Nike Marathon Stunt Fails to Break Two-Hour Barrier
May 06 2017 - 03:58AM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Germano
Nike Inc.'s attempt to stage the first sub-two-hour marathon
fell just short Saturday, a rare marketing miss for the world's
largest sportswear maker.
Eliud Kipchoge, the reigning Olympic marathon champion, finished
the company-controlled race in two hours, 25 seconds--more than two
minutes better than the current world best. Still, his mark likely
won't be ratified as a world record, since Nike didn't obey
regulations on pacing and hydrating in its race. Two other runners,
Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea, fell out
of contention early and finished several minutes behind.
Nike invested years of research and had more than a dozen
employees working on the project, dubbed Breaking 2, a multifaceted
effort to engineer technically sophisticated footwear and prepare
the three elite distance runners to break an iconic time barrier in
sports. The race was staged on a Formula One racetrack in Monza,
Italy, selected for its ideal climate for distance running, and
Nike flew in dozens of other world-class runners to set the pace
for the contestants.
Ultimately, the Breaking 2 race amounted to a two-hour
live-stream program by Nike that was part commercial, part sporting
event, and part foray into broadcasting with celebrity commentary.
The race was shown across several social media platforms including
Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Nike didn't respond to questions regarding whether it will
continue the project. In a statement, Chief Executive Mark Parker,
who attended the marathon, said "this achievement represents more
than a race. It's a moment of global inspiration that will
encourage every athlete, in every community, to push the limits of
their potential."
In the months before the event, Nike said it wouldn't consider
it a failure if the runners didn't break two hours. Still, not
meeting the ambitious time goal may thwart the company's plans to
sell $250 carbon-plate running shoes--modeled after those worn
Saturday by the pros--to the general public.
Breaking the two-hour marathon has become something of an arms
race among top sportswear companies, with rival Adidas AG working
on a similar project. The German company sponsors the current world
record holder, Dennis Kimetto of Kenya, who ran 2:02:57 in 2014.
Running under two hours would require a 2.4% improvement over Mr.
Kimetto's record, a wide margin for a sport which typically sees
world records broken by much smaller percentages.
Nike is the world's largest sports brand by revenue, though it
has been struggling with sales in North America, its home market,
amid a changing retail environment and a shift away from technical
shoes toward more casual sneakers. That shift has favored Adidas,
which this week reported a 31% jump in sales in the region for its
most recent period.
Nike spends more than $3 billion each year on so-called demand
creation expenses, which includes marketing and endorsement costs.
In an interview with Runner's World published this week, Mr. Parker
wouldn't quantify how much the company spent on the marathon race,
saying it was expensive but "it's not like we're reckless
sailors."
It isn't clear what is next for the three runners, who skipped
the lucrative spring marathon season to focus on the Nike race. Jos
Hermens, an agent representing Mr. Kipchoge, said in an interview
last week that anything slower than the current world record "would
be a failure."
It is the third time Mr. Kipchoge has fallen short when chasing
a time goal, including at the Berlin Marathon in 2015 when the
insoles of his Nike shoes fell apart and caused him to miss the
world record by 63 seconds.
Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 06, 2017 03:43 ET (07:43 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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