:

It’s not the shoes it’s the athlete for Christ sake! Those can run in Onitsuka Tiger marathons from the early 70’s for that matter and still make qualifying times. Are you guys serious and think shoes make great athletes?

The shoes give a very real advantage. If you put them in Tigers they will absolutely run significantly slower if not even DNF as they're used to training in vastly superior footwear. If you went back in time and gave 1985 Steve Jones a pair of 4% he would have run 2:04 surely. Ward has been using an unreleased shoe since the NYC marathon, I like him but idk how Saucony isn't getting flak for this. Maybe it's because their other top pros don't appear to race in them.

Yet, Salazar is the only runner in history who would run a "2:08" in 4% shoes and at a flat euro course.

Standing up for AS wrote:

Takinadump wrote:

The shoes give a very real advantage. If you put them in Tigers they will absolutely run significantly slower if not even DNF as they're used to training in vastly superior footwear. If you went back in time and gave 1985 Steve Jones a pair of 4% he would have run 2:04 surely. Ward has been using an unreleased shoe since the NYC marathon, I like him but idk how Saucony isn't getting flak for this. Maybe it's because their other top pros don't appear to race in them.

Yet, Salazar is the only runner in history who would run a "2:08" in 4% shoes and at a flat euro course.

Idk who said that but that's obviously wrong.

rojo wrote:

I'm assuming it wasn't the 4%.

-Rojo

PS. Should we assume they really are now 2:07 guys if they wore those? ;)

I saw an IG comment that Jared will take about it briefly on his webinar next week.

Fauble was definitely jsut wearing the Carbon Rockets, as Hoka's next marathon shoe doesn't come out until June and from what I hear they're not letting people race in it until it's out.

Ward definitely wasn't wearing Kinvaras despite the Dunkin Donut upper design. Not sure exactly how he's allowed to wear the prototypes after the rule change though. Same with the Nike athletes wearing the "5%" shoe for the last year or so (the 4% with the higher stack height). Hasay was wearing them too, and supposedly customized to counter her overpronation (modifications are legal though).

Would be nice if somebody here could clear up the rulebook with the prototypes. Brooks/Saucony/Nike athletes all wear them, but Hoka athletes can't.

So should i file a protest and get Ward DQd? Who else? Laura Muir right from Euro indoors? Who am I missing?

rojo wrote:

So should i file a protest and get Ward DQd? Who else? Laura Muir right from Euro indoors? Who am I missing?

Ritz's Brooks prototype and the Nike "5%ers" apparently.

Not that I want everybody to be DQed, but it's silly to have a rule that everybody (except Hoka) is blatantly ignoring.

reed wrote:

Same with the (redacted) athletes wearing the "5%" shoe for the last year or so (the 4% with the higher stack height). Hasay was wearing them too, and supposedly customized to counter her overpronation (modifications are legal though).

Would be nice if somebody here could clear up the rulebook with the prototypes. ..

Those aren't the 5%. They're something better.

Hasay looks like she was wearing the regular plain 4% Flyknit crimson edition at Boston 2019. Check the photos again.

My take is the Boston marathon is USATF, not IAAF. No rule against prototypes for Boston.

Yeah, it's as confusing as the new OTQ process.

What shoe was the Wired guy wearing? It looks like a Black Vaporfly with a swoosh on it? Is it the Vaporfly elite flyprint $350 version?