LONDON - Adidas' newest running shoes, worn by Ethiopia's Tigist Assefa on Sunday to set a new women's marathon world record in Berlin, went on sale on Tuesday with an eye-watering price tag that will test the enthusiasm of amateur runners.
At $500 a pair, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 cost $225 more than Nike's equivalent Alphafly 2, raising the question of how many amateur runners will swallow the extra cost. Weighing just 138 grams , the shoes are very light, but not durable. They're designed to be worn for a single marathon-distance race and pre-race warmup, making the cost per mile at around $19 if, as Adidas says, runners must buy a new pair for each marathon.