Hear From Our Ultimate Wear-Tester on the New Zoom Fly 6
- October 10, 2024
Seeing Eliud Kipchoge fly by at a 4:34 marathon pace is catching just a glimpse of the greatest of all time honing his craft. Most of his running career hinges on the thankless, unglamorous, but essential training sessions that build his reserve for breaking records. The Kenyan marathoner is synonymous with the Vaporfly and the Alphafly, the pinnacle of Nike’s racing products. In reality, Kipchoge uses many different shoes during training for different workouts — long, easy runs, fartleks, hills, and more. He doesn’t just need a super shoe. He needs a super trainer — a shoe that borrows traditional components from racing footwear, like carbon fiber plates and unique midsole geometries, and translates them into a more durable shoe for year-round training.
The Zoom Fly 6 is Eliud’s latest addition to his training quiver for those days when he needs to push the pace. The silhouette is also emblematic of Eliud’s commitment to test, improve and validate Nike Running’s full lineup of race footwear. According to Elliott Heath, Sr. Expert of Running Footwear at Nike, Eliud’s product knowledge borders on the professional.
In his product feedback, Eliud can turn the most standard note taking into pure poetry ("The arch feels good, and therefore, the foot cannot be disturbed").
“We've started to call Eliud our Product Line Manager on the ground,” says Heath. “He’s doing hand sketches and writing dedicated notes about our prototypes — That’s his baseline. Over the last couple years, he’s gone to the next level of building feedback sheets, giving them to his running camp teammates and asking them to give their own notes. He’s the world’s best marathoner, but he actually feels like a member of our product team.”
In the past, Eliud has incorporated the Zoom Fly into his rotation, especially the 5, which was a perfect trainer for his easy Monday runs; he’ll step outside his front door and go anywhere from 12 to 18 miles. When he tested the 6, he immediately noticed the lighter weight and more comfortable upper, both of which he relayed to Heath in his soft-spoken, methodical manner. He’s willing to give constructive feedback, too, but always graciously, such as when he recommended adding a slightly more durable material along the outsole, helping the shoe better withstand a rigorous training schedule. “It’s worth giving a thought,” he scribbled in his notes.
“Anytime an athlete wants us to be a part of their 95% as well as their 5% on race day, that’s when we have the real potential to better serve our runners."
Elliott Heath, Nike Sr. Expert, Running Footwear
Other cues from Eliud, says Heath, are less obvious but just as revealing. A thoughtfully long pause between sentences. A decisive nod of the head about a feature that’s working. Most notably — and this is what happened with the Zoom Fly 6 — he simply smiles, turning the shoe over in his hands.
Watching Eliud so eagerly review every shoe in Nike’s lineup is inspiring for Heath and his team. Eliud’s notes help ensure that every Nike silhouette serves a distinct purpose. No one’s as qualified to give that precise, attuned feedback as the greatest marathoner of all time.
“Eliud’s commitment to testing our shoes is a testament to how we partner with athletes all the time, not just on race day,” says Heath. “What you do in a race is 5% of your running journey. Anyone who’s racing marathons is spending 95% of their time in other shoes, gritting their teeth through the easy and hard miles that aren’t glamorous. Anytime an athlete wants us to be a part of their 95% as well as their 5% on race day, that’s when we have the real potential to better serve our runners.”