After months of training, American marathoner Jay Glidewell of St. Louis, Mo., faced every runner’s nightmare just 10K into the 2025 Berlin Marathon: his shoe completely gave out. The right sole of his well-worn Nike Vaporfly 4% Flyknits tore off, leaving him with no choice but to continue 32km barefoot.
But then came the Berlin Marathon magic. Out of the crowd, a German spectator, Sven Hock, stepped in, literally speaking, offering Glidewell his own shoes. By pure coincidence, it was the perfect size. Glidewell slipped it on, and thanks to that act of kindness, he went on to finish in 3:10:33.
“A random spectator, now friend, saved me from a trip to the podiatrist!” Glidewell wrote on social media. “He graciously lent me his right shoe, which I truly could not be any more grateful for.”
Hock had even offered both shoes, but Glidewell said he only needed the right. Unfortunately, fate wasn’t finished with him. At the 38-kilometre mark, his left shoe blew apart, forcing him to run/walk the last four kilometres in his sock and Hock’s right shoe.
Hock’s partner Stefanie later posted about the moment on social media: “It was the right timing, right place, and right shoe. It was just pure coincidence—it was the perfect size.”
As it turns out, Glidewell had been testing the limits of his Vaporflys. A look at his Strava shows he first raced in the same shoes at a marathon back in 2019, more than five years and multiple marathons ago. The Nike shoes made it known that Berlin was their final run.
Still, thanks to Hock’s generosity, the 30-year-old completed his third Abbott World Marathon Major and is already setting his sights on his fourth, the Tokyo Marathon in March 2026.
