Why Kipchoge’s marathon Shoes will not win you a Golf Championship

Eliud Kipchoge: He did 42 kilometres in under two hours. Those criticising the role his shoes played might as well go back to the days we ran barefoot and have all subsequent records annulled. [File, Standard] 

The green monster has reared its ugly head as naysayers try to pour ice-cold water on Eliud Kipchoge’s epic feat of breaking the two-hour marathon barrier.

 Apparently, a complaint has been raised by a group of Elite runners, that Nike’s new sneakers, the Vaporfly 4per cent and Nextper cent, worn recently by runners who set the fastest times in the history of long-distance events, give such runners “unfair advantages” in competitions.

 According to the same claims, the models in question, and what they promote, are really “ruining” the sport.

 Let’s read that again and ask a few questions. First, who is stopping these complainers from getting the same shoes and breaking the record? Like Kenenisa Bekele is doing, and Brigid Kosgei did with success.

Stone Age

Second, should we reset all running records set while wearing shoes? Go back to the Stone Age? Early man used to walk and run barefoot centuries ago. This must have been punishing on his feet that had to contend with terrain replete with thorns and jagged edge rocks.

 So, he came up with an idea of wrapping some skin made of tree bark to protect his feet. And voila! The concept of shoes was born. Since then the shoe has undergone thousands of changes.

In this business, the shoe is not everything. [file, Standard]

 Fast forward to competitive running in the days of early Greeks, in particular the original Marathon Competition. The runners must have realised that their bulky heavy shoes were dragging them down.

 So, instead of tough skin from elephants and rhinos, they changed to thinner and lighter goatskin. Since then the traditional shoe has undergone thousands of changes.

The modern running shoe is not only a work of art, but machine-optimised to offer maximum comfort, protection and efficiency to the runner.

 When Wes Santee tried to break the four-minute Mile at the 1952 Olympics, he wore a custom-made shoe by Finish shoemaker Karhu. The shoe was never an issue of contention.

 Likewise, Armin Hary wore the Puma Tempo 1 as he attempted to break the 100-metre world record at the 1960 Games. Armin didn't break it, but he did win gold. Nobody complained about the shoes.

 Carl Lewis wore custom Nike Zoom ultra-light track spikes when he made history at the 1984 Olympics, becoming the first person since Jesse Owens to win gold in four Track & Field events in one Olympic. Nobody complained that the lighter shoes gave him some unfair advantage over other sprinters.

Custom spike

 Similarly, the Nike Olympic Gold Shoe was customised or track legend Michael Johnson, for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Nike designers noticed that Johnson's right leg rotated significantly when he turned a corner on the 200-metre sprint. So they created a custom spike plate for each foot. Again nobody complained.

The long-distance runners’ biggest occupation hazard is damage to the knees due to the repeated pounding on the ground as they run.

 Manufacturers have therefore been competing on innovating the most comfortable and lightest shoe. Improvement of the running shoe is, therefore, an ongoing process. 

 Unlike sprinters who step on the ground with the front part of their feet only, long-distance runners use the whole foot, stepping first on the heel and rolling their foot forward to the toes, then pushing off.

Manufacturers noticed this and started creating shoes that had the heel section separated from the rest of the sole. An inbuilt metal piece connected the two pieces. Almost all the top manufacturers, Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, Asics, New Balance, and others, feature this design.

Nike seems to have innovated even further by creating a shoe that contains a carbon fibre plate underfoot provides a propulsive sensation to help you push the pace, which assists with a 4per cent energy conservation.

 That push-forward is nothing. Yours sincerely had a similar experience when training for the New York City marathon. I almost tripped on the treadmill when I wore the New Balance 911 shoe for the first time.

 Carbon fibre plates

There was this strange feeling as if I was being pushed forward. I would only find out about the metal plate years later when the sole came off. Of course, nobody complained about me having set my personal best time!

When Kipchoge attempted to break the two-hour record in 2017 but missed it by 26 seconds, he wore the Nike Vaporfly 4per cent the precursor to his current shoe. It had an earlier version of the trampoline-push forward feature. Nobody complained then. The shoe was never an issue.

Nike’s new ZoomX VaporflyNEXTper cent that these athletes want to brand as controversial, features a full-length, carbon fibre plate underfoot that provides a propulsive sensation that appears to help push forward. I see no problem with that. The shoe does not run; it is the runner who does.

Shocking

It also has other innovative features, including a thick Nike ZoomX foam sole and VaporWeave material uppers, which make the shoe super comfortable when running, obviously giving the runner an advantage compared to those running in akalas!

 But only the carbon fibre plate seems to be the problem? That does not make sense. It was never an issue until he broke the record.

It is therefore shocking to hear of some elite runners complain about Kipchoge’s shoe. It is nothing but an attempt to steal his thunder.

Ryan Hall, who holds the US record for the half-marathon and finished 10th in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics, contends that when a shoe company puts multiple carbon fibre plates in a shoe with a cushion between the plates it is no longer a shoe but a spring.

So what drives the spring? The runner’s energy, buddy. Do the shoes become jet skis or have Fast and Furious type Nitrous gas jet thrusters? Absolutely not. 

Calling for banning of these shoes, and deleting of this record feat, is like asking for all athletic records to be deleted so we go back and start running barefoot!

 

Run naked

 He might as well propose that we run naked since moisture-wicking materials used for running shirts and running compression shorts help with disposal sweat from the skin surface, unlike old-style cotton that just stays there and weigh the runner down.

 If you dig deeper, you will realise that the sour grapes and besmirching are being fueled by competing shoe companies, jealous of Nike’s innovation and success.

The article being quoted is by Gianni Demadonna, a career athlete agent dedicated to athletes sponsored by a rival shoe company. Bingo!

 MBAs have a song, Innovate or Die. Some of these shoe companies see nothing but darkness in the future in a world dominated by Nike. They see themselves being wiped off the market.

That would be sad if it happened, but I doubt that it will. It is competition that drives companies to research and innovate new products, leading to better products. At the end of the day, the consumer is the winner.

Closer home to our sport of golf, metal spikes used to be de rigueur in golf shoes. These were replaced by soft spikes at the turn of the century. 

Today, spikeless shoes are in vogue.

When Tiger Woods underwent knee surgery in 2011, Nike designed the TW '11 shoe for him to help support his injured knee and Achilles tendon.[File, Standard]

Nike again is leading in customising and innovating golf footwear. When Tiger underwent knee surgery in 2011, Nike designed the TW '11 shoe for Woods to help support his injured knee and Achilles tendon.

Tony Finau went from Hero to Zero at the 2018 Masters Par 3 Contest when he made a hole-in-one, then twisted his ankle as he ran backwards in celebration.

 Finau and Nike then teamed up to create a signature shoe for the 29-year-old to wear at the 2019 Masters, the Finau1 boot, one that they claim “provides ankle support right when you need it most." 

 Since the end of the last century, Footjoy has been selling shoes with no shoelaces. Instead, they had a knob at the back of the shoe that you turned to tighten or loosen the shoe. The Adidas Tour 360XT BOA shoe now has a similar knob but this time at the front the shoe where the laces would be.

 

Stronger, flat-bellied

The question the naysayer and enemies of development should be asking is, at what point does new technology create an unfair or unsporting advantage in running. In Golf it is set at 0.83.

Coefficient of Restitution, COR, is a measure of how efficiently the golf clubface transfers energy onto the golf ball.

COR was never an issue until the late 1990s when in just a few years, the industry norm for COR jumped from around 0.7 to above 0.85 thanks to new, ultra-thin, fast Titanium face drivers.

This saw courses being rendered obsolete by Titanium face drivers and stronger flat-bellied young golfers. Par-4 Holes designed for Driver-Long iron play, were now being tamed with a Driver-Wedge combination. Par-5s became reachable in two shots.

The only reason there are limits on golf clubs ability to drive the ball long is because golf courses have a finite length once constructed.

 To mitigate this unexpected drives, the options are then either to build 10,000-yard long courses, or roll back the maximum distance the ball can travel, or limit the COR on club faces.

The first option is not viable since few courses have room behind the Tips to build new tees. Jack Nicklaus has been pushing for the ball rollback, but is facing fierce blow back from ball manufacturers.

The USGA and R&A are currently using the COR option.
 Golf is a test of various skills. Driving long helps, but is not everything. But if indeed you want to showcase your long driving skills, Art Selinger has created the Long Driving Tour for you.
This year’s winner was Kyle Berkshire who bombed it 407 Yards. In the ladies category, Chloe Garner won with a humongous 346-yards! At the World Long Drive Championship, long driving has no Limits, as Kipchoge would say.

Enjoy your golf; keep it in the short grass. [email protected], @pigamingi1