Sabastian Sawe's London Marathon shoe weighs less than 100 grams; target came from 'moonshot brief'

Here's how Sabastian Sawe got the super shoe for the London Marathon. Know how the game-changing gear was developed.

With Sabastian Sawe winning the London Marathon and finishing the race under two hours, the focus has shifted to the factors that helped him break this major barrier and set new benchmarks in athletics. Over the past few weeks, much has been discussed about the shoes worn by the athletes. Sawe, who hails from Kenya, registered a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds to set a new benchmark. Besides the 31-year-old, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia also broke the women’s marathon record, clocking 2 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds. Moreover, another athlete, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, also finished the race under two hours, clocking 1 hour, 59 minutes and 41 seconds.

Kenyan marathon runner Sabastian Sawe poses on stage. (AFP)

All three athletes had one thing in common: the shoe. The trio wore the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, and the London event proved that this shoe could soon become the preferred choice for marathon runners around the world. It is also the first marathon shoe to weigh under 100 grams. For reference, it weighs less than a banana and a medium-sized apple. The exact weight is 97 grams, giving runners a significant advantage.

The brand developed the shoe after working closely with the athletes involved, incorporating their constant feedback to make the Adios Pro Evo 3 a true marvel. However, the shoe is not designed for everyone. The latest addition is meant for one time use and costs nearly INR 48,000.

To understand more about the shoe and how it is transforming marathon running, Hindustan Times Digital caught up with Stephan Scholten, Vice President, Product, Adidas Running. Apart from discussing the shoe, he also explained how the brand attracts athletes and the factors it takes into consideration.

Excerpts:

Firstly, please tell us about this super shoe you have developed. This is truly a game-changing moment. How difficult was it to come up with the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3?

The Adizero Adios Pro EVO 3 is a real step forward in how we think about performance running footwear at adidas. From the outset, the ambition was very clear — to create our first-ever sub-100-gram race shoe without compromising performance. That’s an incredibly difficult balance to strike. Reducing weight is one thing, but doing so while maintaining, and even improving, energy return, propulsion, and stability means rethinking how the shoe is built from the ground up.

It took multiple iterations over several years, working across our innovation and product teams and in close collaboration with elite athletes. What we ended up with is not just a lighter shoe, but a more efficient one. In fact, testing showed the adidas Adizero Adios Pro EVO 3 improves running economy by around 1.6% compared to its predecessor. That kind of marginal gain can make a real difference over marathon distance, where peak performance is all about efficiency.

I also wanted to know how the brand works to get athletes on board, and whether there's a specific skill set you look for before bringing someone on.

For us, it’s about building long-term partnerships rather than simply signing athletes. We work with individuals who are performing at the highest level but are also open to collaboration and to pushing things forward.

In running, that means athletes who are deeply engaged in what they do and who can give clear, detailed feedback on how a product performs across different distances and conditions. That insight is incredibly valuable in shaping how we design and refine our footwear. It’s a genuine two-way relationship. We bring the science and engineering, and they bring real-world experience at the very highest level of the sport.

A lot of chatter is about the shoe's weight and rightly so. How did you narrow down on the weight being less than 100 grams, and when did you realise that you have something truly remarkable at your disposal?

The sub-100-gram target came from what we describe internally as a ‘moonshot brief’: a very ambitious goal designed to push beyond incremental improvement. We wanted to completely redefine what’s possible in long-distance running. Each part of the shoe was examined – from the foam and carbon structure through to the upper, the laces, and even the smallest components. Because when you’re aiming for that level of weight reduction, every little detail matters.

There wasn’t a single moment when we realised we had something special. It was more a process of ongoing validation – in the lab, in real-world testing and when we were getting direct feedback from athletes like Sabastian Sawe. We could see we weren’t just reducing weight; we were also improving efficiency and performance. That’s when it became clear we were onto something genuinely game-changing. And to see it come to life with Sabastian’s world record in London was an amazing moment for all of us.

Lastly, what's next for you? Is there something the brand wants to work on next that could be game-changing for athletes around the world?

For us, it’s always about what’s next, but that doesn’t mean chasing extremes for the sake of it. It’s about continuing to improve performance in ways that genuinely matter to athletes. That could be through new materials, how different technologies work together, or a deeper understanding of how the athlete and the product interact.

The adidas Adizero Adios Pro EVO 3 is a great example of that mindset. It shows what’s possible when you bring together science, creativity and athlete insight. The focus now is on building on that – not just for elite athletes, but across the whole running community.