Adidas Evo 3, Lightest Super Shoe Ever, Sweeps Chicago Podiums
By @sharedot · · 8 pages
- Fitness
- Chicago Marathon
- Super Shoes
- Adidas
- Running Gear
Both 2026 Chicago Marathon winners and the men's runner-up wore the 3.4-ounce Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, capping a record debut year.
One Shoe Won Both Races in Chicago
The 48th Bank of America Chicago Marathon delivered one of the fastest elite fields in the race's history, and the equipment told its own story.
Kenya's Amos Kipruto won the men's title in 2:01:09, Ethiopia's Hawi Feysa Gejia defended her women's crown in 2:13:33, and Ethiopia's Tadese Bikila took second in the men's race — and all three wore the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, according to RUN | Powered by Outside.
Adidas-sponsored athletes won both races while Nike, ASICS, Puma and Under Armour all had runners near the front.
Why the Evo 3's Sweep Is Surprising
According to RUN | Powered by Outside, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 is the lightest carbon-fiber racing shoe ever made at just 3.4 ounces, with a 39-millimeter stack under the heel — specs so extreme that the outlet recommends the $500, limited-quantity shoe only to elites chasing every gram.
Since its debut at the 2026 London Marathon, it has been on the feet of runners in the fastest races ever run, making its sweep of the top spots on both Chicago podiums less a fluke than a continued statement of dominance.
The Record Trail Behind the Shoe
The evidence for the shoe's status goes well beyond Chicago.
RUN | Powered by Outside notes that records set in the Pro Evo 3 include Sabastian Sawe's and Yomif Kejelcha's sub-two-hour marathons, Kejelcha's 56:51 half marathon world record, and Tigst Assefa's women's-only world record and 2026 Berlin course record.
Chicago added another data point: Feysa took more than a minute off her own winning time from the previous year, while Kipruto claimed his first Chicago title after two earlier podium finishes.
Nike Answers With the New Apex
Nike is not ceding the super-shoe battle.
According to RUN | Powered by Outside, Nike introduced the Apex on September 30 as its new pinnacle race shoe above the Alphafly 4, and two of the six Chicago podium spots went to runners who chose it over the trusted Alphafly: third-place men's finisher Milkesa Mengesha and third-place women's finisher Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei.
The Apex packs four Air Zoom units in two stacked pairs in a zero-drop forefoot, surrounded by ZoomX LT foam and a raised, inverse-wave carbon Flyplate.
What It Means for Everyday Runners
The Chicago shoe census carries practical lessons for non-elites.
RUN | Powered by Outside recommends the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 — which inherits tech from the Evo 3, including the carbon-infused U-shaped Energy Rim — as a better alternative for everyday racers, and calls the Alphafly 3 and 4 the gold standard for competitive runners, noting the Apex's four forefoot units may be unstable for average runners.
Sharon Lokedi, second in 2:14:07, ran a developmental Under Armour Velociti Elite 3 SL after winning back-to-back Boston titles in the standard Elite 3.
What Comes Next in the Shoe Wars
The writer behind RUN | Powered by Outside's gear analysis is careful to acknowledge that years of training, not footwear, make these runners fast — but results alone now mark the Adios Pro Evo 3 as, in his words, leaps and bounds ahead of any other shoe after a remarkable string of records and victories in a few short months.
With Nike's Apex barely two weeks old at race day and elite fields split between brands, the next majors will show whether the lightest shoe ever made keeps its grip on the podium.