Glasses on the run Newsletter #35
Hi,
I hope everyone is well and I hope you will enjoy this week's newsletter. Here we go.
What was interesting in the business of running
Well, let me start with something that actually happened just before the previous newsletter edition - the Chicago marathon. It ended with a new men's marathon world record set by Kevin Kiptum who finished the race in 2:00:35 - 34 seconds faster than Eliud Kipchoge's record from Berlin 2022. That has some interesting implications:
- First, it looks like this spells the end of Kipchoge's long reign as the best marathon runner in the world. I say this with some sadness, as like many others, I am a big admirer of Kipchoge. Kipchoge is still in top form, just winning the Berlin marathon a few weeks ago. But he is about to turn 39 in November, while Kiptum is 15 years younger and no doubt has many races ahead of him. Kiptum made his debut in Valencia in December 2022 and ran his second marathon in London in April this year. In both cases, he set new course records before breaking the world record in his third only marathon.
- Considering the above, Kiptum is likely to break the 2:00:00 hour barrier in the coming months and years as well.
- In addition, Kiptum's record highlights the brutal super shoe competition that is currently underway. Kiptum ran with a prototype of Nike Alphafly 3 that is going on sale in January 2024. Just two weeks before earlier, Tigst Assefa cut two full minutes from the women's world record in Berlin, wearing the new Adidas super shoe - Adizero Adios Evo Pro 1.
Despite the endorsements from the fastest marathoners in the world however, Nike is apparently struggling to connect with everyday runners in the US who prefer other brands. As mentioned last time though, Nike Direct continues to grow significantly and is driving the growth of Nike's overall business.
Adidas, for its part, has launched a collaboration with KoRn and while still expected to finish the year with a loss, has significantly improved its projections for the rest of the year, partially helped by the sales of the Yeezy stockpile.
Moving on from Nike and Adidas, here are two interesting reviews of new products:
- The latest Apple watches - two reviews of Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2 here and here,
- And a review of Altra's new low drop shoe AltraFWD.
And finally, here is an interesting analysis and advice for people aiming for a Boston Qualifying time, based on data from some of the top world marathons in 2022.
As always, thank you for reading,
Momchil
