shoes · 3 min read
Nike Apex, or the shoe that won before it was sold
Andreas Almgren crossed the Central Park finish line on November 1, 2026, in 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 1 second — thirteen seconds ahead of Italy’s Yeman Crippa, the third-fastest winning time in New York City Marathon history, and his first marathon. The shoes on his feet were not for sale.
The shoe is the Nike Apex, and by November it had already been racing for seven months without a name or a shelf. Jacob Kiplimo wore an early prototype in Lisbon in March 2026 to run 57:20 in the half marathon, a world record at the time. He wore the same shoe at the London Marathon in April, running 2:00:28 — which would have been the fastest marathon in history if Sabastian Sawe had not crossed the line, in Adidas Evo 3s, fifty-eight seconds earlier.
The Apex is built around a geometry no major racing shoe had attempted before: a zero-drop platform at exactly 40 millimetres front and back — the World Athletics ceiling, now applied equally at heel and forefoot. Where the Alphafly 4 sits at 39mm forward and 31mm back, the Apex removes that eight-millimetre drop entirely. Where the Alphafly 4 runs two Air Zoom pods in the forefoot, the Apex runs four — stacked in pairs, the most compressed air Nike has placed in a racing shoe. The Flyknit X upper ditches the sock liner. In men’s size 8.5, the whole thing weighs 176 grams.
In late July 2026, Nike flew its sport-research team 9,000 miles from Beaverton, Oregon, to Lornah Kiplagat’s sports academy in Eldoret, Kenya, to test Apex prototypes with nine elite runners over a concentrated week. During a fitting, Eliud Kipchoge tried on an early version, said it was too wide, and Nike’s team produced a narrower alternative immediately. They had already made it. After years of working with Kipchoge on marathon footwear, they had learned to anticipate what he notices before he notices it.
Nike claims the Apex delivers up to 40 percent more energy return than the Alphafly 3, and positions it at the top of what the company calls a race-day system of speed — three shoes arranged by competitive intent, alongside the Alphafly 4 and the Swooshfly. The launch is January 7, 2027, at $350. The Adidas Pro Evo 3 cost $500 and was barely available to most of the runners it was built for. The price difference is a strategy.
The Adidas Evo 3 broke two hours in April. By November, the Apex had won New York without a price tag. It reaches stores January 7. The lab in Herzogenaurach is already working on the reply.
Sources
- Introducing Nike Apex — Nike Newsroom — Official specifications: zero-drop 40mm platform, four Air Zoom pods, Flyknit X upper, 40% energy-return claim versus Alphafly 3.
- How Nike Created Apex with Elite Athletes — Nike Magazine — July 2026 Eldoret testing sessions; nine-athlete camp; Kipchoge prototype fitting; Kiplimo’s London 2:00:28 and Lisbon world-record 57:20.
- Nike Apex wins 2026 NYC Marathon — FueledByLOLZ — Almgren’s debut victory; 2:06:01 finish; margin of victory; historical ranking.
- Nike Apex overview — Marathon Handbook — Independent technical specs: 176g weight, zero-drop geometry, competitive context versus Adidas Pro Evo 3.
- Nike Race-Day System of Speed — Nike Newsroom — Three-shoe lineup structure; Apex, Alphafly 4, and Swooshfly competitive positioning.