Running Shoes at Tata Mumbai Marathon 2024

In our ongoing exploration of the intersection between running shoes and performance, we took a look at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2024’s top finishers and their shoes. Last year also, we delved into Top 100 finishers and reflected the shoe and brand preferences of India. Continuing that tradition, we have scoured through the race photos of the top 100 finishers (overall) and top 50 men and women finisher.

Given Tata Mumbai Marathon 2024 is the biggest marathon in India with participation from across the country, we believe these insights also reflect the India’s most popular shoes and brands among runners with performance bent.

The Most Popular Brands

Top 50 Men

The analysis of the top 50 male finishers and their shoe choices reveals the following statistics:

• Dominance of Nike and Adidas: Nike and Adidas are the predominant brands among the top performers, with Nike’s VaporFly Next% series (including Next%2 and Next%3) and Adidas’s Adizero Adios Pro series (including Adios Pro 3) being the most popular choices. This reflects the high regard in which both brands' elite racing shoes are held within the competitive running community.

• Nike is the most popular brand among the top runners, with more than half of the runners (25 out of 50) choosing Nike shoes. Adidas is the second most popular, chosen by 15 runners.

• The Nike VaporFly Next% is the most favored model among these top runners, with nearly half (22 out of 50) opting for this model. The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro is the second most popular model, chosen by 11 runners.

• Brand Diversity: Total of 7 different brands represented all the top 50 runners. While Nike and Adidas lead, there is also representation from other brands like Brooks, Asics, Saucony, Mizuno, and even Decathlon.

• The presence of Decathlon, with its Kalenji Run 100 (costs about 800/-), among the top 50, is particularly noteworthy. It is just a reminder that a top marathon finish is possible even with a simple shoe - “It is the runner, not the shoe, that conquers the road."

Top 50 Women

The analysis of the top 50 female finishers and their shoe choices reveals the following statistics:

• Nike and Asics Lead the Pack: Similar to the men’s preferences, Nike, with its VaporFly Next% (including versions 2 and 3) and AlphaFly Next% models, emerges as a favorite among the top female runners. Asics also holds a strong presence, particularly with its Metaspeed Sky and Metaspeed Sky+ models. Unlike Men, Adidas is not among the favourites for women.

• Among the top female runnersh 21 out of 50 choose Nike shoes. Asics and Brooks are also popular, with 9 and 8 runners respectively.

• Like in the men, the Nike VaporFly Next% is the most favored model among the top female runners, with 17 out of 50 opting for this model.

• The Nike AlphaFly Next% and Brooks Hyperion Tempo are also other popular choices. Interestingly, Hyperion Tempo is not a carbon plated shoe.

• Brooks India has ran targeted campaigns for Women, and it seems the campaigns resulted in a very positive sentiment. Range of shoes from Brooks from the racing-oriented Hyperion series to the more cushioned Glycerin, highlights the brand’s appeal among women.

• Brand Diversity: Women’s shoes have even more brand diversity. Total of 9 different brands represented all the top 50 runners. While Nike and Asics lead, there is also representation from other brands like Brooks, Saucony, Puma, Adidas, Under Armour, New Balance and Decathlon.

What shoes are the Top 10 finishers wearing?

Here is the list of top 10 marathon finishers in Men category.

Here is the list of top 10 female finishers in Women category.

This table provides a clear overview of the female runner’s names, their bib numbers, and the specific model of shoe they are wearing.

Most Popular Shoes

We also looked at shoes of Top 100 finishers overall.

• Leading the pack in this year’s race were Nike’s VaporFly Next% shoes, worn by a staggering 43 participants, underscoring the model’s widespread acclaim for its performance-enhancing design.

• Adidas also made a significant impact, with its Adizero Adios Pro shoes being the choice for 18 runners, signaling a strong preference among faster athletes for this particular model known for its responsiveness and speed.

• Nike’s AlphaFly Next% was another popular choice, with 11 runners opting for this model, further evidence of Nike’s significant influence in the marathon circuit.

• This year’s marathon also had its share of less conventional choices, with exotic choices like the Mizuno Wave Rebellion Flash, and Adizero Prime X Stung (race illegal).

Carbon Plated Shoes are the new normal

• ~92% of the shoes used by Top 100 are Carbon plated. The other 5% of them have used some form of plate, while only 3% hasn’t used a plate.

Here are the top 5 shoe models based on number of runners used them. Hyperion Elite, Endorphin Pro, Metaspeed have same number of runners, hence the list has 6. All the editions of a model summed up and mentioned only once for brevity.

Aravind is a techie, running geek, and a marathoner. He loves all things technology and technology in running, with special interest in running form analysis. He is the co-founder of GeeksOnFeet.