Adidas to showcase wild new super shoe at ultrarunning event

In the constant pursuit to push the limits of performance and science, Adidas is unveiling one of its boldest innovations yet: the Adizero Evo Prime X, a shoe designed with a singular purpose—breaking ultrarunning records.

The new model, featuring a towering 60mm heel stack that adds nearly three inches to your personal height, was revealed on social media by Formula 1 driver and endurance athlete Valtteri Bottas. Its official debut will come on Aug. 26 at the Chasing100 event, hosted at Adidas Global HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany. There, world record-holder Aleksandr Sorokin and Japanese ultrarunner Jo Fukuda will wear the shoe as they attempt to lower Sorokin’s 100K world record of 6:05:35.

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we‘ll probably give him his own documentary series now #adizero #valterribottas #running #adidas

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Adidas is openly targeting a sub-six-hour finish, and to break that barrier, Sorokin, Fukuda and three other Adidas ultrarunners will need to average 3:35 per kilometre for 100K.

The Adizero Evo Prime X was designed to make that possible, with its thick, ultra-responsive Lightstrike Pro Evo foam, which is a thermoplastic elastomer (TPEE) compound that Adidas says is five per cent more responsive than any of its previous racing shoes, including the Adizero Evo Pro 1, which helped set the previous women’s marathon world record of 2:11:53.

The midsole is the brand’s highest stack ever, sitting at a reported 20 mm above World Athletics’ legal limit for road competition (40 mm). That means the Evo Prime X is built purely for time trials and record attempts, but cannot be worn by the pros in sanctioned races.

Adidas hasn’t yet announced a release date for the Evo Prime X, but with its wild design and the possibility that ultrarunners’ performances will validate the science behind it, we imagine it could hit shelves before the end of the year. And when it does, it will surely carry a price tag equivalent to the hype.