Runner misses world record at Berlin Marathon due to faulty Nike sneakers

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Sep 30, 2015

Kenyan runner, Eliud Kipchoge ran into an issue at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday that left him 63 seconds short of a marathon world record. The issue was a footwear malfunction that Kipchoge blames on his footwear provider, Nike.

 
“I had pain in my foot, but what could I do?” he said to Runner’s World. “I had to finish the race.”
 
The shoe’s insole started to fall out in the first mile of the race and almost fell out entirely by the 10-mile mark. Kipchoge continued, ““It was not easy,” he said. “There are blisters on the left foot and my big toe is cut, with lots of blood.” Kipchoge finished the race in 2 hours, 4 minutes, a personal best, but 63 seconds shy of the world record 2 hours, 2 minutes and 57 seconds set by Dennis Kimetto in 2014.

“The glue on the insole did not stick,” he said. “It is a good shoe and I have tested that same shoe in training, but that is sport. I have to accept it. I think I would have run faster than that but I don’t know the time.”
 
T.J. Crawford, a spokesman for Nike, told the Wall Street Journal that the faulty shoe was actually a prototype that Kipchoge was testing.
 
"As he has done in previous races, Eliud was testing a prototype racing flat which we’ve been working on together for several months," said Crawford. “As with any prototype, elements can sometimes go wrong. On this occasion, the sockliner didn’t work. As in all innovation, we will learn quickly from mistakes."
 
Despite falling 63 seconds shy of a world record and experiencing a bloody running shoe, Kipchoge did win the Berlin Marathon.

The media fallout remains to be seen.