Sweat, tears and camaraderie as 20,000 runners take on world’s largest ultramarathon | South Africa - The Guardian

The IRONMAN World Championship run course has always brought us some late-race heroics and drama. This year, Kona was no different, with the winning move in the race not happening until after mile 20 of the run course. We almost had both winning moves in the men’s and women’s races happening at the exact same moment on course; this writer can’t remember a time when that’s ever happened in Kona. Alas, the race had other plans. But we’re not here to relive the race itself. Instead, we’re here to look at the shoes that the fastest runners in the field used this past weekend. As a reminder, this is not the top 10 finishers at the IRONMAN World Championship; no, we’re looking specifically just at the time they took to run the marathon. As has been the case for a while, we see a lot of variety amongst our top 10 men and women runners, with Adidas, ASICS, HOKA, New Balance, Nike, On, and Puma all represented. ASICS had the most athletes wearing their shoes, followed by On and HOKA, respectively. Something interesting, though: there’s no real consensus on models worn even within these brands, outside of “part of the carbon racing line.”

October 04, 2026Words: Images: A summer sun is coming up over the Rift Valley as the runners begin to gather. In Eldoret, Kenya, on the roads and trails that have carried generations of world-class runners over clay, grass, rock and pavement, a group of nine athletes laces up for an early-morning session at the Lornah Kiplagat Sports Academy. By the time morning light reaches the track, the work is already underway. Huddled at the edge of the track is a team of Nike Running experts closely watching the athletes, who include some of sport’s top runners. Among them: Jacob Kiplimo, a half-marathon world-record breaker and Brigid Kosgei, an Olympian and marathon world-record setter. During the next few days in late July, these athletes — along with Eliud Kipchoge, the first man to run a sub 2-hour marathon distance, and Faith Kipyegon, the world’s fastest woman miler — will run in shoes the rest of the world hasn’t yet seen, testing prototypes; comparing them with previous versions; and sharing feedback with product, sports marketing and performance specialists who have traveled thousands of miles to hear what they have to say.

A long and extraordinary track season has barely ended before a new battle takes place in Copenhagen this weekend. The surface is different, but the runners are the same: pure world class all the way. “These road races are just special. No matter what happens, I am just happy to go out and run. It’s my last race of the season, so I am excited to see if I can win,” Yared Nuguse said at Friday’s press conference ahead of the World Athletics Road Running Championships in the Danish capital. The Olympic 1500-meter bronze medalist from the USA will run the Road Mile, which kicks off the championships on Saturday. Nuguse is indeed expected to be at the front, ranking second in the world over the track mile this season. The women’s Road Mile is scheduled just before, where Agathe Guillemot from France will be a contender for a medal. “I can’t wait for tomorrow. I am hoping for a medal. That would be the perfect way to finish the season,” Guillemot told the press in French. The 27-year-old runner will go up against familiar faces from many of this season’s Diamond League races.