[all images courtesy of Nike]

You know Nike is trying to run a marathon in less than 2 hours, right?

The Zoom VaporFly Elite is the shoe that Eliud Kipchoge, Lelisa Desisa and Zersenay Tadese will wear while attempting to break this barrier on the Monza Formula 1 circuit later this year.

It doesn’t look like your typical lightweight, racing shoe does it? That’s because it’s not.

The biggest innovation is Nike’s new midsole material called ZoomX. Nike claims it is “remarkably” lighter, softer and more responsive than traditional foams, which is the same claim every single company has been making in the past year or two.

You can see they mean business though when you take a look at this shoe. The forefoot stack height is 21mm and a heel height of 30mm – for a heel to toe drop of 9mm.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of this shoe is the fact that the lightweight, resilient ZoomX midsole contains an unidirectional carbon fiber plate customized to the individual athlete.

You can see the plate in the picture below, courtesy of the New York Times:

The idea is to offer soft cushioning for the long race while maintaining responsiveness and speed.

The Zoom VaporFly Elite are not for sale. It’s Nike’s Formula 1 car. But they are about to release three more shoes inspired by this concept. Here’s the whole collection:

Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4%

This is the closest you can get to the real deal.

The Zoom Vaporfly 4% employs the ZoomX midsole of the Elite combined with a full-length carbon fiber plate.

All with the objective to provide at the same time superior cushioning and a greater energy return.

Why the 4% in the name? Nike claims these shoes ceteris paribus will make runners 4% more efficient compared to Nike’s previous fastest marathon shoe.

Here’s more pictures for the Zoom Vaporfly 4%. You can read our review of the Zoom Vaporfly 4% here.

Nike Zoom Fly

The Zoom Fly is the everyday trainer that doubles up as marathon racing shoe.

In fairnes the similarities with the Vaporfly (either of them) are mostly aesthetic and geometrical.

There is a lot of cushioning, provided by Lunarlon foam and a 10mm heel to toe differential.

Here are the imags we have.

Nike Zom Pegasus 34

Last in this collection is the update to the Nike Pegasus. You can read our Nike Pegasus 34 review here.

Cushlon ST foam, Zoom Air units both in the heel and forefoot and an updated Flymesh upper are the main technologies in this update.

All three shoes in the collection – the Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4%, Zoom Fly and Zoom Pegasus 34 will be available on June 8th 2017