- Having developed the METASPEED SKY+ and METASPEED EDGE+ shoes, ASICS worked with their elite athletes to test the benefits of the product tweaks for stride and cadence runners respectively.
- Compared to traditional ASICS racing models, the METASPEED SKY+ and EDGE+ increased the running economy by more than 2%, giving all runners the opportunity to run their fastest ever times.
- The METASPEED+ Series will be available from June 2022.
Introducing the METASPEED+ Series
Building on the breakthrough success of the METASPEED running shoes introduced in 2021, ASICS has utilized data accumulated through elite athletes in competitions to refine the product design and make runners with different running styles perform at their personal best and record their fastest times.
Since its launch, METASPEED shoes have helped elite runners win medals at international competitions, including gold medals at both men’s and women’s triathlon at Tokyo 2020, and achieved over 200 personal bests.
The unique design of the METASPEED SKY+ model for stride runners and the METASPEED EDGE+ model for those with cadence style continues to center on a crucial insight by scientists at the ASICS Institute of Sport Science (ISS): Athletes perform better when running in shoes that are optimized for their running style.
Both models now feature increased volumes of the FF BLAST TURBO foam and more targeted placement of the product’s carbon plates to ensure that runners can increase their stride length and build increased speed in a way that is natural to their running style.
ASICS METASPEED SKY+
The METASPEED SKY+ racing shoe is designed to help runners go faster by extending their stride length considerably. Built with 4% more FF BLAST TURBO and a propulsive carbon plate, the mild toe spring curve is higher than the 1st generation, due to the fact that stride-style runners have a stronger downward push during toe-off. Therefore, this higher plate placement allows them to compress more volume of foam to gain a higher bounce.
ASICS METASPEED EDGE+
The METASPEED EDGE+ racing shoe is designed to help cadence-style runners go faster by extending their stride length while allowing them to control cadence more easily. Constructed with 16% more FF BLAST TURBO and a propulsive carbon plate, the sharp toe spring curve is placed lower than the 1st generation, due to the fact that cadence-style runners have to maintain their running tempo. Therefore, this lower plate placement allows them to achieve easier roll-forward motion, at the same time, conserve energy.
- ASICS hypothesized that there were major differences in the ideal carbon placement for stride runners and cadence runners.
- The stride-style runners exert higher force and take advantage of this higher force, so the plate METASPEED SKY+ is placed higher to allow for the greater compression of the foam during toe-off to gain a higher bounce.
- The cadence-style runners will not exert enough force to compress the entire width of the foam to achieve the benefit of a higher plate, so instead, the plate for METASPEED EDGE+ is placed lower to stabilize and help with gait motion for a more efficient kick-forwards. For cadence-style runners, the higher plate reduces the amount of bounce-back.
Wearing the METASPEED SKY+, three-time Olympian Eilish McColgan broke a new British 5KM national record and personal best by three seconds, at the ASICS’ META : TIME : TRIALS in a time of 14:45.
Over 70 elite ASICS athletes took part in the World Athletics certified META : TIME : TRIALS in the Spanish city of Málaga, selected for its run-friendly climate, flat terrain, and low-pressure elevation. Inspired by the time trials of the Tour de France, runners were challenged to beat their Personal Best (PBs) over the 5km, 10km, and half-marathon race distances.
In total, an amazing 4 national records and 27 PBs were recorded by athletes at the brand’s pinnacle event as 37% of them achieved their fastest ever times for the respective distances.
