Traveling to New York City on behalf of iRun, Christa Davidson gets the rundown on the science and tech behind, the latest innovation from Adidas. Even better? Davidson got a taste of the celebrity treatment, including running swag and a professional photo shoot to #boost!
By Christa Davidson
With the running shoe design trend of blinding, high-voltage colours, the Ultra Boost’s navy blue and black, is deceptively understated. I know better than to judge a shoe by its cover and the look is perhaps fundamentalist if not refreshing. Packaging is good, but I wanted to know more about what makes this the greatest running shoe ever.
While waiting for the presentations and group interviews to begin, I had my Adidas photo shoot. With models, a stylist, makeup artist and photographer, who had a real camera and not an iPhone I wondered how this was really my life.
There’s a whole lot of science behind the design of running shoes and Adidas are truly committed to making the best shoe possible for runners. Adidas has performed test after test on how the human foot–and all its bones–react to the impact of the footfall. This research has lead the company to design an upper that moves with the foot which reduces friction and minimizes blisters. Stretching as the foot hits the ground producing a softer landing that helps to diffuse impact, the shoe’s outsole offers a flexible elasticity.
Using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), a material exclusive to Adidas, gives the shoes its boost. Other shoes use ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) which according to Adidas, is not as resilient as the TPU they use and doesn’t offer runners the boost, or energy return.
Adidas athlete Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (2014 Virgin Money London Marathon Winner, among other accolades) participated in one of the shoe demonstrations.
Current Issue
Previous Issue
Prior Release
So Christa, how did the shoes feel? You didn’t give us any insight on how it is different to run with these shoes.