Nike Shoes May Have Cost Gentleman Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge World Record: Says Just ‘Bad Luck’

On Sunday, at the 42nd running of the Berlin Marathon, sponsored by BMW, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge managed to take the top spot despite his Nike shoes literally falling apart while he was running. The soft-spoken Kenyan stated that he felt the shoes begin to fail at about the 1km mark of the 42km race. Kipoche eclipsed his personal best by four seconds, finishing the BMW Berlin Marathon in 2:04:04, according the the BMW Berlin Marathon website.

The current world marathon record of 2:02:57 was set at the 2014 event in Berlin by Dennis Kimetto, as reported by Runner’s World. Seeing as how Eliud Kipchoge ran over forty kilometers with the insoles slipping, and eventually half-falling out the back of his shoes, it seems likely that he would have at least come close to the world record had his Nike shoes not malfunctioned.

“When you are running without your insoles there is a lot of impact, actually, with the road,” Kipchoge stated in a post-marathon interview with rbb. “I had a lot of pain in my foot. I am happy, I ran my personal best.”

In a 2012 video, fellow Nike-sponsored athlete, pro surfer Kolohe Andino, can be seen growing frustrated, punching and breaking his surfboard in what was only an early round heat. Eliud Kipchoge’s lighthearted take on a heartbreaking near world record miss seems positively benevolent in comparison.

“It wasn’t a good day for me in these shoes, although they’re actually very good,” Kipchoge was quoted about his shoes. “I tested them in Kenya but just had bad luck on the day.”

Fellow Kenyan Eliud Kiptanui finished in second place in the men’s marathon with a time of 2:05:21 and Ethiopian Feyisa Lilesa finished third with a time of 2:06:57.

Kenyan Gladys Cherono won the woman’s marathon in Berlin with a time of 2:19:25, the third fastest time ever recorded. Aberu Kebede and Meseret Hailu, both from Ethiopia, finished second and third with times of 2:20:48 and 2:24:33, respectively.

A Nike spokesperson, T.J. Crawford, explained that the shoes were prototypes and that Nike had been working together with Eliud Kipchoge on the design for several months.

“As with any prototype, elements can sometimes go wrong,” the Nike representative stated to the Wall Street Journal. “On this occasion, the sockliner didn’t work. As in all innovation, we will learn quickly from mistakes.”

At the 1997 New York City Marathon, Kenyan and Nike-sponsored John Kagwe, experienced an equipment malfunction when the laces of his shoes became untied three times. Kagwe still won the event, but the unraveling laces were reported to have cost him the course record. Recognizing this, Nike paid the marathoner a $10,000 bonus that he was promised if he was able to post such a high water mark.

The shoe malfunction has the potential to keep Eliud Kipchoge out of Kenya’s competitive Olympic marathon team, which is chosen by committee. A world record would have assured the marathon champion a spot on the team, which now may be in doubt.

Of the top 10 marathoners in the world, eight are from Kenya. Kenyans from the Great Rift Valley have long dominated the long-distance running elite. There has been much speculation as to what makes Kenya Rift Valley runners so fast. Runner’s World discussed the Kenyan runners, the fact that children who live in the Rift Valley walk an average of 7.5km per day, that they possess extremely low body mass indexes and an ability to consume large amounts of oxygen. The article notes that while Kenya undoubtedly produces more world-class, long-distance runners than most countries, the reasons for this aren’t fully understood.

A second Runner’s World article discusses how many Kenyans grow up running without shoes, causing them to contact the ground with the front of their feet, instead of the rear, as people who have grown up with shoes do. That Eliud Kipchoge could run over 40km in Nike shoes with slipping insoles and still win the event is nothing short of remarkable.

[Screenshot courtesy of hoslat/YouTube; Photos by Martin Rose, Bongarts/Getty Images]