What鈥檚 in a name? Ask Rodger Kram, director of CU Boulder鈥檚 Locomotion Lab.听
Long before Nike unveiled its Zoom Vaporfly 4%, Kram was busy testing how fast the now-famous shoe really was. Nike had come to Kram with a request: They鈥檇 developed a shoe they suspected could make running significantly more efficient but needed scientific evidence before making that claim.听
Kram enlisted 18 super-fast men and ran tests comparing their performance while wearing the prototype to that in two other high-end shoes. 鈥淓very day at every speed, every runner used less energy with the prototype,鈥� Kram said. On average, 4 percent less. That鈥檚 enough to make a sub-2-hour marathon possible for the first time.听
Nike ran with the name. So did Boulder-based Shalane Flanagan, who won the 2017 New York City Marathon in her 鈥�4%s.鈥�
Principal investigator
Wouter Hoogkamer
Funding
Nike
Collaboration + support
Rodger Kram; Shalaya Kipp; Integrative Physiology; CU Boulder Locomotion Lab
