Kartik Karkera, one of Indias top marathoners, on the advantage of a Super Shoe

(Right) Kartik Karkera during the 21st edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon; Sabastian Sawe holding up the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 after running the London Marathon in under two hours. (PTI/AP Photo)By Kartik KarkeraThe difference between an elite international athlete like Sabastian Sawe and an athlete like me is that he uses a prototype or development shoe made specifically for him by the brand (Adidas), which sponsors him. But I wear a pair of shoe that can be bought in the market. For the marathons in Mumbai and Delhi, I wore the ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyo. Its price range starts from Rs 25,000, but it is not the latest version. For an athlete like Sawe, or another elite athlete with a shoe sponsor, the shoe size won’t be like a standard UK size 8 or 9 but will be the one that fits their leg perfectly. These prototype shoes are sometimes not released in the market at all. Not accessible At the Bengaluru 10K, I saw international athletes wearing a development shoe of ASICS — MS5 Type-P. I asked my ASICS manager if I could also get a pair, but I was told it would be very difficult. Only in the Olympic Games and the World Championships are runners not allowed to use the prototype or development shoe. Now, I have a sponsorship from ASICS. There is ASICS India and there is ASICS Global. So, the elite global athletes get the prototype. Before this year, I used to buy all my shoes. I used to buy Nike shoes, ASICS shoes, shoes from Anta, a Chinese company, which are very good and much cheaper. I have spent a lot on carbon-plated shoes. Potential gain If I get a prototype shoe and have a good course to run, I can run a sub-2 hour, 10 minute time, while my personal best is 2:13:10 achieved at the Delhi marathon. Super Shoes give you an advantage when you run a longer distance, like in the 5K it won’t be much, and it will be more in the 10K.Story continues below this ad But that said, Sawe deserves credit because you have to put in the hard work even while running with prototype shoes. If you can’t hold the speed the shoes can take you, then you can’t use that shoe. Sawe was capable of running at that speed and was able to break the world record. Feeling faster I started professional running post COVID. I was using the Pegasus (Nike) and Adidas Adizero, which was a flat version. I didn’t have access to a carbon-plated shoe. The first time I wore a carbon-plated shoe, it was the Nike Vaporfly in 2021. I wore it for one of my university races (in Russia), then I wore it for some half marathons there as well. The Nike Vaporfly was the version that Eliud Kipchoge wore in Monza (Nike Breaking2 project). It reduced a lot of load on my legs and I immediately felt faster. I ran 1 hour and 6 minutes (66 minutes) in a half marathon while wearing Super Shoes. Before that I was running the half marathon in 72 minutes. At that time, I would say the shoes helped me 50 percent at least and the rest was my hard work. Welcome to a new era of fast. The #Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. Now officially the sub-2-shoe. pic.twitter.com/yOCWO9zXRJ — adidas (@adidas) April 27, 2026 Injury for amateurs Being an orthopaedic doctor, I see a lot of cases of amateur runners, who have not trained enough, getting injured because of running in Super Shoes when their body is not ready for it. Amateur runners are having crazy knee issues and a lot of Achilles’ tendon ruptures. It’s because when they wear the Super Shoes, they are able to push more than their body is capable of. But when they remove the shoe, they are back to reality. They feel they have overrun. Not just shoes Of course, it’s not just the shoes. The science, nutrition, and talent of the runners also matter. I think Sawe is like a science project because of the research in a lab to help him run faster. They have a huge team behind him and lots of money has been put into the athlete. I don’t have a private sponsor. They also have specialised pacers, so they are not sh