The Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 is lighter than a small apple, a modern smartphone and all the best shoes that have ever come before. Soon, too.
In a marathon, margins are everything.
At 26.2 miles, seconds quickly add up to minutes, and the difference between a good race and a personal best, perhaps a world record, can come down to where the wind is blowing.
But we would be fools to take our shoes off.
Records are meant to be broken
In the 2026 London Marathon, Sabastian Sawe became the first person to break the two-hour barrier in an official race, ending almost a decade of research and development of great footwear technology starting with the Nike Vaporfly.
But perhaps what was even more surprising was that he was not the only one.
A few seconds behind him was Yomif Kejelcha, who finished the race with a record that may surpass Sawe’s new world record: the fastest first marathon in history.
Both runners couldn’t be more different. Sawe entered the 2026 London Marathon as a long-distance specialist, not to mention winning the race after winning the race in 2025.
Yomif, on the other hand, has competed for distances all over the map. He is a former world record holder in the indoor mile and competed in the 10,000m at the 2024 Olympics.
If there is a similarity between Sawe and Yomif, they are both sponsored by Adidas, which means that they both wore the same shoes: the new Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 was launched a few days before the race.
Shine on your feet
Even before the race, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo had a little more to prove.
Since the first edition, released in 2023, Adidas’ flagship long-distance runner has helped its athletes break a dozen world records, national records and notable course records. It also set a new Olympic record on the hilly course in Paris.
Only in 2024, Adizero models account for half of all victories in World Major Marathons.
The new Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 has a lot going on compared to its successful predecessors, but the real calling card is what leaves it behind.
In a US size 9, the shoe comes in at a surprisingly light 97 grams (3.4 ounces), plus minus a few decimal points for factory variance.
But no matter how you slice it or slice it, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 is lighter than a small apple, a modern smartphone and all the best shoes that have come before.
Thanks to Sawe, Yomif and Tigist Assefa, who also wore it in London to set a new world record for women only, it’s fast again.
Compound interest
On paper, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 does everything good shoes do to cut a few grams from one generation to the next.
It has a new lightweight, almost translucent upper, and a redesigned outsole that, itself, weighs next to nothing.
However, according to Charlotte Heidmann, who oversees the Adizero line at Adidas, the new midsole is the one that saves the most weight compared to the previous generations of the big race.
“The foam itself without the reinforcement is already fifty percent lighter than previous versions,” Heidmann tells me on a video call.
“So because it’s a big part of the shoe, you can save a lot of weight there.”
Interestingly, Adidas still calls it the Lightstrike Pro Evo, which is the same name as the material found in the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2.
And while Heidmann won’t reveal specific densities or materials, the Adizero head assures you that it’s still an uncompressed molded foam, just like the previous iteration.
“The foam itself without any reinforcement is already fifty percent lighter than previous versions.”
“Thus, you can always achieve a lighter weight than with conventional molded foam or compressed foam,” adds Heidmann.
Without an edge
On its own, the weight of the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 might be enough to usher in a new era of high-end shoe technology. But it also marks the possible emergence of more than one of the category’s defining features thus far.
Instead of a traditional plate, the shoe uses what Adidas calls EnergyRim. Think of it as a thin cut of carbon fiber that goes around the perimeter of the shoe, rather than sitting under the forefoot.
It’s the same technology that Adidas adds to the Adizero Prime X Evo that’s optimized for ultramarathons, though it’s fine-tuned here with a 39mm stack length.
The result, says Adidas, is a 1.6 percent increase in running economy when paired with new foam and a re-injected outsole and upper, resulting in the smallest race on the road.
If that doesn’t sound like much, it’s important to remember one of the great truths of marathoning, especially when it comes to elite athletes: margins matter.
“For them, at the speed they’re going, that could be first or fifth place,” said Heidmann.
Or, in the case of Sawe, Yomif and Tigst, the starting point and history.
Availability and pricing
Like previous generations, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 costs $500 and is initially released in a very limited release.
A wider drop is planned for the fall marathon season, which begins with the Berlin Marathon on September 27.
AdidasAdidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3
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