My friends, indulge me for a minute, while we step into the running shoe Wayback Machine, when spikes cost $30, buying running shoes online was unheard of, and Bob Kennedy was the face of Nike Running.

For me, it was 2004. I was starting my sophomore year of college, and after getting my mileage up to 70 miles per week the previous spring and putting in a solid summer of base, I decided it was time to ditch my old Adidas Neptune spikes and pick up some new kicks for cross-country. I remember walking into The Inside Track, a running shop in Harrisburg, PA, and trying on their selection. I also remember falling in love with a hot pair of orange spikes with red fire on the side. They were more than double the price of any other spike in the store, but I knew from the moment that I put them on that they were worth the extra money. This shoe was the Nike Zoom Kennedy XC, the original super spike.

Nike had introduced the Zoom Kennedy and Zoom Kennedy XC in honor of Olympian and renowned distance runner Bob Kennedy. Unlike its track counterpart, the Zoom Kennedy, which lined up five spikes up along the big toe, the Kennedy XC had 3 spikes on either side of the forefoot, a pattern that will no doubt look familiar to spike-enthusiasts today. It’s not *quite* the same pattern as is on today’s Zoom Victory, but the influence is there, and believe me, it worked on everything from well-groomed golf courses to muddy messes to rock-strewn trails. Each spike was on a circular platform that jutted out from the sole, a sharp contrast to the slightly recessed spikes that many other shoes sported. In addition to the spikes, the sole of the Kennedy XC had a shark’s teeth-like patterned rubber forefoot and heel that were connected by a thin plastic bridge. The bridge gave the shoe just a touch of stiffness for response and pop, while being small and unobtrusive enough to not weigh down the shoe or interfere with the foot’s motion.

The Zoom Kennedy XC’s upper was incredibly thin for its day, a huge difference from the Adidas spikes I had worn previously. The toe was reinforced with an extra piece of material to add some durability, a feature still seen on many spikes today, and there was a thin rubber overlay on the sides to give the shoe some shape and hug the midfoot. The last was aggressively curved and the forefoot was narrow, giving the shoe had a performance fit that wrapped the foot like a glove. The cushioning was practically non-existent, a definite boon on wet and muddy courses since there was less shoe to absorb water, though there was a little bit more underfoot for protection than was on its track counterpart. Additionally, the Kennedy and Kennedy XC were released in a myriad of colorways, including the aforementioned fire pattern, a camo color scheme that I longed for yet could never find in my size, a black/white and a red/yellow fade, and the famed University of Colorado and University of Michigan track spike colorways.

In 2006, Bob Kennedy signed with Puma, and the Kennedy XC was renamed the GHAC XC. Not long thereafter, the Kennedys were replaced by shoes like the Miler. I still see them from time to time on eBay, though most people have moved to the newer and lighter Victory, Victory XC, Mamba, and Matumbo. However, the Kennedy will always hold a special place in my heart, and you better believe that if I saw a pair of camo Kennedy XCs in my size, I’d snatch them up!