Review: Nike Vaporfly 4%

The running world waited in anticipation for the release of these shoes and when they were it is nearly impossible to get hold of a pair! Luckily a few months later Nike caught up with the demand and I managed to get my hands on a pair.

I was hesitant at first to buy them given the eye watering price tag of £209.95 so I made myself a deal, or should I say the excuse I needed to bite the bullet haha. I wasn’t at peak fitness when they were released so I said to myself that if I could get to the position where a PB‘s were again possible, then I would buy a pair. A few months later and I ran the London marathon in 2:49 and the Big Half in 1:18 which was enough for me to ‘justify’ My purchase.

As there are undoubtedly one the most talked about pair of shoes in the running world, it’s no surprise that there are tons of highly detailed and incredibly technical reviews out there. I decided that I would do my ‘test’ and see for myself whether your average runner would benefit from wearing a pair of these or whether Nike’s claims only really helped if you were a top athlete.

Now running loads and loads of marathons would have destroyed my legs and it would have been though to do a true comparison so I focused on something I could realistically have a quite a few goes at and I could recover quickly between attempts. 5km was my distance of choice and I have been trying to go under 17 min (sub17) for years now and have come so close so many times but unfortunately always fallen short. This was a great opportunity for a true test, if the claims were accurate then I should go under...

I’ve been a sceptic from the first release so my plan was to have as many attempts as I could in different shoes to try go sub17 before attempting it in the Nike VaporFly 4%’s. In the last few years I have done 35 parkruns and the closest I could get was 17:01, almost made it!! I pushed as hard as I could and just couldn’t reach it, obviously weather conditions varied and hot or windy days did make it more difficult but I had more ideal days than not.

I even went and did a 5km race on a tartan track with racing shoes (Adidas Adizero Adios 3) with a group of several runners going sub17 and still fell short, 17:05!! I was so disappointed as mentally I believed I could do it and with one lap to go I knew what I needed but just could go any quicker.

Finally the day of my Nike VaporFly 4% attempt! The race was the Standard Charted Great City Race which is a 5km run through the financial centre of London. This would be the 7th time I would be doing this race and my best time was 17:05. It was a hot evening so I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but in theory I should still make it as the heat should only slow me down by 15-20sec.

Standing and walking is a strange sensation as they feel incredibly unstable on the heel and it’s hard to believe they would make you go quicker... I heard someone jokingly say 'who has a camera as this is a great add for Nike'. When I looked down I would say 7/10 runners were wearing these shoes!

The gun went and I was off. Within 500m I was HOT, my mouth was bone dry and the finish line seemed like a marathon away! The first 2km went well though and I was going strong but very quickly started slowing down. Kilometre 3 was tough! Thankfully I started feeling good again and by the end of kilometre 4 I was back. The last kilometre is always one of my slowest and this is when I started feeling the real benefit of the VaporFly 4%. It's as if they forced me to maintain at least some kind of form and I felt I had a bit left in the tank for once. This was it, last 500m left and I just put my head down and ran, I didn’t even look at watch. I crossed the line and hit stop, that was tough! As I glanced at my watch, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, 16:52!!! I felt amazing and knew it could only have been one thing, the shoes! I had my doubts but I could not have tested those any better and after over 30 attempts at a sub17, first time out in the Nike VaporFly 4%'s and BOOM, sub17 achieved!!

So even if you're not an elite athlete, I believe you will still benefit from a pair of these, the carbon fibre plate is an engineering masterpiece! The only ‘fault’ I could find is that the heel is very unstable around counters but I guess that’s the price you pay for a feather weight midsole (195 gms/6.9 oz).

For:

• The bright colours couples with the black trim looks great

• The fit is tight at first but adjust wells after the first few runs

• ZoomX foam midsole coupled with the carbon fibre plate makes these incredibly lightweight and feel almost 'energised'

• ZoomX cushioning is the perfect mix of comfort and response

• Perforated Flyknit upper gives great breathability

• Feels great from the very first run

• Heel cup feels comfortable and prevents foot slippage

Against:

• These are NOT cheap and I refrained from buying a pair until I was certain I was near peak fitness in order to attempt a PB (not an everyday running shoe in my opinion)

• Low recommended mileage before changing makes these even more expense relative to other running shoes

• Unstable around corners, felt like I needed to run on my toes

• Shows signs of wearing very quickly, especially along the edges of the heel

• Short lifespan as very low recommended mileage

Conclusion

This is a shoe designed for marathons but performs incredibly well over any distance. In my opinion Nike have created the greatest pair distance racing shoes in ever made. It's difficult to put into world how it makes you feel when you run on them as the combination of lightweight ZoomX foam and the carbon fibre plate make it a very unique experience. If you are after a PB and can justify the eye watering £209.95 price tag then go for it, the chances are you will achieve that PB! However, as is the case with many who own a pair of these, this price tag also means these become a 'race day' only pair of shoes so you will still need to fork out for a second, more affordable everyday pair too.

What a pair of shoes and definitely lives up to all the hype!

#NikeVapourfly4 #NikeRunningShoe #Marathon #Review #ShoeReview

Disclaimer

** I am not a professional athlete, just an everyday runner and everything I’ve written is just my opinion. I was not given these shoes (I paid the staggering £209.95 for them) and I did not receive any form of compensation for writing this article.