The 2026 World Marathon Majors circuit ended with the New York City Marathon, where Sheila Chepkirui and Andreas Almgren won the women’s and men’s races. Across the seven events, Adidas runners took nine of the 14 available victories and 21 of the 42 podium places.
The brand’s strongest result came in Berlin, where Adidas runners swept the top three in both the men’s and women’s races. Nike followed in the win tally with three victories, while Asics and Under Armour recorded one each. For podium finishes, Nike placed second with eight, followed by Asics with five. On had two top-three results, as did Under Armour and Xtep; Brooks had one.
Most of Adidas’s results came in the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. The shoe was worn by Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha when they became the first and second men to complete a marathon in under two hours, respectively, and by Tigst Assefa when she set a women’s-only world record. Adidas podium finishes in Tokyo and Boston also included runners wearing the Pro Evo 1 and Pro Evo 2.
The report describes the Pro Evo 3 as weighing 97 grams in a men’s size 9, making it the lightest race-legal shoe recorded. It also says the shoe reduced weight by more than 30 percent compared with the first two versions and improved running economy by 1.6 percent over the Pro Evo 2. Adidas replaced the earlier EnergyRods support system beneath the metatarsals with an EnergyRim running around the midsole’s perimeter. The foams in all three Pro Evo models were cut from a slab rather than compression-molded to reduce weight.
Nike’s winners wore the Vaporfly 4, Alphafly 4 and Apex. The Apex is described as a forthcoming super shoe with two Air Zoom units stacked at the forefoot. Asics’ winner wore an unreleased Metaspeed Sky prototype, while Under Armour’s winner wore the Velociti Elite 3.
Sources: WWD.