In the early hours of Tuesday morning in Nardo, Italy, Adidas staged a bold experiment. The German sportswear giant assembled five of the world’s fastest ultrarunners for its Chasing100 challenge, tasking them to race 100K in the brand’s newest prototype: the Adizero Evo Prime X racer.
The gamble paid off. South Africa’s Sibusiso Kubheka became the first man in history to break the six-hour barrier, clocking 5:59:20. His performance was more than six minutes faster than the current world record of 6:05:35. However, it won’t be officially recognized, due to the race’s setup and the shoes’ non-compliance with World Athletics 40 mm road racing regulations.
To put Kubheka’s pace in perspective, he averaged 3:36 per kilometre for 100K, the equivalent of running back-to-back 2:32 marathons, with time to spare. He wasn’t alone in rewriting the record books: American Charlie Lawrence and reigning world-record holder Aleksandr Sorokin of Lithuania also ran under 6:05. Sorokin’s 2023 mark will remain the official record, as it was set under sanctioned conditions with race-legal footwear.
The spotlight, however, belonged to Adidas’s futuristic racing shoe: the Adizero Evo Prime X. This racer is rumoured to feature a 60 mm stack height, 20 mm above the legal limit, and a new Lightstrike Pro Evo foam compound, with five per cent more responsiveness than any of the brand’s previous racing models. According to Adidas, the shoe was designed specifically to withstand six hours of “near-marathon intensity.”
New boundaries set as South Africa’s Sibusiso Khubeka run 5:59:20 over 100km for the adidas chasing 100 event
American Charlie Lawrence and official 100k WR holder Aleksandr Sorokin also run under Sorokins 6:05 official WR! pic.twitter.com/VPRnJGueLG
— Cuan Walker (@runwithcuan) August 26, 2025
For Kubheka, 27, his performance was a personal triumph. Hailing from Durban, he nearly quit the sport in 2022 after a year-long hamstring injury. Since his comeback, he has been a consistent contender at South Africa’s famous Nedbank Runified Breaking Barriers 50K, and is currently training for the Comrades Marathon in June 2026.
Adidas has not yet confirmed whether the Adizero Evo Prime X racer will ever reach the market. But if it does, after powering the first-ever sub-six-hour 100K, we can expect it will carry a hefty price tag.
